I associate certain periods, places or events in my life with food. The same way a favorite songs can take you back, 2004 was my year of jerusalem artichoke soup, oysters will always mean the autumn of 2005 in Berlin (at the KaDeWe osyter bar), 2006 was pannacotta and creme brulee/catalan/caramel and 2007 is turning out to be the year of the beef carpaccio for me. I have been following the 'They Go Really Well Together' online gastronomy challenge and when I discovered that this round's challenge is to combine chocolate and meat I knew what I had to do. Presenting "Beef Carpaccio with Chocolate Balsamico Reduction"...
Beef Carpaccio with Chocolate Balsamico Reduction
For the chocolate balsamico reduction: Heat 1 cup of good balsamic vinegar on medium heat until boiling. Then, simmer for 30 about minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in 2 tablespoons of pure cocoa powder, 1 tablespoon butter, 1 tsp sugar until dissolved and combined and let cool.
For the carpaccio: Slice 1 pound of bright red raw beef sirloin into very, very thin slices. You can get them properly paper-thin by then pounding the slices between two sheets of wax paper. Arrange the slices out flat on a serving plate.
Drizzle the carpaccio generously with truffle oil, sprinkle with good sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, toss over a handful of argula, and grate a wedge of parmigiano reggiano in delicate flakes over it. Drizzle the chocolate balsamico reduction over everything for the finishing touch. Verdict: The nutty/peppery argula really adds something to this dish and seems to marry the chocolate balsamico with the savory truffle and cheese. The beef just melts on your tongue. Delicious! Chocolate and meat DO go really well together if I am to judge by this dish.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Destination Blommeröd – Unbridled Spirit
My lifestyle feature about the famous Blommeröd Arabian Stud and the estate's lovely proprietor, Vicke Philip Sørensen, will be published in the summer issue of South of Sweden Magazine. Here is a sneak preview of the article.
Unbridled Spirit
The deep lush heart of Skåne conceals a secret realm where you can live the thoroughbred life. Fly over the fields on an exquisite Arabian steed, sip champagne in a Bedouin tent or place your bets in the sport of kings at the legendary Blommeröd Arabian Stud. Laurel Williams explores Blommeröd and meets the estate’s inexhaustible proprietor, Vicke Philip Sørensen who upholds the dual missions to improve the “the first breed” and to spread well-being among her guests with good food, peaceful sleep, fresh air and laughter.
Sweden’s most internationally renowned and exclusive Arabian stud, the breathtaking Blommeröd estate, is tucked quietly away in Skåne’s geographic centre, near the little village of Höör. Set on some 1100 green acres overlooking the rippling Ringsjön Lake, this is one of Europe’s leading centres for Arabian horse breeding, showing and racing, complete with luxury stables, riding arenas, a veterinary office, show grounds, a guesthouse, guest stables and Sweden’s only private betting-approved racetrack.
The woman who keeps this elaborate estate running smoothly is the indomitable Vicke Phillip Sørensen. Breeder, gourmet chef and hostess extraordinaire, she makes every guest, human and equine alike, feel instantly welcome and comfortable.
As a destination Blommeröd is totally unique, made special by the presence of the estate’s forty exquisite Arabian horses and their high-spirited owner, Vicke herself. Not only is it a deliciously tranquil place to visit for a picnic lunch in a meadow or a gourmet weekend at the guesthouse where guest stables accommodate your horse, but it also lets you experience the usually inaccessible lifestyle of champagne, royalty, rock stars and riches surrounding Arabian thoroughbred horses.
The legend of Probat
Long leafy avenues lead you from the main gate past dozens of extremely beautiful Arabian horses with the legendary blood of Probat, one of the world’s most famous Arabian stallions, flowing in their veins like gold.
The secret world of Blommeröd was created in 1964 when Vicke’s late father, Eric Phillip Sørensen, sold his hugely successful company, Securitas, to his sons and chose to pursue the privileged hobby of breeding Arabian horses.
“My father was a connoisseur of beauty and his two passions were orchids and Arabian horses. Luckily for me he chose to work with horses,” says Vicke with a grin, “because I don’t think I could have had any success with flowers.”
He imported seven excellent Arabian thoroughbreds from Poland to start the stud that would soon grow to own 170 horses. In 1975 the great Probat was born and as a stallion he propelled Blommeröd to fame with his excellence.
“It was not that Probat was a particularly beautiful horse,” Vicke explains, “but that he consistently produced beautiful horses that made him so valuable.”
The prolific Probat sired hundreds of horses in Sweden and Poland before he was sold to eminent American breeder Dr. Eugene Lacroix in 1986 for the pretty sum of 28 million SEK, one of the highest prices ever paid for a horse.
Being beautiful
Vicke’s father expected women to be quiet and beautiful, like his horses. He shipped his vivacious young daughter off to a Catholic convent in England for four years of tutelage by nuns and then to finishing school in Denmark.
“We did not always share the same opinion,” laughs Vicke, who is clearly still untamed but unconcerned. “I am tough and very active and that did not fit his image of how a woman should be.”
After her education, Vicke married and settled in Denmark to raise her daughter Camilla. As a trained speech therapist she worked with autistic children at a children’s hospital in Copenhagen for 18 years.
“I have always loved horses,” Vicke explains pragmatically, “but returning to Blommeröd was never part of my plan until I was 42 and pregnant with my second child, Carl Philip.”
Vicke’s father certainly came to appreciate his daughter’s tenacity when she returned to help him maintain Blommeröd in 1991. Back then, Vicke took charge of the stallions while her father looked after the precious mares but today she handles every aspect of the estate.
“Training horses and men takes a lot of hard work,” insists Vicke with her contagious smile. “People think I am some kind princess, just sitting up here eating chocolates, but horses are high maintenance creatures and I do most of the work myself since I am too impatient to teach someone else to do things my way.”
This includes keeping not only horses, but also visitors feeling pampered and well fed. A passion for food runs in the family and Vicke herself does all the cooking for the guesthouse restaurant and for the many catered events held on the estate including weddings by the lake, lavish birthday soirees in the authentic Bedouin tent and the star-studded Scandinavian Open Championships for Arabian horses.
Drinkers of the wind
The horses you will see at Vicke’s Blommeröd are living history. Arabian thoroughbreds are known as “the first breed” and their story stretches back thousands of years to origins as the ancient desert horse of nomadic Bedouins. Arabian horses were kept in the Bedouin tents alongside the children and they became important members of the family, developing a profound closeness to humans and the will to please them, which is a rare trait in animals.
“Only the most gentle and obedient horses were allowed to reproduce, so today’s Arabian horses are incredibly receptive, sensitive and easy to teach,” Vicke explains.
If the Arabian horses’ sweet manners are not enough to charm you, then their exceptional beauty will certainly melt your heart. Face to face with an Arabian thoroughbred at Blommeröd, you will find yourself arrested by a pair of enormous dewy eyes and snuffled by the prodigious nostrils, good for inhaling copious amounts of oxygen to race across deserts, that caused the Bedouins to call Arabian horses “Drinkers of the Wind”.
“Everyone can appreciate the beauty and sensitivity of these horses. There is something in their air that appeals to us,” Vicke muses.
The sport of kings
Napoleon, George Washington and Genghis Khan all depended on the fearlessness, loyalty and stamina of Arabian horses in their conquests. Today, Arabian’s compete in endurance events, where they usually triumph against all other breeds, and increasingly in the traditional track racing known as “the sport of kings”.
Blommeröd is one of just seven official horse racing locations in Scandinavia and the 1060-meter turf oval is the only private racetrack in Sweden with a national betting license.
Dress to the nines and don a sublime hat for Blommeröd’s classic, pulse-quickening day at the races, set for August 11th this year. The derby is for Arabian and English thoroughbreds but the main event of the day is the Scandinavian Arabian Derby. Choose your champion and loose your composure, like Eliza Doolittle, cheering as the fleetest of the fleet thunder down the track under a blurry rainbow of jockeys.
Bred for perfection
The Arabian horse excels most of all at showmanship. International visitors and horses have descended on Blommeröd every summer since 1991 for the prestigious Scandinavian Open Championships, Scandinavia’s largest show for Arabian thoroughbred horses. To see the worlds most beautiful horses groomed until gleaming and prancing to beautiful music in flowering show grounds is a compelling sight.
This year, on July 7th and 8th, over 100 horses from all over Europe will compete for the judges’ favour, armed with just their own physical perfection and equine grace. Previous judges have included such illustrious figures as HRH Princess Alia of Jordan. Famous English breeder and Rolling Stone wife, Shirley Watts has captured the coveted championship title twice with horses from her Halsdon Arabian Stud in Devonshire.
For Vicke, the show is her annual masterpiece of entertaining and hospitality. Champagne corks pop in the VIP tent, which she has stocked with strawberries and canapés. In another tent is her generous gourmet buffet lunch and out on the grass several visitors enjoy their own picnics and relax in sun chairs.
“This is the perfect way to savour a lovely summer day,” assures Vicke warmly. “It is a completely peaceful experience with beautiful horses and beautiful music in the open air.”
High-spirited and yet completely grounded, Vicke cultivates an atmosphere of genuine warmth between people, horses and the land at Blommeröd.
“I will stay here forever,” she declares gazing out from her house on the hill upon the lake and meadows of Blommeröd. As the saying goes, wild horses could not drag her away and visitors to Blommeröd will feel the same.
Fast Facts
Vicke Philip Sørensen
Unbridled SpiritThe deep lush heart of Skåne conceals a secret realm where you can live the thoroughbred life. Fly over the fields on an exquisite Arabian steed, sip champagne in a Bedouin tent or place your bets in the sport of kings at the legendary Blommeröd Arabian Stud. Laurel Williams explores Blommeröd and meets the estate’s inexhaustible proprietor, Vicke Philip Sørensen who upholds the dual missions to improve the “the first breed” and to spread well-being among her guests with good food, peaceful sleep, fresh air and laughter.
Sweden’s most internationally renowned and exclusive Arabian stud, the breathtaking Blommeröd estate, is tucked quietly away in Skåne’s geographic centre, near the little village of Höör. Set on some 1100 green acres overlooking the rippling Ringsjön Lake, this is one of Europe’s leading centres for Arabian horse breeding, showing and racing, complete with luxury stables, riding arenas, a veterinary office, show grounds, a guesthouse, guest stables and Sweden’s only private betting-approved racetrack.
The woman who keeps this elaborate estate running smoothly is the indomitable Vicke Phillip Sørensen. Breeder, gourmet chef and hostess extraordinaire, she makes every guest, human and equine alike, feel instantly welcome and comfortable.As a destination Blommeröd is totally unique, made special by the presence of the estate’s forty exquisite Arabian horses and their high-spirited owner, Vicke herself. Not only is it a deliciously tranquil place to visit for a picnic lunch in a meadow or a gourmet weekend at the guesthouse where guest stables accommodate your horse, but it also lets you experience the usually inaccessible lifestyle of champagne, royalty, rock stars and riches surrounding Arabian thoroughbred horses.
The legend of ProbatLong leafy avenues lead you from the main gate past dozens of extremely beautiful Arabian horses with the legendary blood of Probat, one of the world’s most famous Arabian stallions, flowing in their veins like gold.
The secret world of Blommeröd was created in 1964 when Vicke’s late father, Eric Phillip Sørensen, sold his hugely successful company, Securitas, to his sons and chose to pursue the privileged hobby of breeding Arabian horses.
“My father was a connoisseur of beauty and his two passions were orchids and Arabian horses. Luckily for me he chose to work with horses,” says Vicke with a grin, “because I don’t think I could have had any success with flowers.”
He imported seven excellent Arabian thoroughbreds from Poland to start the stud that would soon grow to own 170 horses. In 1975 the great Probat was born and as a stallion he propelled Blommeröd to fame with his excellence.
“It was not that Probat was a particularly beautiful horse,” Vicke explains, “but that he consistently produced beautiful horses that made him so valuable.”
The prolific Probat sired hundreds of horses in Sweden and Poland before he was sold to eminent American breeder Dr. Eugene Lacroix in 1986 for the pretty sum of 28 million SEK, one of the highest prices ever paid for a horse.
Being beautiful
Vicke’s father expected women to be quiet and beautiful, like his horses. He shipped his vivacious young daughter off to a Catholic convent in England for four years of tutelage by nuns and then to finishing school in Denmark.
“We did not always share the same opinion,” laughs Vicke, who is clearly still untamed but unconcerned. “I am tough and very active and that did not fit his image of how a woman should be.”
After her education, Vicke married and settled in Denmark to raise her daughter Camilla. As a trained speech therapist she worked with autistic children at a children’s hospital in Copenhagen for 18 years.
“I have always loved horses,” Vicke explains pragmatically, “but returning to Blommeröd was never part of my plan until I was 42 and pregnant with my second child, Carl Philip.”
Vicke’s father certainly came to appreciate his daughter’s tenacity when she returned to help him maintain Blommeröd in 1991. Back then, Vicke took charge of the stallions while her father looked after the precious mares but today she handles every aspect of the estate.
“Training horses and men takes a lot of hard work,” insists Vicke with her contagious smile. “People think I am some kind princess, just sitting up here eating chocolates, but horses are high maintenance creatures and I do most of the work myself since I am too impatient to teach someone else to do things my way.”
This includes keeping not only horses, but also visitors feeling pampered and well fed. A passion for food runs in the family and Vicke herself does all the cooking for the guesthouse restaurant and for the many catered events held on the estate including weddings by the lake, lavish birthday soirees in the authentic Bedouin tent and the star-studded Scandinavian Open Championships for Arabian horses.
Drinkers of the windThe horses you will see at Vicke’s Blommeröd are living history. Arabian thoroughbreds are known as “the first breed” and their story stretches back thousands of years to origins as the ancient desert horse of nomadic Bedouins. Arabian horses were kept in the Bedouin tents alongside the children and they became important members of the family, developing a profound closeness to humans and the will to please them, which is a rare trait in animals.
“Only the most gentle and obedient horses were allowed to reproduce, so today’s Arabian horses are incredibly receptive, sensitive and easy to teach,” Vicke explains.
If the Arabian horses’ sweet manners are not enough to charm you, then their exceptional beauty will certainly melt your heart. Face to face with an Arabian thoroughbred at Blommeröd, you will find yourself arrested by a pair of enormous dewy eyes and snuffled by the prodigious nostrils, good for inhaling copious amounts of oxygen to race across deserts, that caused the Bedouins to call Arabian horses “Drinkers of the Wind”.
“Everyone can appreciate the beauty and sensitivity of these horses. There is something in their air that appeals to us,” Vicke muses.
The sport of kings
Napoleon, George Washington and Genghis Khan all depended on the fearlessness, loyalty and stamina of Arabian horses in their conquests. Today, Arabian’s compete in endurance events, where they usually triumph against all other breeds, and increasingly in the traditional track racing known as “the sport of kings”.
Blommeröd is one of just seven official horse racing locations in Scandinavia and the 1060-meter turf oval is the only private racetrack in Sweden with a national betting license.
Dress to the nines and don a sublime hat for Blommeröd’s classic, pulse-quickening day at the races, set for August 11th this year. The derby is for Arabian and English thoroughbreds but the main event of the day is the Scandinavian Arabian Derby. Choose your champion and loose your composure, like Eliza Doolittle, cheering as the fleetest of the fleet thunder down the track under a blurry rainbow of jockeys.
