eat and greet: swedish midsummer festival

Friday, June 19, 2009

swedish midsummer festival

As a Swede, I felt obligated to post this and to encourage you (yes, even you Non-Swedes) to go. The annual Summer Solstice celebration will be filled with salmon, herring, meatballs, and devistatingly adorable Swedes running around. The festival takes place from 5-8pm in Robert F. Wagner Park (part of Battery City Park) and for $20 you can help yourself to the buffet spread. Sadly, this is rumored to be the last Swedish Midsummer as the Swedish Consulate may no longer have a post in New York. Not quite sure I understand that, but, regardless, I'll be there with a fellow Swede (and one wannabe) chowing down on some Scandinavian fare and watching little blonde munchkins with flowers in their hair, run around waving ribbons in the air.

Ja!

1 comment:

Unknown said...: I made you swedish cucumbers for a midsummer party last night.......... I did 4x the recipe and they are alomiost goine!!!!!! yum!; June 20, 2009 at 9:53 AM

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who i am

When faced with the question of what food means to me, conversation inevitably shifts to my Mor-Mor (Swedish for Grandmother): A phenomenal cook who refused help in the kitchen and didn't believe in recipes. The real deal, if you will.

Mor-Mor had a seriously strong hand with garlic (surprisingly for a Swede) and an innate knack for making anything taste implausibly delicious. There was always a jar of homemade garlic oil in her fridge which found its way drizzled on top of almost everything. Like one of her breakfast treats: homemade bread slathered with garlic oil, a few slices of granny smith apple, and topped with extra sharp cheddar. Into her beloved toaster oven they'd go until the cheese had just melted, lovingly, over the apples. The salty-sweet combination could make your head spin—a beautiful cohesion of flavors and textures from such an unexpected pairing.

And then there were her meatballs. With her homemade tomato sauce made from tomatoes grown in her garden, picked when perfectly plump and warm from the summer sun, a ladle of garlic oil, and tons of parsley (Mor-Mor may or may not have been secretly Italian), they sent eyeballs rolling to the backs of people’s heads. The thought alone of her in that kitchen makes my heart long, once again, for her cooking. For her.

Now when I'm cooking, I finally understand her insistence on navigating the kitchen alone. There's something about getting in there and winding down and having your own personal space to create that’s beyond therapeutic—it’s wholly fulfilling and soul-satisfying.

Friday, June 19, 2009

swedish midsummer festival

1 comment:

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