Don't worry. The post heading will make perfect sense when you read on...Kathryn started the day with making a huge mistake. She let Kristine, Micah and I head down to a bakery on our own. We bought everything we saw... But it was all so good.
After we had eaten way too many sweets, we had one of my all time favorite meals from my mom, called portersteak. It is something like a pot-roast, for some quiz fun. 25 points for an accurate (and I mean really accurate... there might be a curve-ball or two in there, but that's why you get so many points :) translation of the following recipe. You might want to keep the verified recipe, since it is an amazing meal.
Porterstek:
1 kg kött
1 flaska porter (33 centiliter)
1 dl svartvinbärs-saft (koncentrerad)
2 köttbuljongs tärningar
1-2 gula lökar
1 pressad vitlök
1 tsk timjan
5-6 enbär
5-6 svartpepparskorn
1 dl soja
låt indegrienserna koka ihop och lägg sen i steken. Låt sjuda på låg värme i en stek-gryta 1 1/2 till 2 timmar. Vänd den varje halvtimme.
Sila skyn och red av den med 1 dl mjöl och låt den koka i 5 minuter
lägg till 2-3 dl grädde för att göra en sås.
Servera steken kall, skivad tillsammand med kokade potatisar och svartvinbärs-gele
Ok, that should give you something to work on... and something delicious to eat.
Talking about delicious things to eat After we ate, we headed back to Kathryn's family's place for a traditional Swedish meal, surströmming. Now, there are Swedes who will tell you up and down how much they love it, and I'm sure they're not intentionally lying... but that stuff smells like death, and looks like it too... you can tell the gaseous nature of it from the bulging cans, and the shot from inside the can can't look appetizing to anyone with any kind of sense.Mark ate 8 of them by the way...
It was still a nice time, and I had some nice food, mostly consisting of the fixings you have on the side, because I don't put stuff that smells like that in my mouth, no matter how long the tradition. (for 5 points, how do you produce this nightmare of a delicacy?)
I've been adding some points up, and there is still a chance for some of you, but Tom is looking mighty strong in his first spot.
Steve P - 15
Tom K - 57
Phil M - 6
Denise P - 28
Lamontica C - 15
Micah G - 4
I realized I had missed some comments, so Tom gets 5 points for figuring out the crabs were dead.
On the other hand, I'll reward Denise 3 points for the better explanations
Oh, and the milage on our Minivan - 44... we couldn't believe it ourselves, but there you have it.
Whew - I will leave the recipe translation for someone more ambitious. If no one takes it in a day or two I will come back.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the surströmming is concerned - quite the can of ?!&%!?
Wikipedia says it is basically herring that is put into a very light brine solution. The solution stops bad bacteria from forming, but actually allows another type of bacteria to form and ferment the fish, slowing decomposing it and making it sour. It seems that for a time Swedish law prevented the sale of a year's catch before a certain date, to make sure that the fermentation was complete.
On a side note, the smell is considered one of the worst smells in the world. One Swedish landlord even evicted a tenant for spilling the juice from a can on a shared staircase. In the courtroom, where the eviction was contested, the landlord opened a can of surströmming and won her case due to the smell.
Love you guys - have a safe rest of your trip.
Why in the name of heaven and earth would anyone eat something like that? Even if it tasted good, how could you get past the smell? I can actually smell it through the computer screen just reading Tom's account. I don't think I could eat it even if it stood between me and certain death.
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ReplyDeleteSurströmming is fermented baltic herring. OK that is just nasty I don't care who you are!!
ReplyDeleteThe fermentation starts from a lactic acid enzyme in the spine of the fish, and so the fermentation is by autolysis; together with bacteria, pungent smelling acids are formed in the fish such as propionic acid, butyric acid and acetic acid. Hydrogen sulphide is also produced.
The salt raises the osmotic pressure of the brine above the zone where bacteria responsible for rotting (decomposition of proteins) can thrive and prevents decomposition of fish proteins into oligopeptides and amino acids. Instead the osmotic conditions enable the Haloanaerobium bacteria to prosper and decompose the fish glycogen into organic acids, making it sour (acidic). Fermented fish is an old staple in European cuisines; for example the ancient Greeks and Romans made a famous sauce from fermented fish called garum[2] and Worcestershire Sauce also has a fermented fish ingredient.
I was sick all weekend so I could not keep up. Tom, I am going to catch you!
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ReplyDeleteI hope this is accurate. Some words are hard to translate into English. Is there partial credit?
ReplyDeletePorterstek:
1 kg kött = 2.1 lbs meat (beef)
1 flaska porter (33 centiliter) = 11.2 ounces stout beer
1 dl svartvinbärs-saft (koncentrerad) = 0.42 cups black current juice concentrate
2 köttbuljongs tärningar = 2 beef boullion cubes
1-2 gula lökar = 1 - 2 yellow onions
1 pressad vitlök = 1 clove crushed garlic
1 tsk timjan = 1 teaspoon thyme
5-6 enbär = 5-6 dried juniper berries
5-6 svartpepparskorn = 5-6 black pepper corns
1 dl soja = 0.42 cup soy
Let ingredients boil together and add the roast later. Let simmer on low heat in a frying pan 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Turn every half hour. Strain the broth and wisk it with 1 cup flour and let it cook for 5 minutes add 2-3 cups cream to make a sauce. Serve cold roast, sliced with boiled potatoes and blackcurrent jelly.
There were at least two words that were hard to translate. I forget which ones they were but one came out 'cloud' which suddenly occurred to me in the shower this morning that it means thicken. Is that right? The other one came out 'rode' (as in I rode a horse) which I could not figure out so I thought it meant to whisk or blend so that it isn't lumpy. Not sure about that one. The others seemed apparent to me so I hope I got it. I TOTALLY want to make this. It sounds delicious.
DeleteIf I get this right and I manage to win, instead of candy, can I get the dried juniper berries? I don't know where we would find them here. Whole Foods or Honest Weight maybe?? I can also try this really neat Healthy Living Market and Cafe off exit 15 of the Northway. They would have the beer -- organic even.
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