Bred for perfection
The Arabian horse excels most of all at showmanship. International visitors and horses have descended on Blommeröd every summer since 1991 for the prestigious Scandinavian Open Championships, Scandinavia’s largest show for Arabian thoroughbred horses. To see the worlds most beautiful horses groomed until gleaming and prancing to beautiful music in flowering show grounds is a compelling sight.
This year, on July 7th and 8th, over 100 horses from all over Europe will compete for the judges’ favour, armed with just their own physical perfection and equine grace. Previous judges have included such illustrious figures as HRH Princess Alia of Jordan. Famous English breeder and Rolling Stone wife, Shirley Watts has captured the coveted championship title twice with horses from her Halsdon Arabian Stud in Devonshire.
For Vicke, the show is her annual masterpiece of entertaining and hospitality. Champagne corks pop in the VIP tent, which she has stocked with strawberries and canapés. In another tent is her generous gourmet buffet lunch and out on the grass several visitors enjoy their own picnics and relax in sun chairs.
“This is the perfect way to savour a lovely summer day,” assures Vicke warmly. “It is a completely peaceful experience with beautiful horses and beautiful music in the open air.”
High-spirited and yet completely grounded, Vicke cultivates an atmosphere of genuine warmth between people, horses and the land at Blommeröd.
“I will stay here forever,” she declares gazing out from her house on the hill upon the lake and meadows of Blommeröd. As the saying goes, wild horses could not drag her away and visitors to Blommeröd will feel the same.
Fast Facts
Vicke Philip Sørensen
- Born in Stockholm in 1948 to a Danish father and Swedish mother
- Married three times (that they have all been doctors is purely coincidental)
- Daughter Camilla, now 40 and the mother of Vicke’s four darling grandchildren
- Son Carl Philip, 18 years old and studying with barons and Bernadottes at prestigious Sigtuna boarding school
- Proprietor of 1100-acre Blommeröd Arabian Stud Estate
- Forty Arabian thoroughbred horses complete the family circle
- Scandinavia’s largest show for Arabian thoroughbred horses on the 7th-8th of July this year, entrance is 85 SEK
- A VIP table for four costs 4700 SEK for the two days and includes the entrance fee, parking, snacks and a bottle of champagne for each day
- Enjoy Vicke’s grand lunch buffet for just 285 SEK per head, but do book in advance
- Group tours for 15 to 20 people, including a demonstration of horse showmanship, costs 75 SEK per person
- Call ahead for a meal at the guesthouse restaurant and stay overnight for 600 SEK per person/per night
- Children, dogs and horses are welcome at Blommeröd
- Blommeröd is easily accessible by train from Malmö (30 minutes) and Copenhagen (1 hr)
- Visit www.blommerod.com for more details and directions to the estate
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Skåne's secret sun coast
My travel feature about Sweden's southernmost municipality, Trelleborg, will be published in the summer issue of South of Sweden Magazine. Here is a sneak preview of the article.
Skåne’s secret sun coast
Trelleborg’s municipality lies sunning itself at the very southernmost tip of Sweden and conceals a summer paradise of endless sandy beaches, a city of palm trees and a honeycomb of quiet country roads. These lead you to preserved villages where lauded gourmet restaurants, exclusive shops, art galleries and bed & breakfasts cluster in little oases. As the town proper gears up to celebrate its 750-year anniversary this summer, Laurel Williams learns that Trelleborg is much more than its reputation as just a busy port of entry between Sweden and continental Europe.
A place in the sun
The Trelleborg region has been inhabited for over ten thousand years and Stone Age settlers, Danish Vikings and medieval herring merchants have all left their mark on this land that lies so strategically and temperately at Sweden’s southernmost extremity. Entering from the north, pass a strand of beech forest that opens onto lush hills and dales tumbling down to meet the Söderslätt, Sweden’s most fertile plain. The green and yellow patchwork of flowering rape, wheat, potatoes, sugar beets, corn and peas is freckled with small preserved villages and stately farms that cause this region to be called the kingdom of farmers. Still today, provincial hospitality and friendliness prevails and you will find the people of the Trelleborg region to be warm and eager to accommodate you.
To the south, soft sandy beaches, crystal clear water and harbors great and small embellish the 35-kilometer coastline facing the open horizon of the Baltic Sea. The beaches feel secluded, enjoy full southern exposure and catch the sun from dawn till dusk, ensuring you a sunrise over the water for your early morning dip and a shimmering sunset for a romantic beach rendezvous.
The distance from one village to the next is often just a pleasant walk or breezy bike ride along beech or willow lined avenues. Do not be put off if asphalt gives way to gravel lanes veering out into endless fields. Give yourself time to explore these especially and you will be rewarded with the quiet beauty of this landscape and then chaperoned by butterflies past balmy gardens into the next perfect little village or sometimes to another country altogether.
Little Italy
Arriving at Idala Gård, by way of one of the aforementioned gravel lanes, is to be transported to a secret golden corner of Italy. The exquisite farm has been in the family since 1635 and your hosts, Pia and Hans Nyman have gathered the essences of Friuli, Liguria, Apulia and Tuscany here. Four long whitewashed buildings form a sheltered cobbled courtyard and under the big tree at its center is sweet old Emma, the family’s Labrador retriever, waiting to greet you with a lopsided grin.
Choose your table in the courtyard or the airy dining room and be dazzled with big platters of antipasti and Italian effusiveness. Once you have discovered the place you will return again and again for the balsamico onions, sizzling polenta cakes and mouthwatering basil pesto emerging daily from the bright open kitchen.
They fire up the grill on Wednesday evenings in July and August and the occasional pig roast is celebrated with live music. Thursdays are pizza and antipasti nights, a steal at 150 SEK. The wine cellar is refreshingly stocked with exclusively Italian wines and even the beer and water hails from Italy. Join an Italian wine tasting or cooking class and stay for the weekend in one of the farm’s grand rooms for a real Italian escape.
The village green
Good things gather together in the little villages of the Söderslätt, which is perfect for the slow traveler. Pause in Haglösa and find the old schoolhouse, now slickly remodeled as the Villa Ancora guesthouse, gallery and café. If luck is on your side, you will find the musically talented owners, Monica and Christian Einarson hosting an impromptu concert in the great room where the grand piano stands ever ready.
Monica is an accomplished opera and musical star whose stunning smile you may recognize from her role as celebrity voice coach on the Fame Factory television show. Sign up for one of their workshops or learn how to sing your heart out with a private voice lesson. Then stroll across the village road to Frida’s Gård, where you will find a quaint little farm shop in a former henhouse proffering lovely French and Danish kitchen and garden design treasures.
In the tiny village of Västra Torp, a crooked hobbit-like cottage houses a genuine Scanian gourmet haven. The Hedmans Krog restaurant serves local delicacies like wild garlic soup made from tender wild garlic shoots handpicked in a nearby glen. Stooping to enter the snug dining rooms increases the feeling of hobbit coziness inside and tables are also set for lunch and dinner out in the lush little herb and spice garden in the shade of wizened fruit trees.
Ten paces away, find soft beds in lofty white rooms at Hedmans Pensionat, a charming family-owned bed and breakfast in the former Västra Torp schoolhouse. The generous breakfast is served under the vaulted ceiling of the common room and you are welcome to use the barbeque in the garden on summer evenings.
Around the next corner is another ancient farmhouse and the former stall is now the pottery studio Hjärtegården, where artist Barbro Norrström literally puts her heart into her creations. Every colorful piece, from the tiniest garlic zester to the largest pitcher and basin set, is embossed with a heart all its own, making them sought after wedding and anniversary gifts.
Down by the seashore
From Västra Torp the sea is barely a kilometer distant and best accessed through Böste Läge. In this ancient fishing village boats anchor off the coast or are dragged up on the beach for lack of a harbor as they have been for centuries. The village road is still unpaved. Hedgerows, climbing roses and fragrant lavender bushes line your way past the summer cottages and paths slink between their long narrow yards down to the secluded sandy beach.
Near the Eastern border of the region, the summer village of Beddingestrand hugs one of the finest strips of sandy beach in the country. The long pristine ribbon of pale sand is kissed by silvery water and banked by low dunes. Pine trees offer shade and lend the air that hot summer perfume of baked pine needles.
Hire a cottage here or take in at the lovely guesthouse, Pensionat Rosengården, and wander down to the beach after breakfast. Tropical drinks and Latin rhythms at Beddingestrand’s very own cabana restaurant, 2:a Sandbank, is the right way to cap off a long lazy day on the beach.
The Deep South
A quaint lighthouse watches over Smygehuk, Sweden’s most southerly little spurt of land and very popular tourist destination. Climb the 17 meters up the precarious spiral staircase inside the turn of the century lighthouse for panorama of 180 degrees of shimmering seas and 180 degrees of quivering fields that add up to a magnificent view.
A modern beacon further out to sea now warns ships off the Kulla Shoals but the old lighthouse beam is still lit every night. The lemon yellow lighthouse keeper’s residence is now a popular hostel and the former laundry outhouse hosts a doll-sized maritime museum.
Follow the path from the corner of the garden to the tiny harbor where the air is pungent with seaweed and smoked herring from the Smyge Smokery. Pick up some picnic nibbles and then pose with the southernmost point marker by the harbor.
The harbor was once a lime quarry, thus the milky sheen of the turquoise water, and there is a timeworn limekiln nearby where lime for whitewashing local houses was prepared. Continue along the water’s edge to the 19th century Merchant’s Warehouse (Köpmansmagasinet), which now functions as a tourist office, local craft exhibit and a cozy café that opens under new ownership this summer.
Smyge goes to Hollywood
For the seamless link from Smyge to Hollywood look for the huge nude statue called Famntaget (The Embrace), a shameless beauty caressed by the wind and sun. Young Brigit Holmquist modeled for the statue by well-loved Trelleborg artist Axel Ebbe. Holmquist was the daughter of the Trelleborg factory director that commissioned the statue but she is more famously known as Uma Thurman’s maternal grandmother. Can you see the resemblance?
Oprah quizzed Thurman about the statue on her talk show and the star herself recently visited Trelleborg, under all secrecy, to see the statue with her own eyes and explore her Swedish roots.
The city of Vikings & palms
Medieval Trelleborg emerged from obscurity in 1257 when it was mentioned in royal correspondence as an important shipping and merchant city. Three years later the Danish royal family presented Trelleborg to Sweden as a wedding gift at the union of Danish Princess Sophia and Swedish Prince Valdemar. Wedded bliss did not stop Denmark from re-conquering the town soon after this and Trelleborg stayed in Danish hands until the decisive war of 1658 that brought all of Skåne under Swedish rule.
Though 1257 is the town’s official birthday, Trelleborg was already strategically important in the late 900’s when famed Viking king Harald Blåtand (Blue Tooth) ordered a ring fortress of over 100 meters in diameter to be built here. The Trelleborgen, as it is called, gave the town its name and is now partially reconstructed on its original site, right in the center of town. The fortress hosts Viking activities all summer long and a storming of the fortress is reenacted during the Viking Festival days in July, drawing would-be warriors from all over Europe. Today, the harbor that has hosted scores of Viking long ships and Hanseatic merchant vessels still commands most of the region’s commercial activities and is in fact Sweden’s second largest seaport.
Nobody misses an opportunity here to remind you that this is as south as it gets in Sweden. The prime location has been Trelleborg’s principal claim to fame since the early 80’s when it was branded Sweden’s Costa del Sol. It was then that local marketing guru Alf Näslund first tackled the challenge to attract families to settle here and fill the new jobs that were rapidly being created.
Näslund carted home a dozen palm trees from Alicante, Spain and today they have multiplied to line the city’s front street and pop up all over town from June to October every year. One of the city’s roundabouts, where a tropical colossus sways its fronds, was recently voted the most beautiful roundabout in Sweden. Trelleborg throws a full two-day party called the Palm Festival every August.
The currency of the world
To attract visitors to Trelleborg, Näslund also invented the clever ‘Tax Free for Tourists’ system that allows you to get your VAT back all over the world and is now a business worth billions of Euros.
Trelleborg’s local currency is another Näslund brainchild that has drawn media attention to the town. The Trelleborg coins are slightly larger than the Swedish five-crown coin, come in copper, silver and gold and are worth 50, 500 and 5,000 SEK respectively.
“We thought we would end up in jail, since it is illegal to mint your own money,” Näslund marvels, “but all the banks and shops accepted it as valid currency.”
You can even pay with the local coins at the state-owned liquor store, Systembolaget. Mostly though, people buy the coins as souvenirs and collector’s items. The stunning total amount in circulation is approximately five to ten million SEK.
Summer in the city
Trelleborg celebrates its 750th birthday this summer with lavish festivities, the most extravagant of which is the living and home show ‘Leva & Bo 07’ in August. Architects have designed nearly 300 modern concept homes and apartments, including ecologically certified Uniqhus houses, which will open their doors to visitors for the two weeks of the event.
A wealth of activities and live entertainment is planned and a star-studded Rhapsody in Rock concert hosted by Robert Wells forms the grand finale. Similar projects, like the development of the North Harbor in Helsingborg and the West Harbor in Malmö, have worked wonders to enhance the appeal of those cities.
Trelleborg is dominated by the expansive harbor from whence millions of passengers are ferried to Rostock, Sassnitz and Travemunde in Germany every year. But the heart of town is the quiet pedestrian street Algatan that spills out onto the main square and city park. Saturdays are market days on the square and stands crowd around Axel Ebbe’s enormous sea monster fountain at its center. An old water tower looms over the scene and locals gather in glass café pavilion at its base.
On the other side of the park, through the rose garden and past aviaries, is a small temple to Ebbe’s heartily Scanian and sometimes irreverent art. The town’s most popular sculpture, however, is the high-heeled clique of Böst ladies created by Malmö artist Fred Åberg. The ladies hide their faces under umbrellas on Algatan and one of the women stretches out a slim hand to passersby who leave her little offerings. A man clings (almost) halfway up a huge bronze pole a little further along on Algatan in another Åberg sculpture called “Nästan Halvvägs” or “Almost Halfway”.
Duck off Algatan into Trelleborg’s savviest big city espresso bar, the coffee and cream-colored Café Systrar & Böner, where organic baby food is served alongside the lattes.
The finest epicurean evening in town is found at Hotel Dannegården on Strandgatan. The restaurant in the wealthy ship owner’s villa from 1910 is praised in the White Guide for its classic gourmet cuisine and their selection of after dinner brandies and whiskies was once crowned the finest in Sweden.
Down a dram of the world’s oldest and most expensive whiskey, sip Armagnac from 1890 or sample from the 17 vintages of Calvados Coeur De Lion. Then pluck a plump cigar from the humidor and enjoy the evening’s constitutional in the period garden. Time is an illusion and here, as in the rest of Trelleborg, you are free to travel in it.
Getting there & getting around
By air – Both Copenhagen’s international airport (Kastrup) and Malmö Airport (Sturup) are just 30 minutes from Trelleborg by car.
