Skåne's culinary treasures

If you are hungry, close your eyes and call forth all the loveliest tastes of the province within you. Wormwood schnapps and apples, cock and cabbage, eel, duck's breast, sweet or salty herring, game and roast rook with jelly, grapes and melons, mustard seeds and goose grease, cod, hornpike and freshly salted lumpfish roe, pork and parsnips, ”spickeskinka”, a type of smoked ham, caraway flavoured pork, chervil and chives, and eggs – for example in ”äggakaka”, a type of omelette, and ”spettekaka” – pyramid cake – a huge cake baked on a spit over open fire.

Scanian food is very generous – try the egg cake at Östarps Gästgivaregård and you will see for yourself! You could also say that Scanian food combines the best of two worlds – provincial and international, sweet and sour, rustic and elegant. Many of these delicious foods come from the countryside. Imagine taking little trips through the villages, looking at fishing camps and medieval churches while waiting for the hunger to arrive. Here, you will always find a welcoming fish restaurant or a small countryside inn. A good idea is to start your gourmet trip along the eastern side at Vitemölla Badhotell and continue a few miles along the sea to Buhres Fisk in Kivik. After that, why not take a detour up country to the restaurants Karlaby Krog and Daniel Berlin in Skåne Tranås or Vendel Ales stenar.
Once you reach the western side, a short stay in Helsingborg is recommended. Here, you can enjoy the views of the strait and indulge in the art of cooking which here is among the best in the country. Sofiero Slottsrestaurangand Gastro have been ranked among the best restaurants in Sweden. Here you will find chefs of international standards juggling with old cooking traditions, combining them in new and exciting ways.

If you continue to the northern parts, it is a must to take a short break at Per i Viken (”Per's Creek”), to buy smoked sausage and ham that has been smoked by Per himself. And whoever feels like having a traditionalSwedish ”smörgåsbord” should pay a visit to Margretetorps Gästgifvaregård where you will find everything you can possibly dream of, perhaps even a little more. Continuing to the Bjäre Peninsula, Bjärehalvön, you will find that here, every season has its special benefits. Asparagus, strawberries, raspberries… And the first new potatoes being picked out of the soil is defintiely a reason to celebrate. A good place for enjoying local delicacies in this area is the Maritime Grand Hotel in Mölle,

Everybody who has a sweet tooth should experience a coffee break at Flickorna Lundgren på Skäret (”the Lundgren girls on the islet”), where the sun is always shining and all the cakes and cookies have been baked with real butter. Should you happen to be in the southern parts of Skåne, a trip to Olof Viktors in Glemmingebro is recommended. A combined bakery and café, which is considered one of the best in Sweden, is situated in this old country house. You can have a cup of excellent coffee, buy some ”knäcke”bread, Scanian dark rye bread (”kavring”) or bread that has been baked in a stone oven. The gourmet who also has an interest in cultural history will of course want to taste ”spettekaka”, a type of pastry which is extremely Scanian and the crowning glory of any old-fashioned celebration. These sweet pastries are sometimes still traditionally baked over open fire. Occasionally you will see signs saying ”Spettekaka till salu” (”Spettekaka for sale”) in the villages, which of course is an oppurtunity not to be missed.

The coast is always tempting, but what would this southern province be without its dark and mysterious woods in the north east – the inner part, the very heart of the region. This is where you go to explore the part called Göinge, as well as the grounds where Swedes and Danes fought over Skåne in the 17th century. In Vinslöv, outside Hässleholm, you find Flädergården, ”the Elderberry Farm”, where you will be served elderberry waffles and elderberry juice, made from medieval recipes. The farm next door is less peaceful: it is the Sjunkaryd wild boar farm, where you can watch striped piglets in their enclosure and buy wild boar meat in all its forms.
Every season has its charm, but autumn is a particularily good time to experience the food culture of Skåne. Autumn is the time for apple markets, the so called eel feasts, and goose dinners. These are busy days for the restaurant owners of Skåne, and the chefs take the oppurtunity to refine old recipes. An eel feast at Åhus Gästgiveri is a top-class gastronomical experience involving modern eel dishes. If you are after something a little more wild and genuine, you should visit an eel feast in one of the small fishing cottages between Åhus and Kivik. You will be offered schnapps and seven types of eel, and nobody knows what might happen during the dark hours that follow.

The best way to honor a goose is by eating it, preferrably at Grand Hotel Lund or perhaps at Skanörs Gästgifvaregård. If you feel like eating poultry during the spring or early summer instead, a visit to Hammenhögs Gästgiveri is recommended, where you will be served oven-baked rook with cream sauce and jelly.

Whatever parts of Skåne you have visited, you always have to return to Malmö. Malmö is the world. Here, you will find the market place ”Möllevången” with its famous cheese store, its Lebanese cucumbers and its Thai market. You can smell curry all over the place and if you listen carefully, you might be able to hear the clinking of chop sticks from the restaurants around the market place. Malmö is famous for its Asian restaurants, but the city has more to offer. It is the aim of several of the top class restaurants in Malmö to mainly use regional products and ecologically cultivated ingredients. Here, you will be presented with the very best of harvests, fish catches, game and well-fed animals. Try the restaurants Thott's, Salt&Brygga, Skeppsbron 2 or Årstiderna i Kockska Huset.

They are all members of Culinary Skåne, a network made up of the best restaurants in Skåne.

By: Sanna Töringe.
Sanna Töringe is a librarian, writer and journalist living in Österlen, in the south-eastern part of Skåne. She has written around ten books about gardening and food.
famous for its fresh plaice.
www.culinaryskane.com