Monday, January 7, 2008

Food and flowers and art glass: Wij trädgårdar (gardens)

Wij trädgårdar blev utsett till Sveriges vackraste park 2007. Själva trädgården får ett eget inlägg en annan gång, idag handlar det om maten och konsten.
[I, LS, am taking the freedom to translate this into English for our Americanized part of the family. Translated text will be in dark green. Here we go:]
Wij Gardens were elected Swedens most beautiful park in 2007. The gardens will get their on blogpost another time, today it is about the food and the art.

Wij Trädgårdskök satsar på närproducerad mat med ekologisk inriktning, och grönsakerna är mestadels ur egna ekologiska odlingar. Kycklingen uppfödd i Ockelbo. Getosten kommer från Trönögumman i Hälsingland, laxen är fiskad av Anders Bergman i Norrsundet. TeWes bageri Söderhamn bakar till den utökade caféavdelningen och självklart bakar Mattes bröd i Ockelbo brödet till cafét. Här åt vi en lunch ur deras sommarmeny.
Wij Gardenkitchen offers locally produced food with ecological focus, and the vegetables mostly come fromm their own organic gardens. The chicken is from Ockelbo. The goat cheese is from "The old Trönö lady" in Hälsingland [a semi-northern coastal province], the salmon is fished up by Anders Bergman in Norrsundet. TeWe's bakery in Söderhamn bakes for the cafe, and of course Mattes Bread in Ockelbo bakes bread too. Here we had a lunch from their summer menu.




Detta lagade kökschef Pär Johansson och hans personal till mig och AnS en skön dag i juli 2007.
This is what chef
Pär Johansson and his staff cooked for me and AnS a nice day in July 2007.



Tartar på lax från Norrsundet i Gästrikland smaksatt med vanilj. Serveras på vitt bröd med hackat ägg, rödlök, handskalade räkor, liten sallad och lättrökt blomkålscreme.
Salmon tartar from Norrsundet in
Gästrikland [another semi-northern coastal province], with vanilla. Served on white bread with chopped egg, red onion, hand-peeled shrimps [the small, sweet Atlantic kind!], a small salad and slightly smoked cauliflower puree.

Efter denna försvinnande goda förrätt som vi delade på fick vi in våra varmrätter.
After this disappearingly good appetizer that we shared, we got our entrees.

"Sprödstekt kummelfilé med grönsaksconfetti från vårt eget trädgårdsland. Serveras med färska örter, skummig kräftsås och potatisterrine smaksatt med parmesanost."
"Crispily panfried 'kummel' filet [a kind of fish] with vegetable confetti from our own garden. Served with fresh herbs, frothy crawfishsauce and potato terrine with parmesan cheese."

"Halstrad kycklinglårfile från Ockelbo med champinjoner, färska bönor och rostad majs. Serveras med vitlökssås och kroppkakor med knaperstekt bacon."
"Grilled chickenleg filet from Ockelbo with mushrooms, fresh beans, and roasted corn. Served with garlic sauce and 'kroppkakor' [a kind of boiled potato cakes, very traditional] with crispily fried bacon."

Dessa tallrikar var upplagda med mat som hade en fantastisk smakbild, rikt och fylligt utan att vara starkt eller ta överhanden. Alla smaker harmonierade och såserna imponerade stort och vi gick och hämtade bröd att "torka upp" såsen med så inget gick till spillo. Båda anrättningarna var fantastiska och såhär när 2007 är slut så kan jag ärligt säga att det var det godaste jag ätit i Sverige i år och att detta var mat för själ och sinne.
These plates were plated with food that had a fantastic tasteview, rich and full without being too strong or overpowering. All tastes harmonized and the sauces impressed greatly and we went and got bread to soak up the sauce to nothing was left on the plate. Both dishes were fantastic and now when 2007 is over I can honestly said that this is the best I have eaten in Sweden that year, and that this was food for soul and heart.

Efter att ha ätit oss så glada och nöjda man bara kan bli, gick vi till turbinhallen i valsverket vid Ockelboån och tittade på glaskonst av Kjell Engman som normalt verkar i Orrefors i Småland.
After we had eaten us as happy and satisfied as you can get, we went to the turbin hall in the foundry at the Ockelbo River and looked at glass art by Kjell Engman, who normally works at Orrefors in Småland [a more southern province, nicknamed Glasriket = The Glass Country].







Valsat glas [not sure what this is called, it is a kind of pressed glass]









Fina småfigurer med vackert innanför den mörka ytan.
Nice small figurines with beauty inside the dark surface.



















Fullstora klänningar i glas!
Normal-sized dresses in glass!















Vem spelar på denna fela?
Who plays on this violin?

By EH

5 comments:

LS said...

That place sounds wonderful! The food looks like the kind at some of the best places I have eaten in the US, I bet it tasted heavenly here too.

I hope you don't mind me translating and compacting the post a bit. I want to visit Wij too! You will have to tell PP what 'manglat glas' is, I don't know that term.

EH said...

I don´t mind you translating,I kind of hoped you would, the hour was late when I posted it.

Of course you should go there, I can take you sometime. There are bustours from Stockholm over the day in the summer. I will show you the garden another day.

The food is fantastic and worth a visit.

EH said...

"Valsat glas", I made it up because of the lighting on the floor, where they used the have the big machines that pressed the hot iron out to big slates. The process is called "valsa".

I got the feeling the lightning represented the hot iron and the glass the finished blocks of iron.

PP said...

thanks for the translation...
I'm not sure I want to be known as the "americanized" one...but the place looks great!

What is it about Sweden and good food combined with glassmaking?
I have been to 2 places like that, how many more are there?

LS said...

Sweden, glass and food - I think it is all about a feast for the eyes and palate at the same time. Plus, Swedes have good design taste! And preferably in a really nice setting like an old mill, old barn, old castle, old greenhouse, old garden, old blacksmith, old foundry, old cellar...