By land – Drivers can follow the E6 south from Malmö (30 minutes) or take scenic coastal road 9 east from Ystad. Local and regional buses connect the villages to Malmö, Lund, Vellinge, Höllviken and Ystad. Rent bikes at Beddinge Cykeluthyrning, Lilla Bedding (+46), Cykelakuten Trelleborg (+46), Lena på Läget, Trelleborg (+46) or Fribergs cykelaffär, Trelleborg (+46).
By sea – Catch a ferry from Rostock (5 hours), Sassnitz (4 hours) or Travemunde/Lubeck (6 hours) in Germany. Ships sail several times a day.
Mark your calendar
June 2nd – 3rd, Jordberga Festival
Enjoy live classical music performances in the castle gardens of lovely Jordberga Manor.
June 29th – 30th, Smygehuk Folk Music Festival
Folk musicians from all over the country gather to compete and perform. Learn how to dance a reel to the old tunes on fiddles and accordions and don’t miss the last dance by torchlight at midnight.
June 29th – July 15th, Summer Operetta
Trelleborg’s Variety Troupe entertains with a free summer operetta at Parken’s open-air stage. The show starts at 7 p.m. and is in Swedish.
July 5th – 8th: Storslaget Viking Festival
Four days of Viking and Medieval food, music, dance, craft and battle. Dress up and join the parade through town and the storming of the fortress. Prizes will be awarded for the best period costumes.
July 7th, Scanian Food Fair in Smyge
Sample classic Scanian treats like smoked sausages, honey, preserves, pies and the traditional spettekaka, a pyramid cake made of eggs and baked on a spit, in the Köpmansmagasinet.
July 19th, Tommy Körberg Concert
Swedish vocal hero Tommy Körberg will perform an outdoor summer concert on the Thurevallen soccer fields in Beddingestrand.
July 27th – 28th, Smygehamn Jazz Festival
The 10th annual Smygehamn Jazz Festival, Sweden’s southernmost such event, fills the Köpmansmagasinet with live swinging music.
August 4th – 18th, Leva & Bo 07
This living and home show is the biggest happening in the town’s recorded history. Visit the main events and exhibition in the courthouse, on the main square and in the city park. Buses shuttle visitors from there to the newly developed areas for an open house of the latest in home design and architecture.
August 11th, Rhapsody in Rock Concert
Swedish superstar Robert Wells hosts a special Jubilee Rhapsody in Rock at the Vångavallen stadium to celebrate Trelleborg’s 750 years and cap off the two-week long living and home show.
August 24th – 25th, The Palm Festival 2007
Over 75,000 visitors descend on the city of palms for the 32nd annual Palm Festival, Trelleborg’s favorite party.
Find more information about these and other events on www.trelleborg.se.
Skåne’s secret sun coast
Trelleborg’s municipality lies sunning itself at the very southernmost tip of Sweden and conceals a summer paradise of endless sandy beaches, a city of palm trees and a honeycomb of quiet country roads. These lead you to preserved villages where lauded gourmet restaurants, exclusive shops, art galleries and bed & breakfasts cluster in little oases. As the town proper gears up to celebrate its 750-year anniversary this summer, Laurel Williams learns that Trelleborg is much more than its reputation as just a busy port of entry between Sweden and continental Europe.
A place in the sun
The Trelleborg region has been inhabited for over ten thousand years and Stone Age settlers, Danish Vikings and medieval herring merchants have all left their mark on this land that lies so strategically and temperately at Sweden’s southernmost extremity. Entering from the north, pass a strand of beech forest that opens onto lush hills and dales tumbling down to meet the Söderslätt, Sweden’s most fertile plain. The green and yellow patchwork of flowering rape, wheat, potatoes, sugar beets, corn and peas is freckled with small preserved villages and stately farms that cause this region to be called the kingdom of farmers. Still today, provincial hospitality and friendliness prevails and you will find the people of the Trelleborg region to be warm and eager to accommodate you.
To the south, soft sandy beaches, crystal clear water and harbors great and small embellish the 35-kilometer coastline facing the open horizon of the Baltic Sea. The beaches feel secluded, enjoy full southern exposure and catch the sun from dawn till dusk, ensuring you a sunrise over the water for your early morning dip and a shimmering sunset for a romantic beach rendezvous.
The distance from one village to the next is often just a pleasant walk or breezy bike ride along beech or willow lined avenues. Do not be put off if asphalt gives way to gravel lanes veering out into endless fields. Give yourself time to explore these especially and you will be rewarded with the quiet beauty of this landscape and then chaperoned by butterflies past balmy gardens into the next perfect little village or sometimes to another country altogether.
Little Italy
Arriving at Idala Gård, by way of one of the aforementioned gravel lanes, is to be transported to a secret golden corner of Italy. The exquisite farm has been in the family since 1635 and your hosts, Pia and Hans Nyman have gathered the essences of Friuli, Liguria, Apulia and Tuscany here. Four long whitewashed buildings form a sheltered cobbled courtyard and under the big tree at its center is sweet old Emma, the family’s Labrador retriever, waiting to greet you with a lopsided grin.
Choose your table in the courtyard or the airy dining room and be dazzled with big platters of antipasti and Italian effusiveness. Once you have discovered the place you will return again and again for the balsamico onions, sizzling polenta cakes and mouthwatering basil pesto emerging daily from the bright open kitchen.
They fire up the grill on Wednesday evenings in July and August and the occasional pig roast is celebrated with live music. Thursdays are pizza and antipasti nights, a steal at 150 SEK. The wine cellar is refreshingly stocked with exclusively Italian wines and even the beer and water hails from Italy. Join an Italian wine tasting or cooking class and stay for the weekend in one of the farm’s grand rooms for a real Italian escape.
The village green
Good things gather together in the little villages of the Söderslätt, which is perfect for the slow traveler. Pause in Haglösa and find the old schoolhouse, now slickly remodeled as the Villa Ancora guesthouse, gallery and café. If luck is on your side, you will find the musically talented owners, Monica and Christian Einarson hosting an impromptu concert in the great room where the grand piano stands ever ready.
Monica is an accomplished opera and musical star whose stunning smile you may recognize from her role as celebrity voice coach on the Fame Factory television show. Sign up for one of their workshops or learn how to sing your heart out with a private voice lesson. Then stroll across the village road to Frida’s Gård, where you will find a quaint little farm shop in a former henhouse proffering lovely French and Danish kitchen and garden design treasures.
In the tiny village of Västra Torp, a crooked hobbit-like cottage houses a genuine Scanian gourmet haven. The Hedmans Krog restaurant serves local delicacies like wild garlic soup made from tender wild garlic shoots handpicked in a nearby glen. Stooping to enter the snug dining rooms increases the feeling of hobbit coziness inside and tables are also set for lunch and dinner out in the lush little herb and spice garden in the shade of wizened fruit trees.
Ten paces away, find soft beds in lofty white rooms at Hedmans Pensionat, a charming family-owned bed and breakfast in the former Västra Torp schoolhouse. The generous breakfast is served under the vaulted ceiling of the common room and you are welcome to use the barbeque in the garden on summer evenings.
Around the next corner is another ancient farmhouse and the former stall is now the pottery studio Hjärtegården, where artist Barbro Norrström literally puts her heart into her creations. Every colorful piece, from the tiniest garlic zester to the largest pitcher and basin set, is embossed with a heart all its own, making them sought after wedding and anniversary gifts.
Down by the seashore
From Västra Torp the sea is barely a kilometer distant and best accessed through Böste Läge. In this ancient fishing village boats anchor off the coast or are dragged up on the beach for lack of a harbor as they have been for centuries. The village road is still unpaved. Hedgerows, climbing roses and fragrant lavender bushes line your way past the summer cottages and paths slink between their long narrow yards down to the secluded sandy beach.
Near the Eastern border of the region, the summer village of Beddingestrand hugs one of the finest strips of sandy beach in the country. The long pristine ribbon of pale sand is kissed by silvery water and banked by low dunes. Pine trees offer shade and lend the air that hot summer perfume of baked pine needles.
Hire a cottage here or take in at the lovely guesthouse, Pensionat Rosengården, and wander down to the beach after breakfast. Tropical drinks and Latin rhythms at Beddingestrand’s very own cabana restaurant, 2:a Sandbank, is the right way to cap off a long lazy day on the beach.
The Deep South
A quaint lighthouse watches over Smygehuk, Sweden’s most southerly little spurt of land and very popular tourist destination. Climb the 17 meters up the precarious spiral staircase inside the turn of the century lighthouse for panorama of 180 degrees of shimmering seas and 180 degrees of quivering fields that add up to a magnificent view.
A modern beacon further out to sea now warns ships off the Kulla Shoals but the old lighthouse beam is still lit every night. The lemon yellow lighthouse keeper’s residence is now a popular hostel and the former laundry outhouse hosts a doll-sized maritime museum.
Follow the path from the corner of the garden to the tiny harbor where the air is pungent with seaweed and smoked herring from the Smyge Smokery. Pick up some picnic nibbles and then pose with the southernmost point marker by the harbor.
The harbor was once a lime quarry, thus the milky sheen of the turquoise water, and there is a timeworn limekiln nearby where lime for whitewashing local houses was prepared. Continue along the water’s edge to the 19th century Merchant’s Warehouse (Köpmansmagasinet), which now functions as a tourist office, local craft exhibit and a cozy café that opens under new ownership this summer.
Smyge goes to Hollywood
For the seamless link from Smyge to Hollywood look for the huge nude statue called Famntaget (The Embrace), a shameless beauty caressed by the wind and sun. Young Brigit Holmquist modeled for the statue by well-loved Trelleborg artist Axel Ebbe. Holmquist was the daughter of the Trelleborg factory director that commissioned the statue but she is more famously known as Uma Thurman’s maternal grandmother. Can you see the resemblance?
Oprah quizzed Thurman about the statue on her talk show and the star herself recently visited Trelleborg, under all secrecy, to see the statue with her own eyes and explore her Swedish roots.
The city of Vikings & palms
Medieval Trelleborg emerged from obscurity in 1257 when it was mentioned in royal correspondence as an important shipping and merchant city. Three years later the Danish royal family presented Trelleborg to Sweden as a wedding gift at the union of Danish Princess Sophia and Swedish Prince Valdemar. Wedded bliss did not stop Denmark from re-conquering the town soon after this and Trelleborg stayed in Danish hands until the decisive war of 1658 that brought all of Skåne under Swedish rule.
Though 1257 is the town’s official birthday, Trelleborg was already strategically important in the late 900’s when famed Viking king Harald Blåtand (Blue Tooth) ordered a ring fortress of over 100 meters in diameter to be built here. The Trelleborgen, as it is called, gave the town its name and is now partially reconstructed on its original site, right in the center of town. The fortress hosts Viking activities all summer long and a storming of the fortress is reenacted during the Viking Festival days in July, drawing would-be warriors from all over Europe. Today, the harbor that has hosted scores of Viking long ships and Hanseatic merchant vessels still commands most of the region’s commercial activities and is in fact Sweden’s second largest seaport.
Nobody misses an opportunity here to remind you that this is as south as it gets in Sweden. The prime location has been Trelleborg’s principal claim to fame since the early 80’s when it was branded Sweden’s Costa del Sol. It was then that local marketing guru Alf Näslund first tackled the challenge to attract families to settle here and fill the new jobs that were rapidly being created.
Näslund carted home a dozen palm trees from Alicante, Spain and today they have multiplied to line the city’s front street and pop up all over town from June to October every year. One of the city’s roundabouts, where a tropical colossus sways its fronds, was recently voted the most beautiful roundabout in Sweden. Trelleborg throws a full two-day party called the Palm Festival every August.
The currency of the world
To attract visitors to Trelleborg, Näslund also invented the clever ‘Tax Free for Tourists’ system that allows you to get your VAT back all over the world and is now a business worth billions of Euros.
Trelleborg’s local currency is another Näslund brainchild that has drawn media attention to the town. The Trelleborg coins are slightly larger than the Swedish five-crown coin, come in copper, silver and gold and are worth 50, 500 and 5,000 SEK respectively.
“We thought we would end up in jail, since it is illegal to mint your own money,” Näslund marvels, “but all the banks and shops accepted it as valid currency.”
You can even pay with the local coins at the state-owned liquor store, Systembolaget. Mostly though, people buy the coins as souvenirs and collector’s items. The stunning total amount in circulation is approximately five to ten million SEK.
Summer in the city
Trelleborg celebrates its 750th birthday this summer with lavish festivities, the most extravagant of which is the living and home show ‘Leva & Bo 07’ in August. Architects have designed nearly 300 modern concept homes and apartments, including ecologically certified Uniqhus houses, which will open their doors to visitors for the two weeks of the event.
A wealth of activities and live entertainment is planned and a star-studded Rhapsody in Rock concert hosted by Robert Wells forms the grand finale. Similar projects, like the development of the North Harbor in Helsingborg and the West Harbor in Malmö, have worked wonders to enhance the appeal of those cities.
Trelleborg is dominated by the expansive harbor from whence millions of passengers are ferried to Rostock, Sassnitz and Travemunde in Germany every year. But the heart of town is the quiet pedestrian street Algatan that spills out onto the main square and city park. Saturdays are market days on the square and stands crowd around Axel Ebbe’s enormous sea monster fountain at its center. An old water tower looms over the scene and locals gather in glass café pavilion at its base.
On the other side of the park, through the rose garden and past aviaries, is a small temple to Ebbe’s heartily Scanian and sometimes irreverent art. The town’s most popular sculpture, however, is the high-heeled clique of Böst ladies created by Malmö artist Fred Åberg. The ladies hide their faces under umbrellas on Algatan and one of the women stretches out a slim hand to passersby who leave her little offerings. A man clings (almost) halfway up a huge bronze pole a little further along on Algatan in another Åberg sculpture called “Nästan Halvvägs” or “Almost Halfway”.
Duck off Algatan into Trelleborg’s savviest big city espresso bar, the coffee and cream-colored Café Systrar & Böner, where organic baby food is served alongside the lattes.
The finest epicurean evening in town is found at Hotel Dannegården on Strandgatan. The restaurant in the wealthy ship owner’s villa from 1910 is praised in the White Guide for its classic gourmet cuisine and their selection of after dinner brandies and whiskies was once crowned the finest in Sweden.
Down a dram of the world’s oldest and most expensive whiskey, sip Armagnac from 1890 or sample from the 17 vintages of Calvados Coeur De Lion. Then pluck a plump cigar from the humidor and enjoy the evening’s constitutional in the period garden. Time is an illusion and here, as in the rest of Trelleborg, you are free to travel in it.
Getting there & getting around
By air – Both Copenhagen’s international airport (Kastrup) and Malmö Airport (Sturup) are just 30 minutes from Trelleborg by car.
By land – Drivers can follow the E6 south from Malmö (30 minutes) or take scenic coastal road 9 east from Ystad. Local and regional buses connect the villages to Malmö, Lund, Vellinge, Höllviken and Ystad. Rent bikes at Beddinge Cykeluthyrning, Lilla Bedding (+46), Cykelakuten Trelleborg (+46), Lena på Läget, Trelleborg (+46) or Fribergs cykelaffär, Trelleborg (+46).
By sea – Catch a ferry from Rostock (5 hours), Sassnitz (4 hours) or Travemunde/Lubeck (6 hours) in Germany. Ships sail several times a day.
