Nostalgic foraging

With the luxury of all this nature we have in Sweden combined with a warm day at my families summerhouse i thought i would revisit some of the tastes of my youth. Granted that i did not cherish the surroundings while growing up there (i mostly wanted to play computer games as is the fashion of the youth of this time) i still remember that some things in these here woods are edible.

First of two classics...wild strawberries i think would be the English term for these rubies of the forest. Wonderfully sweet and intense in flavor, i wouldn't want to cook with these though, they demand eating right there and then...or maybe, just maybe if your feeling decadent have them in a bowl with some full fat cream (none of that light stuff here) its so delicious it should be enjoyed more often.


The more readily available blueberry is another forest favorite of bears and Patriks alike. However, these are the real deal. Not those scary frankenberrys we got in the college cafeteria or that you can buy bloated in the supermarket. These are, like so many wonderful things, tiny! And the inside pulp is intensely colored and flavorful. They taste great directly of the bush or in a pie or as soup...YUM YUM YUM


This is the flower of a Dog rose, a wonderful flower on its own but what you want are the rose hips that are great dried and then boiled to make an excellent brew or soup. I'll be sure to post a recipe for this later on. The book I'm reading (a “neo-paganistic” rewrite of the Arthurian legends, thank you for this one Anna) also claims this concoction to be beneficial for pregnant women, i'll have to remember that for the future so i can enjoy it together with the future mother of my children.


The above should not in any way be confused with real dogs....which although considered delicateness in some countries would, at least to me, make morally fouled brews. (Bad joke i know, but a good reason to post a picture of my aunt's cute little doggy)


Ok, so this isn't exactly a childhood snack but my dear grandmother taught me to spot this spice, its caraway, which is a traditional bread spice, and also appear in a lot of traditional Scandinavian not so child friendly beverages, Islandic brennivin anyone?.