cover image The Little Swedish Kitchen

The Little Swedish Kitchen

Rachel Khoo. Penguin/Michael Joseph, $35 (304p) ISBN 978-0-7181-8891-7

Khoo (The Little Paris Kitchen) celebrates the cuisine of Sweden in this inviting cookbook. She argues that the country’s short growing season has engendered resourcefulness, and enduring long, harsh winters makes the long-awaited arrival of spring treats such as nettles (which feature in a clever chicken pie with puff pastry crust) and a vanilla custard cake with roasted rhubarb more of a delight. Chapters are broken down by season: for summer, there’s a strawberry and asparagus salad as well as savory layer cakes “frosted” with cream cheese and sprinkled with caviar; a creamy casserole of potatoes, beets, and anchovies is one of the hearty winter options. Some dishes are nontraditional mash-ups, like a chicken schnitzel with an Egyptian-style dukkah crust of spices, seeds, and nuts, and a gravlax poke bowl with brown rice. The author’s friendly tone is evident throughout—in the recipe for the cake served at her wedding, which she describes as “simply a tasty cake that would go just as nicely with a cup of tea as a glass of Champagne,” as well as in a recipe for large potato spheres, which she calls “the Björn Borg of the dumpling world.” Sweets include S-shaped St. Lucia buns with saffron and a soft gluten-free and nut-free chocolate cake. This excellent offering is stylish, tempting, and just plain fun. (Apr.)