Mark your calendar
June 2nd – 3rd, Jordberga Festival
Enjoy live classical music performances in the castle gardens of lovely Jordberga Manor.
June 29th – 30th, Smygehuk Folk Music Festival
Folk musicians from all over the country gather to compete and perform. Learn how to dance a reel to the old tunes on fiddles and accordions and don’t miss the last dance by torchlight at midnight.
June 29th – July 15th, Summer Operetta
Trelleborg’s Variety Troupe entertains with a free summer operetta at Parken’s open-air stage. The show starts at 7 p.m. and is in Swedish.
July 5th – 8th: Storslaget Viking Festival
Four days of Viking and Medieval food, music, dance, craft and battle. Dress up and join the parade through town and the storming of the fortress. Prizes will be awarded for the best period costumes.
July 7th, Scanian Food Fair in Smyge
Sample classic Scanian treats like smoked sausages, honey, preserves, pies and the traditional spettekaka, a pyramid cake made of eggs and baked on a spit, in the Köpmansmagasinet.
July 19th, Tommy Körberg Concert
Swedish vocal hero Tommy Körberg will perform an outdoor summer concert on the Thurevallen soccer fields in Beddingestrand.
July 27th – 28th, Smygehamn Jazz Festival
The 10th annual Smygehamn Jazz Festival, Sweden’s southernmost such event, fills the Köpmansmagasinet with live swinging music.
August 4th – 18th, Leva & Bo 07
This living and home show is the biggest happening in the town’s recorded history. Visit the main events and exhibition in the courthouse, on the main square and in the city park. Buses shuttle visitors from there to the newly developed areas for an open house of the latest in home design and architecture.
August 11th, Rhapsody in Rock Concert
Swedish superstar Robert Wells hosts a special Jubilee Rhapsody in Rock at the Vångavallen stadium to celebrate Trelleborg’s 750 years and cap off the two-week long living and home show.
August 24th – 25th, The Palm Festival 2007
Over 75,000 visitors descend on the city of palms for the 32nd annual Palm Festival, Trelleborg’s favorite party.
Find more information about these and other events on www.trelleborg.se.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
The Taste of a Scanian Summer
My article about summer dining in Skåne will appear in the summer issue of South of Sweden Magazine. Here is the preview.
The Taste of a Scanian Summer
Sweden’s most fertile province is the natural heart of Swedish gastronomy. We roam from Malmö’s ultra-hip Möllevångstorget to the ultra-traditional Österlen village of Hammenhög and scour the seaside in our search for the most unique and most jovial places to eat in Skåne this summer.
In the city
Tempo Bar & Kök
In Malmö’s liveliest neighborhood lies the aptly named Tempo Bar & Kök. The waiters of this bohemian gourmet restaurant banter Basil Fawlty-style with guests and serve up oysters on the half shell, frittatas and crème brulées. The offbeat menu is divided into meat, fish, shellfish, vegetarian and side dishes, rather than starters and entrées. The idea is to mix, match and share. A fake palm tree, colored lights and retro sidewalk tables strike a comfortable balance between cool and kitsch and the clientele is thick with young designers, musicians and artists. Singer/songwriter Nina Persson, best known for taking The Cardigans to international fame, lives nearby and is a loyal Tempo patron.
Go: Södra Skolgatan 30, Malmö
In the country
Hammenhögs Gästgivaregård
This authentic family-run inn has been serving travelers rest and nourishment for centuries and is the last outpost of the gutsy traditional Scanian rarity, slow braised rook. The dark fragrant meat of the young birds, a little like duck and just delicately gamey, is served with a rich gravy, freshly pickled slices of cucumber, red currant jelly and a fine Burgundy. Dine in the garden framed by a sea of wheat fields and stay overnight in one of the inn’s charming rooms. John Steinbeck and Greta Garbo have loved the old world hospitality here, as well as infamous Scanian author Fritiof Nilsson Piraten who often came to drink his lunch.
Go: Ystadsvägen 34, Hammenhög, www.hammenhogs.nu
By the sea
Best seaside summer dining tips
Barfota, Helsingborg
Come barefoot, wriggle your toes in the sand and admire tanned flesh and blood-red sunsets over the sound. Put your bottle of pink champagne on ice while you have a dip between courses.
Bjerreds Saltsjöbad Kallbadhus, Bjärred
A Scottish-Swedish couple serves fresh summer fare in this modern wood and glass building set on stilts at the end of Sweden’s longest swimming pier, which juts over half a kilometer out to sea.
Klitterhus restaurang, Ängelholm
The name means ‘the dune house’ and the restaurant sits at the edge of the dunes on a secluded six-kilometer long sandy beach. Come for romantic beach walks at sunset and fine dining on the terrace.
La Plage – summer by MeNTO, Helsingborg
With its prime waterfront location and an extreme makeover by new owners, the savvy crew from acclaimed Helsingborg restaurant MeNTO, this is the most exciting seaside newcomer this summer.
Niklas Viken, Viken
The summer hideaway of celebrity chef Niklas Ekstedt draws a relaxed crowd of gastronomical hedonists to its sun sun-warmed wooden deck at the water’s edge.
Salt & Brygga, Malmö
On the waterfront in shiny new Västra Hamnen, Salt & Brygga is an oasis of gastronomic social responsibility. The only Slowfood certified restaurant in Sweden, they serve superb organic gourmet cuisine.
Skanörs Fiskrögeri, Matställe & Butik, Skanör
Herring is smoked here as it has been for over 1000 years, right next to what is perhaps Sweden’s finest white powder beach. Try all kinds of freshly smoked or grilled fish at the sunny waterside tables.
Vitemölle Badhotell Restaurant, Vitemölla
Though proudly sporting the word BADHOTELL above the entrance, this place is almost too good to be true. The big sparkling windows of the dining room open onto sand dunes thatched with wildflowers and a heavenly sandy beach.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
A Rarified Escape to the Land of Kullen
My article about the Kullabygden district of Skåne has been published in South of Sweden Magazine. Read the full article below or visit www.sosmag.se to download the pdf version of the spring 2007 issue of the magazine.
A Rarified Escape to the Land of Kullen
The ancient promontory of Kullaberg and the rippling fields, troll forests and seaside villages of the Kullabygden district offer a classic retreat. Fringed by the lace of nine little harbors and peppered with cozy inns, this quiet corner of the earth also seethes softly as fertile ground for art, local cuisine and outdoor adventure. Laurel Williams unearths the gems of a place where potters, talented chefs, organic farmers, rock climbers and even winemakers flourish and where visitors inevitably will too.
The springing of the year
Spring is a vibrant season in the Kullabygden district. Milky white blankets of wood anemones bewitch the lofty beech and oak forests and local artists fling wide their doors to welcome visitors. The rich clay deposits in the local soil, the pastoral lifestyle and the windswept views of the headland have made an artist’s enclave and a tour along the serpentine roads will send you stumbling upon hand-painted signs announcing artist’s workshops around virtually every corner.
The eco-gastronomic mentality is also strong here, with Sweden’s largest and most active Slow Food chapter based nearby in Helsingborg, and more signs proclaim fresh eggs, newly gathered honey on the comb and farms selling vegetables and other local products. Try the traditional apple cider from the Kullamust cider press in Mjöhult and in the autumn take your own apples with you to the factory to be turned into cider. Vikentomater, near Viken, cultivates a wonderful variety of organic heirloom tomatoes to perfect ripeness in greenhouses and the potato specialists at nearby Larsviken Farm grow about 450 different kinds of potatoes in their patch and offer potato tastings in their well-assorted farm shop.
Follow Linné to Viken
Start in Viken and follow the coast, as Carl von Linné did in 1749 on his grand tour of the region. This is especially fitting this year as the entire country commemorates the 300th anniversary of the birth of this celebrated “father of modern taxonomy”. Viken is a well-to-do seaside village where narrow lanes lined with half-timbered, thatch-roofed and otherwise venerable dwellings labyrinth around the lively marina. Sunny spring days in this idyll beg for leisurely rambles and impromptu visits to one of the flower shops, art galleries or patisseries along the way.
The magnificently preserved Sophiamöllan windmill in the center of the village is hard to miss. The 170-year-old mill was recently presented with a new set of wings and grinds flour in summertime. Another pleasant diversion is the nineteenth century home of sea captain Paul Jönsson and his restored period garden of ornate boxwood hedges, roses, clematis, herbs, berry bushes and a vegetable patch.
Celebrity chef Niklas Ekstedt, a Viken native son, is openly smitten with his hometown and in June he opens his summer quarters here. NIKLAS VIKEN is a beautiful but unpretentious restaurant perched on the seafront with a sun-warmed wooden deck overlooking over the harbor. Here is fresh, uncomplicated and seasonal dining at its best. Just beyond, the glittering water beckons and the first hot days hear the sounds of Viken residents of all ages capering gleefully in the surf.
In his journal, Linné bemoaned the long uninteresting stretch of heather and fairy flax north of Viken, but in the 1800’s golf enthusiasts discovered it. The nine-hole seaside golf course there today was designed in 1924 and is one of Sweden’s most historic.
Höganäs is made of clay
A cycling path connects Viken to Höganäs, the largest community in the Kullabygden district, where Linné was impressed by the fine harbor and successful fishing trade that distinguished the village. But in the late 1700’s the face of Höganäs changed drastically with the discovery of rich coal and clay deposits in the area. Coalfields, brick works and the pottery factories for which Höganäs is now famous, soon dominated the town and in some way they still do. The industrial area looms north of the harbor, brick buildings line the streets and the main tourist attractions are the pottery factories and outlets.
Upon closer inspection Höganäs will also entertain with the sizable collection of public art in brick, steel, bronze and stone that is scattered about town. Among the favorites are a family of pigs out on an adventure on Storgatan, a dog that levitates on Köpmansgatan and a pair of bronze mermaids that watches over swimmers at the Kvickbadet beach.
Browse the shelves at Höganäs Saltglaserat where they have been making the signature Höganäs salt glazed pottery since 1835. The iconic Höganäskrus, a little brown jug that resembles Winnie-the-Pooh’s honey pots, is the most classic figure in their home and garden collections and makes a perfect souvenir. Groups can book tours of the factory, try their own hand at the potter’s wheel and even dine in one of the old coal ovens. At the Höganäs Keramik-Boda Nova factory store nearby, there is a wide selection of Swedish pottery, glassware and crystal to be had at good prices.
Seeing stars at Krapperup
The walls of the bright brick-red manor of the Krapperup estate are startlingly inlaid with dozens of white seven-pointed stars, representing the coat of arms of the Gyllenstierna family who lived here for hundreds of years. Beneath the walls a pretty moat winks in the sunlight. Exquisite romantic gardens fan out beyond where enormous rhododendron bushes bloom in spring and ponds wriggle with goldfish.
Arriving at this same verdant scene in 1749, Linné scribbled in his journal with barely contained ecstasy: 300 kinds of fruit trees, lavender, lilies, thyme, onions for the herring and heaps of potatoes! Today’s visitors to Krapperup will be overjoyed to find this wonderfully green space to be freely accessible to the public year round. On weekends and everyday in summertime, a quaint gift shop sells scented soaps, linens and candles and a snug café serves homemade bread, pots of tea and generous slices of cake. The former stable buildings now house an art gallery featuring local artists and a museum that details the history of the estate and the Kullabygden district.
Sinful Mölle by the sea
Mölle is an enchanting white wedding cake of a village leaning luxuriously in the crook of the strong arm of the Kullaberg promontory. In1870 Mölle was already an immensely popular destination and was classed as one of the top seaside retreats in Sweden. The 1880’s saw steamships ply the waters from Copenhagen to Mölle carrying the upper classes of Germany, Denmark and Sweden to enjoy the wild natural landscape and the rare decadence of mixed bathing. This sinful sensation catapulted the town to fame. At the peak of Mölle’s popularity, direct trains were rolling in from Berlin and no less than thirteen hotels welcomed adventurous holidaymakers.
The Grand Hotel Mölle was built in 1909 and instantly reigned over the town like a white queen. Glittering all-night parties and liberated ideas flourished here until the First World War led, understandably, to a rapid decline in tourism. Though now slightly creaky and threadbare the white queen is still standing tall and boasts the most spectacular views in town of the Kattegat and the craggy bluff of Kullaberg. The local surfing crowd knows this and regularly calls the hotel desk to ask if the famous long, clean, right-breaking Mölle wave is cresting.
Lunch in the Grand Hotel’s acclaimed Maritime restaurant is relaxed and delicious with local specialties like golden roe on toast and with ‘R’ de Ruinart champagne by the glass. In the formal dining room, the luminous light, pink seashells, hovering fish and olive colored seaweed of the painted ceiling set you imagining that you are dining underwater, perhaps in fabled Atlantis. On cooler evenings a fire crackles in the lounge and the affectionate hotel cat Findus will not hesitate to occupy you for a catnap and will appreciate the small shrimp you saved for him from your lunch. One wonders if newest Bond bad boy Mads Mikkelsen has been nuzzled by Findus. Rumor has it that the dangerous-looking Danish actor is fond of Mölle and frequents the Grand Hotel.
Dine on the deck or the patio overlooking the steep precipice down to the harbor and revel in the sunset over the Kattegat and a horizon so wide that you can just perceive the curve of the earth.
If you come down out of the clouds to discover the rest of Mölle you will find a popular, though rather choppy marina, a harbor-side ice cream shop, a soothing spa in the Turisthotellet and a few superb art studios. One of the most captivating is that of ceramics artist Kerstin Tillberg who makes wonderfully absurd gold-studded pots, whimsical bowls and the loveliest golden-eared teacups.
At Mölle Krukmakeri, Lisa Wohlfart’s pottery at the heart of the village, the beauty of the cream-colored pots and mugs is in their simplicity. The pottery, which celebrates ten years of throwing pots this year, also hosts a café that serves homemade treats and lunches in the little garden.
A short path leads out along the sea cliffs from Mölle to Ransvik, a picture perfect cove where families swim from the rocks in the summer and popular Ellen’s café serves sandwiches, salads, lemon pie, carrot cake and waffles. Further on, and all the way around the peninsula, are more hidden coves to explore.
Ancients & adventurers
The grand protruding headland of Kullaberg is a three star nature reserve where sheer cliffs of ancient Archean rock plunge into the Kattegat creating secret swimming holes, tide pools and prehistoric caves. Some of the caves were already inhabited nearly 10,000 years ago. Trails crisscross the peninsula through beech forests and fields of rare wildflowers, and lead down to many of the caves. Some of the most remote, however, can only be reached from the water so rent a kayak to get privileged access to these isolated spots.
Two local adventure companies organize courses and supply equipment for kayaking, climbing, diving and otherwise enjoying this unique outdoor playground. Climbers, especially Danish ones, are drawn to these primordial rock faces and there are over 800 routes in place here with curious names such as Napoleon’s Hat and The Kulla Man’s Door.
