Tag Archives: Scandinavian flavors

Swedish Gjetost Fondue

Posted on by October 27, 2015

This Gjetost Fondue is another great easy to make ahead hors d’oeuvres that’s perfect for any Thanksgiving, but I served it as a started for my Scandinavian Thanksgiving Menu for good reason. It’s chock full of lovely Swedish cheeses, which are actually rather easy to find, particularly if you live near an IKEA, where they stock all of the cheeses required for this Swedish Gjetost Fondue. But even if you can’t find many of them, the only two that are absolutely essential are the French Gruyère and the Scandinavian Gjetost. The Gjetost in particular cannot be substituted because it is a very unique caramelized goat’s milk cheese. Yes, you heard me, caramelized goat’s milk cheese. But, caramelized milk sounds crazy to describe cheese. It is, you’re right. And while Gjetost on it’s own tends to be a love or hate it food because it’s a little sweet and extremely dense and creamy. It is also absolutely the element that makes this Swedish Gjetost Fondue so special and one of the crowd favorites at Thanksgiving last year, even amongst people who said they didn’t normally like Gjetost. It’s also a cheese that I grew up with at breakfast, served on toast, … Continue reading →

Celery Caraway and Rhubarb Aquavit

Posted on by October 20, 2015

Aquavit, or “water of life” in Swedish is basically a high proof Vodka, but you can tell from it’s name, that it’s also culturally important. Afterall, it’s a long cold Winter so far North, and there is a lot of time for staying indoors, sitting around fires and telling stories with friends. Aquavit is often flavored and it’s hard to find in the United States’ but good news: Aquavit is easy to make your own. I made three flavors: Celery Caraway and Rhubarb Aquavit and used them to make some fabulous cocktails to start the night off right for my Scandinavian Thanksgiving using, you guessed it fresh caraway seeds, frozen rhubarb stalks, and fresh celery. When crafting the cocktails, I used the celery and caraway seed aquavit together with a celery simple syrup to make a very cool Celery spritzer and then I used the rhubarb with some Rhuby, a local Philly spirit from Art in the Age to make a rhubarb spritzer. I also used the leftover celery aquavit to make some of the best Bloody Mary’s and Sunny Mary: a Bloody Good Alternative cocktails I’ve had. It was a great excuse to set up a Bloody Mary Bar … Continue reading →