For over 1000 years, sailors have depended upon a light signal at the tip of Kullaberg to guide them safely past the murderous rocks of the peninsula. Scandinavia’s brightest lighthouse continues the vigil today. Visit on a foggy night for a private show of the swirling beams at their most haunting. Linné relates that when a peculiar mist hung about the bluff that locals would whisper to each other that the mythical old crone known as Kullkäringen was brewing something up. It is easy to understand their superstitions after a hike in the luminous woods where gnarled juniper and hawthorn bushes cast supernatural shadows and low stone fences unfurl like elfin ramparts.
Occupying the prime position on the undulating crest of the peninsula and encircled by the 18 holes of the renowned Mölle Golf Club, is the petite, vine clad hotel and restaurant Kullagårdens Wärdshus. Linné was utterly charmed by the location and hospitality of the place when he stayed here in 1749. The inn has the spirit of a hunting lodge and an alarmingly large wild boar, frozen mid-squeal, presides in the lounge. Your host will assure that no such creatures patrol these forests but a herd of stags may dash across the fairways as you tee up. The golf course was officially opened in 1945 and is known for having some of Sweden’s best and fastest greens. If you care to make it interesting, play the course on par and they will refund your green fee.
A hike to the world’s fastest growing micronation
If you only take one hike on Kullaberg let it be to Nimis. This mind-boggling driftwood structure is an unruly maze of towers and tunnels that meanders from the forested cliff-side to the water’s edge on the north side of the peninsula. Nimis’ creator Lars Vilks nailed the first pieces of driftwood together 27 years ago (Nimis is not yet finished) and the work is officially owned by Christo and Jeanne-Claude of landmark-wrapping fame.
The Swedish authorities sued Vilks in 1982 for building Nimis on the nature reserve and in 1996 Vilks declared the one square kilometer surrounding Nimis to be an independent nation. Ladonia, as he christened it, is now the world’s fastest growing micronation with 13,000 citizens and counting. It is free to become a citizen but if you have higher aspirations then pick yourself a title, pay twelve dollars and join the Ladonian nobility.
The location is obscure and the hike down to Nimis is tricky but approximately 30,000 brave souls visit the site annually nonetheless. In fact, the Discovery Channel recently managed to get a film crew down to film Nimis for their Lonely Planet travel program. To get there, follow the signs to the idyllic Himmelstorp Farmstead and then follow the yellow N’s.
The Himmelstorp Farmstead is also the perfect place to stop for a picnic. The farm’s four half-timbered thatch-roofed buildings from the 1700’s enclose a grassy courtyard and house a homey little café that opens in mid-May. Gentle cows graze in a pasture nearby, juicy blackberries shine in the hedgerows and you are likely to glimpse a hawk or peregrine falcon skimming the meadow. At the crown of a hill just a hundred steps away is one of Sweden’s finest stone circles. In the early Iron Age ring, where Linné also visited and doubtless knelt to pluck a wildflower, traditional midsummers were celebrated well into the 1900’s. Now the midsummer festivities are held down at the farmstead.
Mölle’s prim, pretty sister
Boats used to ferry the most discreet mixed bathers to Mölle from Arild, a decidedly more respectable address in those days. It still feels rather prim, like a little jewel box of hollyhocks and honeysuckle. As if to confirm this, of all the medieval fishermen’s chapels that once bristled along Skåne’s coastline, only the tiny white chapel in Arild is still standing. It has guarded the sheltered harbor since the 1100’s and is surrounded by pale yellow cottages trimmed with gingerbread, so preciously called snickareglädje (carpenter’s happiness) in Swedish. A sojourn in Arild will have you congratulating newly wedded couples almost daily as they emerge from the perfect little chapel.
On higher ground an old armory inn called Rusthållargården now provides genteel lodgings for tourists and wedding parties rather than the King’s cavalry. The restaurant’s cozy dining rooms are often full and often exclusively with couples who whisper in the candlelight at tables for two. Like clockwork, the staff expertly serves refined versions of Scanian specialties and precisely chilled wines. This is one of the rare places in Sweden where the cook emerges in his immaculate toque to chat for a spell with each guest.
Have your coffee and cognac in the library or slip off to the spa in the Captain’s Villa, which also houses the best rooms to be had on the whole peninsula. You can easily while away an evening in the huge sunken Jacuzzi and saunas of the spa as a contrived galaxy of little stars twinkles in the ceiling overhead.
Arise refreshed in the morning and review your options: play tennis, head out sailing, get married, or go for a round of golf at St. Arild’s 18-hole course nearby. Wide fairways, fast greens and lots of water have seen to it that the St. Arild course is ranked 4th in Skåne and the driving range here is called Sweden’s best by those who know it.
The seven daughters of Skäret
The most blissful haven of the entire Kullabygden district must be a certain 260-year-old summer cottage in the tiny village of Skäret. The Lundgren family, with their seven daughters (Greta, Ebba, Marta, Rut, Anna, Britt-Marie and Ella) turned the cottage into a coffee house in 1938.
“Flickorna Lundgren på Skäret”, as the café is called, opens on the first of May every year and serves coffee in shiny copper kettles, freshly pressed juice and homemade cakes and pastries in the garden. Take a seat among the flowers, marvel at the view of the bay and soak up the sounds of children frolicking with skittish chickens, wee piglets and frisky goats.
A coastal road winds from Arild to Skäret, past crooked cottages with fanciful names like Breidablik (vast view), Torpminne (cottage memory) and Rönnebo (rowan’s nest). It leads eventually to Jonstorp where the Tunneberga inn has tempted hungry travelers with a genuine Scanian smorgasbord for 300 years. You can also enjoy barbeques in the garden during summer or swing by to pick up a basket full of goodies to take on your picnic.
Good wine needs no bush
The light sandy soil and benevolent microclimates of the Kullabygden district nurtures fledgling wineries of which the Kullabygdens Vingård is the most promising. Owners Murat Sofrakis and Bert-Åke Andersson and Winemaker Lena Jörgensen bought their first stocks from Danish grower Jens Michael Gundersen of the Dansk VinCenter outside Copenhagen. They planted the stocks in the tiny plot in Häljaröd, 150 meters from the seashore in the most northeastern extremity of the Kullabygden.
After a few years of careful experimentation, the winery became the first in Sweden to produce red wine from Swedish grapes in commercial quantities. They are now producing quality red, white and rosé wines supplemented by a larger sister domain outside of Malmö called the Nangijala Vingård. Stainless steel tanks and oak aging barrels equip the small production room in Häljaröd and a tasting room and wine cellar are under construction. The winery expects to be able to welcome guests for tastings in 2009 and until then curious wine-lovers should ask for the wines in the local restaurants or order them via the Systembolaget.
This spring’s releases include their L’atitude 55°32, a red wine from Rondo grapes, and the crisp, fruity and minerally fresh Ran, a white wine from Solaris grapes which boasts varieties such as Merzling, Muscat Ottonel, Reisling and Pinot Gris in its cultivar family tree. And if you were expecting Swedish wines to be barely drinkable novelties then expect to be astonished. The key is their commitment to restricting grape yields to an exceptionally low level, only10 to 20 hl/ha, which is diligent and results in fine, concentrated wines.
To raise a glass of this special wine is a fitting way to savor your memories from an adventure in the Kullabygden and to seal your promise to return to this rare retreat. Come to eat, come to play, come to live but most of all come to let the natural beauty of the Kullabygden inspire your soul and soothe your senses.
Getting there
By air – Ängelholm's airport is just a short drive from the Kullabygden district and has direct flights to and from Stockholm. Kastrup in Copenhagen and Sturup in Malmö serve international travelers.
By land – Drivers can follow the E6 north from Malmö (1 hour) or south from Gothenburg (2 hours) and the E4 from Stockholm (7 hours). Trains pass the peninsula by but run several times a day from Malmö, Gothenburg and Stockholm to Helsingborg where busses head to the Kullabygden district and makes stops in Viken, Höganäs, Krapperup, Mölle, Arild and Jonstorp.
By sea – If you have your own boat then this is the perfect way to arrive and to explore the villages from their pretty harbors.
Where to stay
The Grand Hotel in Mölle is the classic address and all the bright rooms boast immense views of the harbor, the wide-open horizon or the craggy headland but when the wind doth blow it well and truly whistles at the windows. Ask for rooms in the main hotel. www.grand-molle.se
The less spectacular setting of the Hotel Kullaberg is made up for with superior comfort and a fine restaurant and bar. The rooms are supremely cozy and decorated with interesting antique objects. www.hotelkullaberg.se
Kullagårdens Wärdshus, the inn on the wooded crest of the peninsula is a quiet hideaway with just a few small comfortable rooms. www.kullagardenswardshus.se
Stay in one of Rusthållargården’s pretty villas. The 17th century armory for the King’s cavalry turned hotel in Arild offers charming rooms of superior comfort with wonderful views of the bay. The restaurant is also first class and a popular place for wedding receptions. www.rusthallargarden.se
Wide glassed verandas front the Strand Hotel in Arild where one of the rooms boasts a sea view from the bathtub! Relax on one of the verandas for a simple lunch or dinner and enjoy the fine view over the bay. www.strand-arild.se
The rural STF hostel in Jonstorp is more like a country guesthouse with a big, shared kitchen and a pretty garden. www.jonstorp.com
The Höganäs municipal website has a searchable list of bed & breakfasts, self-catering cottages and campgrounds as well as lots of other useful information. www.hoganas.se
More information for avid trip-planners
www.niklas.se
www.vikentomater.se
www.larsvikenslantbruk.se
www.saltglaserat.se
www.hoganaskeramik.se
www.bodanova.se
www.krapperup.se
www.kerstintillberg.com
www.mollekrukmakeri.se
www.ransvik.se
www.kullabergsnatur.se
www.specialsport.se
www.kullaaventyr.com
www.mollegk.se
www.ladonia.com
www.starild.se
www.fl-lundgren.se
www.tunneberga.se
Mark your calendar
April 6th to 15th, The Konstrundan
Visit local artists in their studios and workshops during the annual 10-day open house event known as the Konstrundan.
April 30th, Walpurgis celebrations
Join the locals in the various villages of the Kullabygden in their traditional Walpurgis Eve celebrations when huge bonfires are lit to chase away the last wisps of winter from the land.
June 1st to 3rd, The Trädgårdsrundan
Like the Konstrundan only this time it is the public and private gardens of the Kullabygden that will hold and open house event.
June 1st, Flora Amalia
Visit the museum at Krapperup where the Linné-inspired botanical watercolors of Lady Amalia Beata Sparre will be on display until August 28th.
June 6th, National Day celebrations
The local communities celebrate Sweden’s National Holiday.
June 21st, Midsummer’s Eve
Visit one of the villages to celebrate a real Swedish Midsummer. The most traditional festivities will be at the Himmelstorp Farmstead.
A Rarified Escape to the Land of KullenThe ancient promontory of Kullaberg and the rippling fields, troll forests and seaside villages of the Kullabygden district offer a classic retreat. Fringed by the lace of nine little harbors and peppered with cozy inns, this quiet corner of the earth also seethes softly as fertile ground for art, local cuisine and outdoor adventure. Laurel Williams unearths the gems of a place where potters, talented chefs, organic farmers, rock climbers and even winemakers flourish and where visitors inevitably will too.
The springing of the year
Spring is a vibrant season in the Kullabygden district. Milky white blankets of wood anemones bewitch the lofty beech and oak forests and local artists fling wide their doors to welcome visitors. The rich clay deposits in the local soil, the pastoral lifestyle and the windswept views of the headland have made an artist’s enclave and a tour along the serpentine roads will send you stumbling upon hand-painted signs announcing artist’s workshops around virtually every corner.
The eco-gastronomic mentality is also strong here, with Sweden’s largest and most active Slow Food chapter based nearby in Helsingborg, and more signs proclaim fresh eggs, newly gathered honey on the comb and farms selling vegetables and other local products. Try the traditional apple cider from the Kullamust cider press in Mjöhult and in the autumn take your own apples with you to the factory to be turned into cider. Vikentomater, near Viken, cultivates a wonderful variety of organic heirloom tomatoes to perfect ripeness in greenhouses and the potato specialists at nearby Larsviken Farm grow about 450 different kinds of potatoes in their patch and offer potato tastings in their well-assorted farm shop.
Follow Linné to VikenStart in Viken and follow the coast, as Carl von Linné did in 1749 on his grand tour of the region. This is especially fitting this year as the entire country commemorates the 300th anniversary of the birth of this celebrated “father of modern taxonomy”. Viken is a well-to-do seaside village where narrow lanes lined with half-timbered, thatch-roofed and otherwise venerable dwellings labyrinth around the lively marina. Sunny spring days in this idyll beg for leisurely rambles and impromptu visits to one of the flower shops, art galleries or patisseries along the way.
The magnificently preserved Sophiamöllan windmill in the center of the village is hard to miss. The 170-year-old mill was recently presented with a new set of wings and grinds flour in summertime. Another pleasant diversion is the nineteenth century home of sea captain Paul Jönsson and his restored period garden of ornate boxwood hedges, roses, clematis, herbs, berry bushes and a vegetable patch.
Celebrity chef Niklas Ekstedt, a Viken native son, is openly smitten with his hometown and in June he opens his summer quarters here. NIKLAS VIKEN is a beautiful but unpretentious restaurant perched on the seafront with a sun-warmed wooden deck overlooking over the harbor. Here is fresh, uncomplicated and seasonal dining at its best. Just beyond, the glittering water beckons and the first hot days hear the sounds of Viken residents of all ages capering gleefully in the surf.
In his journal, Linné bemoaned the long uninteresting stretch of heather and fairy flax north of Viken, but in the 1800’s golf enthusiasts discovered it. The nine-hole seaside golf course there today was designed in 1924 and is one of Sweden’s most historic.
Höganäs is made of clay
A cycling path connects Viken to Höganäs, the largest community in the Kullabygden district, where Linné was impressed by the fine harbor and successful fishing trade that distinguished the village. But in the late 1700’s the face of Höganäs changed drastically with the discovery of rich coal and clay deposits in the area. Coalfields, brick works and the pottery factories for which Höganäs is now famous, soon dominated the town and in some way they still do. The industrial area looms north of the harbor, brick buildings line the streets and the main tourist attractions are the pottery factories and outlets.
Upon closer inspection Höganäs will also entertain with the sizable collection of public art in brick, steel, bronze and stone that is scattered about town. Among the favorites are a family of pigs out on an adventure on Storgatan, a dog that levitates on Köpmansgatan and a pair of bronze mermaids that watches over swimmers at the Kvickbadet beach.
Browse the shelves at Höganäs Saltglaserat where they have been making the signature Höganäs salt glazed pottery since 1835. The iconic Höganäskrus, a little brown jug that resembles Winnie-the-Pooh’s honey pots, is the most classic figure in their home and garden collections and makes a perfect souvenir. Groups can book tours of the factory, try their own hand at the potter’s wheel and even dine in one of the old coal ovens. At the Höganäs Keramik-Boda Nova factory store nearby, there is a wide selection of Swedish pottery, glassware and crystal to be had at good prices.
Seeing stars at Krapperup
The walls of the bright brick-red manor of the Krapperup estate are startlingly inlaid with dozens of white seven-pointed stars, representing the coat of arms of the Gyllenstierna family who lived here for hundreds of years. Beneath the walls a pretty moat winks in the sunlight. Exquisite romantic gardens fan out beyond where enormous rhododendron bushes bloom in spring and ponds wriggle with goldfish.
Arriving at this same verdant scene in 1749, Linné scribbled in his journal with barely contained ecstasy: 300 kinds of fruit trees, lavender, lilies, thyme, onions for the herring and heaps of potatoes! Today’s visitors to Krapperup will be overjoyed to find this wonderfully green space to be freely accessible to the public year round. On weekends and everyday in summertime, a quaint gift shop sells scented soaps, linens and candles and a snug café serves homemade bread, pots of tea and generous slices of cake. The former stable buildings now house an art gallery featuring local artists and a museum that details the history of the estate and the Kullabygden district.
Sinful Mölle by the sea
Mölle is an enchanting white wedding cake of a village leaning luxuriously in the crook of the strong arm of the Kullaberg promontory. In1870 Mölle was already an immensely popular destination and was classed as one of the top seaside retreats in Sweden. The 1880’s saw steamships ply the waters from Copenhagen to Mölle carrying the upper classes of Germany, Denmark and Sweden to enjoy the wild natural landscape and the rare decadence of mixed bathing. This sinful sensation catapulted the town to fame. At the peak of Mölle’s popularity, direct trains were rolling in from Berlin and no less than thirteen hotels welcomed adventurous holidaymakers.
The Grand Hotel Mölle was built in 1909 and instantly reigned over the town like a white queen. Glittering all-night parties and liberated ideas flourished here until the First World War led, understandably, to a rapid decline in tourism. Though now slightly creaky and threadbare the white queen is still standing tall and boasts the most spectacular views in town of the Kattegat and the craggy bluff of Kullaberg. The local surfing crowd knows this and regularly calls the hotel desk to ask if the famous long, clean, right-breaking Mölle wave is cresting.
Lunch in the Grand Hotel’s acclaimed Maritime restaurant is relaxed and delicious with local specialties like golden roe on toast and with ‘R’ de Ruinart champagne by the glass. In the formal dining room, the luminous light, pink seashells, hovering fish and olive colored seaweed of the painted ceiling set you imagining that you are dining underwater, perhaps in fabled Atlantis. On cooler evenings a fire crackles in the lounge and the affectionate hotel cat Findus will not hesitate to occupy you for a catnap and will appreciate the small shrimp you saved for him from your lunch. One wonders if newest Bond bad boy Mads Mikkelsen has been nuzzled by Findus. Rumor has it that the dangerous-looking Danish actor is fond of Mölle and frequents the Grand Hotel.
Dine on the deck or the patio overlooking the steep precipice down to the harbor and revel in the sunset over the Kattegat and a horizon so wide that you can just perceive the curve of the earth.
If you come down out of the clouds to discover the rest of Mölle you will find a popular, though rather choppy marina, a harbor-side ice cream shop, a soothing spa in the Turisthotellet and a few superb art studios. One of the most captivating is that of ceramics artist Kerstin Tillberg who makes wonderfully absurd gold-studded pots, whimsical bowls and the loveliest golden-eared teacups.
At Mölle Krukmakeri, Lisa Wohlfart’s pottery at the heart of the village, the beauty of the cream-colored pots and mugs is in their simplicity. The pottery, which celebrates ten years of throwing pots this year, also hosts a café that serves homemade treats and lunches in the little garden.
A short path leads out along the sea cliffs from Mölle to Ransvik, a picture perfect cove where families swim from the rocks in the summer and popular Ellen’s café serves sandwiches, salads, lemon pie, carrot cake and waffles. Further on, and all the way around the peninsula, are more hidden coves to explore.
Ancients & adventurers
The grand protruding headland of Kullaberg is a three star nature reserve where sheer cliffs of ancient Archean rock plunge into the Kattegat creating secret swimming holes, tide pools and prehistoric caves. Some of the caves were already inhabited nearly 10,000 years ago. Trails crisscross the peninsula through beech forests and fields of rare wildflowers, and lead down to many of the caves. Some of the most remote, however, can only be reached from the water so rent a kayak to get privileged access to these isolated spots.
Two local adventure companies organize courses and supply equipment for kayaking, climbing, diving and otherwise enjoying this unique outdoor playground. Climbers, especially Danish ones, are drawn to these primordial rock faces and there are over 800 routes in place here with curious names such as Napoleon’s Hat and The Kulla Man’s Door.
For over 1000 years, sailors have depended upon a light signal at the tip of Kullaberg to guide them safely past the murderous rocks of the peninsula. Scandinavia’s brightest lighthouse continues the vigil today. Visit on a foggy night for a private show of the swirling beams at their most haunting. Linné relates that when a peculiar mist hung about the bluff that locals would whisper to each other that the mythical old crone known as Kullkäringen was brewing something up. It is easy to understand their superstitions after a hike in the luminous woods where gnarled juniper and hawthorn bushes cast supernatural shadows and low stone fences unfurl like elfin ramparts.
Occupying the prime position on the undulating crest of the peninsula and encircled by the 18 holes of the renowned Mölle Golf Club, is the petite, vine clad hotel and restaurant Kullagårdens Wärdshus. Linné was utterly charmed by the location and hospitality of the place when he stayed here in 1749. The inn has the spirit of a hunting lodge and an alarmingly large wild boar, frozen mid-squeal, presides in the lounge. Your host will assure that no such creatures patrol these forests but a herd of stags may dash across the fairways as you tee up. The golf course was officially opened in 1945 and is known for having some of Sweden’s best and fastest greens. If you care to make it interesting, play the course on par and they will refund your green fee.
A hike to the world’s fastest growing micronation
If you only take one hike on Kullaberg let it be to Nimis. This mind-boggling driftwood structure is an unruly maze of towers and tunnels that meanders from the forested cliff-side to the water’s edge on the north side of the peninsula. Nimis’ creator Lars Vilks nailed the first pieces of driftwood together 27 years ago (Nimis is not yet finished) and the work is officially owned by Christo and Jeanne-Claude of landmark-wrapping fame.The Swedish authorities sued Vilks in 1982 for building Nimis on the nature reserve and in 1996 Vilks declared the one square kilometer surrounding Nimis to be an independent nation. Ladonia, as he christened it, is now the world’s fastest growing micronation with 13,000 citizens and counting. It is free to become a citizen but if you have higher aspirations then pick yourself a title, pay twelve dollars and join the Ladonian nobility.
The location is obscure and the hike down to Nimis is tricky but approximately 30,000 brave souls visit the site annually nonetheless. In fact, the Discovery Channel recently managed to get a film crew down to film Nimis for their Lonely Planet travel program. To get there, follow the signs to the idyllic Himmelstorp Farmstead and then follow the yellow N’s.
The Himmelstorp Farmstead is also the perfect place to stop for a picnic. The farm’s four half-timbered thatch-roofed buildings from the 1700’s enclose a grassy courtyard and house a homey little café that opens in mid-May. Gentle cows graze in a pasture nearby, juicy blackberries shine in the hedgerows and you are likely to glimpse a hawk or peregrine falcon skimming the meadow. At the crown of a hill just a hundred steps away is one of Sweden’s finest stone circles. In the early Iron Age ring, where Linné also visited and doubtless knelt to pluck a wildflower, traditional midsummers were celebrated well into the 1900’s. Now the midsummer festivities are held down at the farmstead.
Mölle’s prim, pretty sister
Boats used to ferry the most discreet mixed bathers to Mölle from Arild, a decidedly more respectable address in those days. It still feels rather prim, like a little jewel box of hollyhocks and honeysuckle. As if to confirm this, of all the medieval fishermen’s chapels that once bristled along Skåne’s coastline, only the tiny white chapel in Arild is still standing. It has guarded the sheltered harbor since the 1100’s and is surrounded by pale yellow cottages trimmed with gingerbread, so preciously called snickareglädje (carpenter’s happiness) in Swedish. A sojourn in Arild will have you congratulating newly wedded couples almost daily as they emerge from the perfect little chapel.
On higher ground an old armory inn called Rusthållargården now provides genteel lodgings for tourists and wedding parties rather than the King’s cavalry. The restaurant’s cozy dining rooms are often full and often exclusively with couples who whisper in the candlelight at tables for two. Like clockwork, the staff expertly serves refined versions of Scanian specialties and precisely chilled wines. This is one of the rare places in Sweden where the cook emerges in his immaculate toque to chat for a spell with each guest.
Have your coffee and cognac in the library or slip off to the spa in the Captain’s Villa, which also houses the best rooms to be had on the whole peninsula. You can easily while away an evening in the huge sunken Jacuzzi and saunas of the spa as a contrived galaxy of little stars twinkles in the ceiling overhead.
Arise refreshed in the morning and review your options: play tennis, head out sailing, get married, or go for a round of golf at St. Arild’s 18-hole course nearby. Wide fairways, fast greens and lots of water have seen to it that the St. Arild course is ranked 4th in Skåne and the driving range here is called Sweden’s best by those who know it.
The seven daughters of Skäret
The most blissful haven of the entire Kullabygden district must be a certain 260-year-old summer cottage in the tiny village of Skäret. The Lundgren family, with their seven daughters (Greta, Ebba, Marta, Rut, Anna, Britt-Marie and Ella) turned the cottage into a coffee house in 1938.
“Flickorna Lundgren på Skäret”, as the café is called, opens on the first of May every year and serves coffee in shiny copper kettles, freshly pressed juice and homemade cakes and pastries in the garden. Take a seat among the flowers, marvel at the view of the bay and soak up the sounds of children frolicking with skittish chickens, wee piglets and frisky goats.
A coastal road winds from Arild to Skäret, past crooked cottages with fanciful names like Breidablik (vast view), Torpminne (cottage memory) and Rönnebo (rowan’s nest). It leads eventually to Jonstorp where the Tunneberga inn has tempted hungry travelers with a genuine Scanian smorgasbord for 300 years. You can also enjoy barbeques in the garden during summer or swing by to pick up a basket full of goodies to take on your picnic.
Good wine needs no bush
The light sandy soil and benevolent microclimates of the Kullabygden district nurtures fledgling wineries of which the Kullabygdens Vingård is the most promising. Owners Murat Sofrakis and Bert-Åke Andersson and Winemaker Lena Jörgensen bought their first stocks from Danish grower Jens Michael Gundersen of the Dansk VinCenter outside Copenhagen. They planted the stocks in the tiny plot in Häljaröd, 150 meters from the seashore in the most northeastern extremity of the Kullabygden.After a few years of careful experimentation, the winery became the first in Sweden to produce red wine from Swedish grapes in commercial quantities. They are now producing quality red, white and rosé wines supplemented by a larger sister domain outside of Malmö called the Nangijala Vingård. Stainless steel tanks and oak aging barrels equip the small production room in Häljaröd and a tasting room and wine cellar are under construction. The winery expects to be able to welcome guests for tastings in 2009 and until then curious wine-lovers should ask for the wines in the local restaurants or order them via the Systembolaget.
This spring’s releases include their L’atitude 55°32, a red wine from Rondo grapes, and the crisp, fruity and minerally fresh Ran, a white wine from Solaris grapes which boasts varieties such as Merzling, Muscat Ottonel, Reisling and Pinot Gris in its cultivar family tree. And if you were expecting Swedish wines to be barely drinkable novelties then expect to be astonished. The key is their commitment to restricting grape yields to an exceptionally low level, only10 to 20 hl/ha, which is diligent and results in fine, concentrated wines.
To raise a glass of this special wine is a fitting way to savor your memories from an adventure in the Kullabygden and to seal your promise to return to this rare retreat. Come to eat, come to play, come to live but most of all come to let the natural beauty of the Kullabygden inspire your soul and soothe your senses.
Getting there
By air – Ängelholm's airport is just a short drive from the Kullabygden district and has direct flights to and from Stockholm. Kastrup in Copenhagen and Sturup in Malmö serve international travelers.
By land – Drivers can follow the E6 north from Malmö (1 hour) or south from Gothenburg (2 hours) and the E4 from Stockholm (7 hours). Trains pass the peninsula by but run several times a day from Malmö, Gothenburg and Stockholm to Helsingborg where busses head to the Kullabygden district and makes stops in Viken, Höganäs, Krapperup, Mölle, Arild and Jonstorp.
By sea – If you have your own boat then this is the perfect way to arrive and to explore the villages from their pretty harbors.
Where to stay
The Grand Hotel in Mölle is the classic address and all the bright rooms boast immense views of the harbor, the wide-open horizon or the craggy headland but when the wind doth blow it well and truly whistles at the windows. Ask for rooms in the main hotel. www.grand-molle.se
The less spectacular setting of the Hotel Kullaberg is made up for with superior comfort and a fine restaurant and bar. The rooms are supremely cozy and decorated with interesting antique objects. www.hotelkullaberg.se
Kullagårdens Wärdshus, the inn on the wooded crest of the peninsula is a quiet hideaway with just a few small comfortable rooms. www.kullagardenswardshus.se
Stay in one of Rusthållargården’s pretty villas. The 17th century armory for the King’s cavalry turned hotel in Arild offers charming rooms of superior comfort with wonderful views of the bay. The restaurant is also first class and a popular place for wedding receptions. www.rusthallargarden.se
Wide glassed verandas front the Strand Hotel in Arild where one of the rooms boasts a sea view from the bathtub! Relax on one of the verandas for a simple lunch or dinner and enjoy the fine view over the bay. www.strand-arild.se
The rural STF hostel in Jonstorp is more like a country guesthouse with a big, shared kitchen and a pretty garden. www.jonstorp.com
The Höganäs municipal website has a searchable list of bed & breakfasts, self-catering cottages and campgrounds as well as lots of other useful information. www.hoganas.se
More information for avid trip-planners
www.niklas.se
www.vikentomater.se
www.larsvikenslantbruk.se
www.saltglaserat.se
www.hoganaskeramik.se
www.bodanova.se
www.krapperup.se
www.kerstintillberg.com
www.mollekrukmakeri.se
www.ransvik.se
www.kullabergsnatur.se
www.specialsport.se
www.kullaaventyr.com
www.mollegk.se
www.ladonia.com
www.starild.se
www.fl-lundgren.se
www.tunneberga.se
Mark your calendar
April 6th to 15th, The Konstrundan
Visit local artists in their studios and workshops during the annual 10-day open house event known as the Konstrundan.
April 30th, Walpurgis celebrations
Join the locals in the various villages of the Kullabygden in their traditional Walpurgis Eve celebrations when huge bonfires are lit to chase away the last wisps of winter from the land.
June 1st to 3rd, The Trädgårdsrundan
Like the Konstrundan only this time it is the public and private gardens of the Kullabygden that will hold and open house event.
June 1st, Flora Amalia
Visit the museum at Krapperup where the Linné-inspired botanical watercolors of Lady Amalia Beata Sparre will be on display until August 28th.
June 6th, National Day celebrations
The local communities celebrate Sweden’s National Holiday.
June 21st, Midsummer’s Eve
Visit one of the villages to celebrate a real Swedish Midsummer. The most traditional festivities will be at the Himmelstorp Farmstead.
A portrait of the artist as an ardent man
My portrait of Artist Lars Vilks has been published in the spring issue of South of Sweden Magazine. Read the full article below or visit www.sosmag.se to download the pdf version of the spring 2007 issue.
A portrait of the artist as an ardent man
Lars Vilks is the provocative artist who builds magnificent driftwood structures without permits, outsmarts the Swedish authorities with confusion tactics and sheer obstinacy and who has set out to rewrite the history of art. Laurel Williams sits down to dinner with the man behind the Kullabygden district’s most popular attraction.
In 1980, wholly uninspired by the bland lecture halls of his university, the young Lars Vilks hefted a hammer and nails to a remote cove on the Kullaberg nature reserve and began building a new kind of place for people and ideas to meet. Vilks hammered away unmolested for two whole years. He gave the emerging driftwood structure a name – Nimis. Then in 1982 some local fisherman discovered it and extraordinary things began to happen.
Twenty-seven years later the Nimis project is still developing and Vilks and I sit down to dinner at NIKLAS HELSINGBORG to discuss art and life. The evening begins merrily as Vilks has an anecdote, which clarifies at least one aspect of the purpose of art. A nameless shameless woman has written about how she once used the sturdy edifice of Nimis to support herself and a lover in an outdoor coital adventure.
“So, there you have one thing that art is good for,” he pronounces and positively twinkles at this previously unconsidered functionality of his work.
Vilks devours any material that can help him define art. It is his most important aim and one that has occupied him daily since his university days when he successfully convinced his advisor to let him write his dissertation on the subject. The conclusion of his dissertation was a somewhat disconcerting one for his academic examiners and was, briefly, this: art is a new phenomena and the concept of art is barely 200 years old.
“It is all [Immanuel] Kant’s fault,” Vilks clarifies, “with his absurd theories of aesthetics and beauty.”
Kant is a haunting figure in the mind of Vilks as he attempts to rewrite art history or at least to help the art world to see that such a rewrite is in order. When Vilks describes how he talks out loud to himself whenever and wherever he is struck with an idea that he must discuss, I cannot help but picture an apparition of Kant hovering over his shoulder as a speaking partner of sorts.
The slow starter wins the long race
Vilks calls himself a slow starter, his strength lying in his ability to complete lengthy large-scale projects, and his beginnings on earth were therefore suitably unassuming. Born in 1946, Vilks grew up right and proper in the working class town of Höganäs on Skåne’s northwest coast. Vilks’ mother raised her son to be an upstanding young man who gazed at the night sky over Sweden through his telescope and planned become an astronomer.
At 14 he discovered a knack for the game of chess and started playing competitively. He played so often and so well that it proved to be detrimental to his studies. To become an astronomer he had to work to get his grades up and by the time he succeeded in doing so, astronomy was abandoned in favor of history, literature and finally, art history.
“I also became a yoga man for awhile in the 60’s,” he adds and tries to recall the name of a move he can still do which involves contorting the abdomen into an implausible shape, “I had a very old-fashioned, detailed book about yoga that I tried to follow to the letter. One of the recommendations was to only drink milk fresh from the cow. I went to a local farmer and drank some milk that was so fresh it was still warm. I only tried the fresh milk that one time but I was a vegetarian for quite a while and I still do some yoga now.”
Vilks also had a father, as he himself phrases it. Vilks’ father fled Estonia towards the end of WWII and arrived in Sweden where he made at least one definite contribution. “I only met him once. It was when I was in my late teens,” Vilks says and nods reticently.
“They were very straightforward moral people,” he recalls of his family, “I became the black sheep when I started with my art projects. That is, at least until I became a famous artist. Then all was forgiven.”
A creature of habit
As our courses come out of the gourmet kitchen in succession Vilks remarks about how different this is from his usual fare. “I boil all of my food,” he informs me matter-of-factly, “I put meat and vegetables in a pot and let it boil up while I have my shower. I never get tired of it.”
Up a 7 a.m. every day, Vilks is a man who likes his routine. He begins the day with his coffee and perhaps some painting. It is not clear exactly when he has his first creamy gräddbulle snack but it is certain that he consumes up to six of these chocolate dipped marshmallow-like treats every day. “I am an expert on the different kinds and qualities of gräddbullar,” he says with a charming grin, “I love all sweet things.”
Vilks seems to have boundless reserves of energy and makes almost daily treks down to Nimis. Over these 27 years he has been there well over 6000 times. He also finds the time to read copious amounts of text, make lengthy posts to his site www.vilks.net every day and is sleeping sweetly by midnight. Energy is seldom wasted on banal chores such as dusting and in fact, the complete lack of dust in the home of his live-apart girlfriend seems to concern him slightly.
The smoked shellfish in mussel foam arrives at the table. A little gasp of delight escapes my lips and Vilks muses sagely about why women in general seem to like seafood more the men. Our good-natured waiter pauses to listen while Vilks postulates, “I believe it is because women are more controlled by the tides and the sea than we men are.”
I wonder about his authority on women. “I was married once, for a year,” he had told me earlier, “but it was the wrong form for me.”
The fate of Nimis
Once the Swedish authorities learned about Nimis in 1982 and ordered Vilks to remove it, a legal circus in a hundred acts was set in motion, which Vilks sees as an important part of the artwork. Vilks sold the work to the influential German artist Joseph Bueys, creating difficulties for the Swedish authorities, and after Bueys’ death it was sold again to the famous land artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude.
“I called Christo to make a proposition and he gave the phone directly to Jeanne-Claude. She is the decision maker,” Vilks recounts.
Jeanne-Claude gave the definitive answer, “Christo says yes.”
Further down the rocky beach from Nimis is Arx, a concrete “book” about philosophers that has been “published” by Christo and Jeanne-Claude. It even has a proper ISBN number and is protected by freedom of speech rights.
The only piece that the authorities have managed to budge is a modest stone sculpture called Omphalos but this also turned into a triumph for Vilks since the Swedish Museum of Modern art in Stockholm has taken Omphalos in.
Over the years Vilks has been fined for huge sums, arsonists have attempted to burn Nimis to the ground but it still stands and Vilks seems as buoyant as ever which is true to his own motto, “Everything is an advantage.” The local government has also been forced to accept the fact, however begrudgingly, that Nimis attracts approximately 30,000 welcome tourists to the region each year.
In 1996 Vilks declared the one square kilometer around his works to be its own country, Ladonia, which is the fastest growing micronation in the world. Over 13,000 people from all corners of the globe have been granted Ladonian citizenship and Vilks himself is the Secretary of State. “Running a small country entails its fair amount of administration work,” he concedes. Especially when three thousand Pakistanis requested visas over the Internet without realizing that Ladonia was a mostly virtual country.
The diligent Vilks has simultaneously been prolific, publishing several books (in Swedish) including such intriguing titles as, “The Theory of Everything”, “The Authorities as Artistic Material”, and “How To Become A Contemporary Artist In Three Days” with colleague Martin Schibli.
Now that he has momentum, the slow starter just keeps progressing. Vilks managed to give 80 lectures last year (he lectures entirely from memory) and he continues to develop his art theories, and projects like Ladonia and Nimis. “Nimis is not finished yet,” he puzzles, “I am not really sure how to finish it.” While Nimis is likely what most people think of when they hear his name, Vilks is most proud of having raised the level of discourse in the realm of art.
Vilks is a man of great wit and a most agreeable dinner companion. He is visibly elated when, after a rich chocolate dessert, an unexpected platter of decorative sweets materializes with our coffee. He is even happier when I cannot finish mine and comes gallantly to the rescue. The artist is content.
A portrait of the artist as an ardent man
Lars Vilks is the provocative artist who builds magnificent driftwood structures without permits, outsmarts the Swedish authorities with confusion tactics and sheer obstinacy and who has set out to rewrite the history of art. Laurel Williams sits down to dinner with the man behind the Kullabygden district’s most popular attraction.
In 1980, wholly uninspired by the bland lecture halls of his university, the young Lars Vilks hefted a hammer and nails to a remote cove on the Kullaberg nature reserve and began building a new kind of place for people and ideas to meet. Vilks hammered away unmolested for two whole years. He gave the emerging driftwood structure a name – Nimis. Then in 1982 some local fisherman discovered it and extraordinary things began to happen.
Twenty-seven years later the Nimis project is still developing and Vilks and I sit down to dinner at NIKLAS HELSINGBORG to discuss art and life. The evening begins merrily as Vilks has an anecdote, which clarifies at least one aspect of the purpose of art. A nameless shameless woman has written about how she once used the sturdy edifice of Nimis to support herself and a lover in an outdoor coital adventure.
“So, there you have one thing that art is good for,” he pronounces and positively twinkles at this previously unconsidered functionality of his work.
Vilks devours any material that can help him define art. It is his most important aim and one that has occupied him daily since his university days when he successfully convinced his advisor to let him write his dissertation on the subject. The conclusion of his dissertation was a somewhat disconcerting one for his academic examiners and was, briefly, this: art is a new phenomena and the concept of art is barely 200 years old.
“It is all [Immanuel] Kant’s fault,” Vilks clarifies, “with his absurd theories of aesthetics and beauty.”
Kant is a haunting figure in the mind of Vilks as he attempts to rewrite art history or at least to help the art world to see that such a rewrite is in order. When Vilks describes how he talks out loud to himself whenever and wherever he is struck with an idea that he must discuss, I cannot help but picture an apparition of Kant hovering over his shoulder as a speaking partner of sorts.
The slow starter wins the long race
Vilks calls himself a slow starter, his strength lying in his ability to complete lengthy large-scale projects, and his beginnings on earth were therefore suitably unassuming. Born in 1946, Vilks grew up right and proper in the working class town of Höganäs on Skåne’s northwest coast. Vilks’ mother raised her son to be an upstanding young man who gazed at the night sky over Sweden through his telescope and planned become an astronomer.
At 14 he discovered a knack for the game of chess and started playing competitively. He played so often and so well that it proved to be detrimental to his studies. To become an astronomer he had to work to get his grades up and by the time he succeeded in doing so, astronomy was abandoned in favor of history, literature and finally, art history.
“I also became a yoga man for awhile in the 60’s,” he adds and tries to recall the name of a move he can still do which involves contorting the abdomen into an implausible shape, “I had a very old-fashioned, detailed book about yoga that I tried to follow to the letter. One of the recommendations was to only drink milk fresh from the cow. I went to a local farmer and drank some milk that was so fresh it was still warm. I only tried the fresh milk that one time but I was a vegetarian for quite a while and I still do some yoga now.”
Vilks also had a father, as he himself phrases it. Vilks’ father fled Estonia towards the end of WWII and arrived in Sweden where he made at least one definite contribution. “I only met him once. It was when I was in my late teens,” Vilks says and nods reticently.
“They were very straightforward moral people,” he recalls of his family, “I became the black sheep when I started with my art projects. That is, at least until I became a famous artist. Then all was forgiven.”
A creature of habit
As our courses come out of the gourmet kitchen in succession Vilks remarks about how different this is from his usual fare. “I boil all of my food,” he informs me matter-of-factly, “I put meat and vegetables in a pot and let it boil up while I have my shower. I never get tired of it.”
Up a 7 a.m. every day, Vilks is a man who likes his routine. He begins the day with his coffee and perhaps some painting. It is not clear exactly when he has his first creamy gräddbulle snack but it is certain that he consumes up to six of these chocolate dipped marshmallow-like treats every day. “I am an expert on the different kinds and qualities of gräddbullar,” he says with a charming grin, “I love all sweet things.”
Vilks seems to have boundless reserves of energy and makes almost daily treks down to Nimis. Over these 27 years he has been there well over 6000 times. He also finds the time to read copious amounts of text, make lengthy posts to his site www.vilks.net every day and is sleeping sweetly by midnight. Energy is seldom wasted on banal chores such as dusting and in fact, the complete lack of dust in the home of his live-apart girlfriend seems to concern him slightly.
The smoked shellfish in mussel foam arrives at the table. A little gasp of delight escapes my lips and Vilks muses sagely about why women in general seem to like seafood more the men. Our good-natured waiter pauses to listen while Vilks postulates, “I believe it is because women are more controlled by the tides and the sea than we men are.”
I wonder about his authority on women. “I was married once, for a year,” he had told me earlier, “but it was the wrong form for me.”
The fate of Nimis
Once the Swedish authorities learned about Nimis in 1982 and ordered Vilks to remove it, a legal circus in a hundred acts was set in motion, which Vilks sees as an important part of the artwork. Vilks sold the work to the influential German artist Joseph Bueys, creating difficulties for the Swedish authorities, and after Bueys’ death it was sold again to the famous land artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude.
“I called Christo to make a proposition and he gave the phone directly to Jeanne-Claude. She is the decision maker,” Vilks recounts.
Jeanne-Claude gave the definitive answer, “Christo says yes.”
Further down the rocky beach from Nimis is Arx, a concrete “book” about philosophers that has been “published” by Christo and Jeanne-Claude. It even has a proper ISBN number and is protected by freedom of speech rights.
The only piece that the authorities have managed to budge is a modest stone sculpture called Omphalos but this also turned into a triumph for Vilks since the Swedish Museum of Modern art in Stockholm has taken Omphalos in.
Over the years Vilks has been fined for huge sums, arsonists have attempted to burn Nimis to the ground but it still stands and Vilks seems as buoyant as ever which is true to his own motto, “Everything is an advantage.” The local government has also been forced to accept the fact, however begrudgingly, that Nimis attracts approximately 30,000 welcome tourists to the region each year.
In 1996 Vilks declared the one square kilometer around his works to be its own country, Ladonia, which is the fastest growing micronation in the world. Over 13,000 people from all corners of the globe have been granted Ladonian citizenship and Vilks himself is the Secretary of State. “Running a small country entails its fair amount of administration work,” he concedes. Especially when three thousand Pakistanis requested visas over the Internet without realizing that Ladonia was a mostly virtual country.
The diligent Vilks has simultaneously been prolific, publishing several books (in Swedish) including such intriguing titles as, “The Theory of Everything”, “The Authorities as Artistic Material”, and “How To Become A Contemporary Artist In Three Days” with colleague Martin Schibli.
Now that he has momentum, the slow starter just keeps progressing. Vilks managed to give 80 lectures last year (he lectures entirely from memory) and he continues to develop his art theories, and projects like Ladonia and Nimis. “Nimis is not finished yet,” he puzzles, “I am not really sure how to finish it.” While Nimis is likely what most people think of when they hear his name, Vilks is most proud of having raised the level of discourse in the realm of art.
Vilks is a man of great wit and a most agreeable dinner companion. He is visibly elated when, after a rich chocolate dessert, an unexpected platter of decorative sweets materializes with our coffee. He is even happier when I cannot finish mine and comes gallantly to the rescue. The artist is content.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Live well & tread lightly
Living well entails much more than simply indulging in epicurean pleasures. It also implies living intelligently, ethically and wholesomely with respect for all living things and for yourself.
In trying to put together a brief guide to living well ethically I have discovered that it is inexcusably difficult to find out the whole story about most of the goods we consume daily.
The most basic action we can take to affect a change in this situation is to be diligent consumers, persistent in our demand for information and for the right to buy goods of ethical, sustainable and traceable origin.
Other good tips:
Buy clothes, furniture and art that is produced locally, ethically and sustainably. Shop at your local independant farmer's markets, fishmongers, cheese shops, butchers and bakeries.
Buy only local, in season, organic, sustainable, minimally packed, minimally processed and fair trade food. It is better for you, for the planet and for your fellow humans. Demand these products in your local stores.
Support the Slow Food movement, the International Fair Trade Organization, the Forest Stewardship Council, the Clean Clothes Campaign and Amnesty International. Visit their sites and inform yourself. The Ethical Consumer Magazine and the New Consumer Magazine are also great resources.
In trying to put together a brief guide to living well ethically I have discovered that it is inexcusably difficult to find out the whole story about most of the goods we consume daily.
The most basic action we can take to affect a change in this situation is to be diligent consumers, persistent in our demand for information and for the right to buy goods of ethical, sustainable and traceable origin.
Other good tips:
Buy clothes, furniture and art that is produced locally, ethically and sustainably. Shop at your local independant farmer's markets, fishmongers, cheese shops, butchers and bakeries.
Buy only local, in season, organic, sustainable, minimally packed, minimally processed and fair trade food. It is better for you, for the planet and for your fellow humans. Demand these products in your local stores.
Support the Slow Food movement, the International Fair Trade Organization, the Forest Stewardship Council, the Clean Clothes Campaign and Amnesty International. Visit their sites and inform yourself. The Ethical Consumer Magazine and the New Consumer Magazine are also great resources.
Thursday, December 7, 2006
Encouraging indulgence
In the spirit of encouraging indulgence this Holiday season I have collected a few of my favorite recipes that should gratify the bon vivant in everyone.
Whisky Caramel Corn
1. Start with a large bowl about halfway full of popped popcorn, buttered and salted as you usually like it.
2. In a saucepan, melt a stick of butter with 1 cup of sugar over high heat while stirring constantly. Use a long handled metal whisk for best safety since the sugar is extremely hot when it starts to melt and caramelize. I use brown sugar but you can white sugar, raw cane sugar or a mix of any of these depending on the taste and consistency you like.
3. When the butter is melted and the mixture is bubbling add a splash of whisky - I use 2 or more tablespoons depending on who I am planning to share it with and a single malt that is not too smoky is the best (The Macallan!)
4. Keep stirring until the mixture is well caramelized but not burned. If you drip a little of the caramel into a glass of cold water and it gets a bit gooey then it is ready. If you want really crunchy caramel corn then let it caramelize until it makes a hard little ball when dripped in the cold water.
5. Pour the caramel sauce over the popcorn and start stirring/mixing until the popcorn is evenly coated. It is ready to eat as soon as it has cooled a bit but gets crunchier if it gets to sit and cool completely. I never manage to wait for long!
Note: If you add some heavy cream to this caramel sauce recipe it becomes a delicious butterscotch sauce for ice cream.
Swedish Lussekatter (Lucia Cats) Saffron Buns
1. Melt 50 grams of butter in a pan and when it has melted add 2.5 dl of milk. Warm the mixture to 37°C (100°F) and no more. Then pour a little of the liquid over 25 grams of live baker's yeast and stir to dissolve.
2. Add the rest of the liquid, 1/2 gram of saffron, 1 dl of sugar, 125 grams of sour cream and 8 dl of flour and mix to a smooth dough. Let the dough rise for 40 minutes.
3. Now, knead the dough and divide it into 16 pieces and form each piece into a ball and then roll between your hands to make a long "cat tail" and shape it in to the shape of and S or any other shape you like and place them on cookie trays that are either buttered or covered with baking paper. Cover your Lussekatter and let them rise for another 30 minutes. Make sure they have enough space on the trays to double in size.
4. Preheat the oven to 225°C (437°C). Whip an egg with a few grains of salt and when the Lucia cats have finished rising, brush them with the egg mixture. Bake your cats for 5 to 10 minutes in the middle of the oven - they should be yellow with golden 'tops'. They are best fresh out of the oven but will keep for a few days in an air tight container.
And the best for last...
Dark Chocolate Truffles
1. Melt 8 ounces of butter with a 1/2 cup of sugar. When it starts to just caramelize pour in 1/2 cup of heavy cream little by little and stir with a whisk till smooth and bubbly. Now pour 1/2 of good quality cocoa powder little by little while stirring constantly with the whisk. Remove from heat and keep stirring till shiny and smooth.
2. Now comes the fun part - divide the chocolate into a few different bowls and decide how to flavor each of them. Use can use vanilla, 2 tablespoons of whisky, cognac, rum or champagne, lemon or orange peel, nuts, peppermint ... well, you get the idea. Be creative. My favorites are whisky, champagne and peppermint. Put the bowls in the fridge to chill until firm.
3. When the chocolate has cooled use a teaspoon to scoop out chunks. Roll them into balls and then roll them in cocoa, powdered sugar, nuts or a gourmet sea salt. Hand rolling warms them up a bit so chill the truffles again before serving on beautiful plate. Space them out in one layer in an airtight container and keep them in the fridge or the freezer for up to two weeks.
Whisky Caramel Corn
1. Start with a large bowl about halfway full of popped popcorn, buttered and salted as you usually like it.
2. In a saucepan, melt a stick of butter with 1 cup of sugar over high heat while stirring constantly. Use a long handled metal whisk for best safety since the sugar is extremely hot when it starts to melt and caramelize. I use brown sugar but you can white sugar, raw cane sugar or a mix of any of these depending on the taste and consistency you like.
3. When the butter is melted and the mixture is bubbling add a splash of whisky - I use 2 or more tablespoons depending on who I am planning to share it with and a single malt that is not too smoky is the best (The Macallan!)
4. Keep stirring until the mixture is well caramelized but not burned. If you drip a little of the caramel into a glass of cold water and it gets a bit gooey then it is ready. If you want really crunchy caramel corn then let it caramelize until it makes a hard little ball when dripped in the cold water.
5. Pour the caramel sauce over the popcorn and start stirring/mixing until the popcorn is evenly coated. It is ready to eat as soon as it has cooled a bit but gets crunchier if it gets to sit and cool completely. I never manage to wait for long!
Note: If you add some heavy cream to this caramel sauce recipe it becomes a delicious butterscotch sauce for ice cream.
Swedish Lussekatter (Lucia Cats) Saffron Buns
1. Melt 50 grams of butter in a pan and when it has melted add 2.5 dl of milk. Warm the mixture to 37°C (100°F) and no more. Then pour a little of the liquid over 25 grams of live baker's yeast and stir to dissolve.
2. Add the rest of the liquid, 1/2 gram of saffron, 1 dl of sugar, 125 grams of sour cream and 8 dl of flour and mix to a smooth dough. Let the dough rise for 40 minutes.
3. Now, knead the dough and divide it into 16 pieces and form each piece into a ball and then roll between your hands to make a long "cat tail" and shape it in to the shape of and S or any other shape you like and place them on cookie trays that are either buttered or covered with baking paper. Cover your Lussekatter and let them rise for another 30 minutes. Make sure they have enough space on the trays to double in size.
4. Preheat the oven to 225°C (437°C). Whip an egg with a few grains of salt and when the Lucia cats have finished rising, brush them with the egg mixture. Bake your cats for 5 to 10 minutes in the middle of the oven - they should be yellow with golden 'tops'. They are best fresh out of the oven but will keep for a few days in an air tight container.
And the best for last...
Dark Chocolate Truffles
1. Melt 8 ounces of butter with a 1/2 cup of sugar. When it starts to just caramelize pour in 1/2 cup of heavy cream little by little and stir with a whisk till smooth and bubbly. Now pour 1/2 of good quality cocoa powder little by little while stirring constantly with the whisk. Remove from heat and keep stirring till shiny and smooth.
2. Now comes the fun part - divide the chocolate into a few different bowls and decide how to flavor each of them. Use can use vanilla, 2 tablespoons of whisky, cognac, rum or champagne, lemon or orange peel, nuts, peppermint ... well, you get the idea. Be creative. My favorites are whisky, champagne and peppermint. Put the bowls in the fridge to chill until firm.
3. When the chocolate has cooled use a teaspoon to scoop out chunks. Roll them into balls and then roll them in cocoa, powdered sugar, nuts or a gourmet sea salt. Hand rolling warms them up a bit so chill the truffles again before serving on beautiful plate. Space them out in one layer in an airtight container and keep them in the fridge or the freezer for up to two weeks.
Friday, November 17, 2006
Helsingborg & the Winter of a Bon Vivant
My article about Helsingborg has been published in the South of Sweden Magazine. Read the full article below or visit www.sosmag.se to download the pdf version of issue 4 of the magazine.
The Winter of a Bon Vivant
Helsingborg, the pearl of the Sound, is perhaps best loved for its summer pleasures when the sun shines on lively festivals, waterside eateries and miles of some of the best urban beaches in Scandinavia. But with stunning scenery, cultural riches and an epicurean flavor, the thriving “little big city” is also a winter wonderland for bon vivants as Laurel Williams reveals.
Discovering a rare blend
Helsingborg is one of Sweden’s most beautiful seaside cities, commanding the narrowest point of the Öresund Sound, a little bottleneck or ‘hals’ between Sweden and Denmark from which Helsingborg gets its name. This is Sweden’s closest link to the continent and, like the rest of Skåne, was Danish longer than it has been Swedish and that lends a tangible cosmopolitan whiff to the atmosphere. At once sophisticated and flamboyant, Helsingborg has become a magnet for young, active creatives and lovers of style and gastronomy. One thousand years of history and recent awards such as Sweden’s finest city center, Sweden’s best music city and the city with the best business climate for entrepreneurs in Sweden, offer a rare blend of the ancient and modern that beguiles visitors and locals alike.
Helsingborg is easy walkable and with the Sound to the west and the heights of the Landborgen ridge running parallel to the east, orienting yourself is effortless. A good starting point is Stortorget, the main square lined with upscale shops, restaurants, hotels and the impressive City Hall. Stand in the middle of the square and take in the view of the busy ferry harbor at one end and at the other, the magnificent steps that rise up to the Kärnan tower that has stood guard in Helsingborg for over 600 years. Climb up the ancient steps in the tower’s 4½-meter thick walls for brilliant views of the Sound and the menagerie of boats frisking about or heading out upon the seven seas.
Kullagatan, the oldest pedestrian street in Sweden, winds north away from the square and deposits you at the concert hall and the theatre. Beyond is the North Harbor, fringed by delightful restaurants and cafés with immense windows perfect for gazing at all the boats and people passing by. A welcome surprise there is a row of heated benches outside the marina building. Just south of the main square, discover the charming cobblestone streets around the beautiful St. Mary’s Church. In this, the oldest part of Helsingborg, almost every dwelling has its own ghost story. Ivy creeps prettily over the red bricks of St. Mary’s, the Danish Gothic masterwork that was completed in the 1400’s and that took 100 years to build. Bruksgatan leads pedestrians further south and eventually to the exotic, vibrant district of Helsingborg where the currents of the world swirl in dozens of languages around the daily fruit, vegetable and flower market.
All on a winter’s day
Winter is the perfect season to take in the unique wealth of culture that Helsingborg offers. A generous donation from resident industry mogul Henry Dunker, famous for his Tretorn galoshes, boots and tennis balls, fixes Helsingborg’s status as a flourishing cultural center for years to come. Go to Dunkers Kulturhus for its striking architecture, expansive views of the North Harbor and a bounty of concerts, theatre and exhibitions of local history, Nordic mythology and modern art. Take moment to stop in at the gift shop for some of the most unique and genuine souvenirs of a visit to the city including Tretorn boots and other rubbery novelties. The nationally renowned city theatre warms hearts during the dark winter months with the cabaret “Brel” in homage to Jacques Brel’s life and immortal songs. Take in a symphony at the concert hall or take a stroll in the magnificent gardens of the Fredriksdal open-air museum or Sofiero castle. Look for the juniper-hedge maze at Sofiero, ironically a puzzle in itself to find, and ramble down the ravine to the seaside where swans bob aimlessly about. Lately named Sweden’s most beautiful park, the grounds of Sofiero play host to flower festivals, art exhibits, rock concerts, Shakespearean plays and classic car shows during the spring and summer but is utterly tranquil in winter.
Stroll along Kullagatan and Bruksgatan for some superb shopping. All the usual chains are represented but the real gems are the many small clothing boutiques, interior design shops, galleries and cafés. This region is rich with high quality clay and you will find plenty of unique handmade stoneware available in Helsingborg. Visit the wonderful Gastronomibutiken gourmet delicatessen in the Tågaborg neighborhood where locally sourced goodies rub shoulders with European delicacies from the best producers. Their own fresh foie gras pâtés soaked in grappa, cognac or rum are incomparable. Many locals also make regular pilgrimages to south-side institution Tasty House where towers of baklava compete with exotic candy and, most importantly, row upon row of freshly roasted nuts.
Stop in at a cozy café for a cup of Zoégas dark roast gourmet coffee. The Zoégas beans have been roasted Helsingborg since 1881 and on roasting days when the wind is right the whole town smells like one big fragrant coffee shop. Take the waters with a glass of the local iron-rich Ramlösa mineral water that Carl von Linné raved about and that has found its way onto water menus around the world. The holiday season will find you nibbling at crisp gingerbread cookies or golden saffron buns washed down with piping hot mugs of sweet and spicy ‘glögg’. Helsingborg also boasts no less than three gourmet chocolate shops. Sofie Choklad and Peter Beier Chokolade keep their chocolate fountains gushing on opposite sides of the St. Mary’s church and Chocolatte on the Sundstorget square offers a unique white hot chocolate laced with fresh lime. For cappuccinos whipped up by Sweden’s best baristas head to the K&Co café off Kullagatan. Don’t leave town without buying some gourmet chocolates or Zoégas dark roasted coffee beans to stuff stockings with.
Bundle up and take a winter walk in the beautiful Pålsjö forest among towering beeches and oaks. A most romantic tunnel through the ancient hornbeam hedge near fairy-pink Pålsjö castle leads you to stunning views of the Sound and Denmark. You can link in here to a walking path that follows the edge of the Landborgen ridge and stretches nearly 15 kilometers from Sofiero in the north to the medieval Raus Church in the south, past sumptuous homes, secret gardens and along the valley of Råå Creek.
As the winter sun sinks lower make your way to the to the Påljsöbad sauna and bathhouses, set on stilts in the Sound, for a wholesome and magical conclusion to your day. It is a cherished tradition in Helsingborg to gaze at the sunset over Denmark from the sauna windows, emerging only to shimmy down steps for the occasional swift dip in the refreshing (read icy) water.
Hometown soccer hero Henrik Larsson is back in Helsingborg after a spectacular international career and has led Helsingborg’s own team, HIF, straight to the top classes of Swedish football. If they play their way into the Royal League then be sure to catch a game at Olympia, one of Sweden’s nicest outdoor sports arenas.
Eating, Drinking & Being Merry
It would be foolish to go to Helsingborg and not indulge in the gastronomical delights. Helsingborg’s reputation for offering Skåne’s best dining can hardly be disputed. It is home to the likes of GASTRO, NIKLAS HELSINGBORG and Sofiero Slottsrestaurang, three of the top four restaurants in Skåne and among the best in the country. The traditional Swedish Christmas buffet is served in grand style at Sofiero during the month of December and it is a most marvelous feast of homemade Christmas delicacies in regal surroundings. The White Guide recently proclaimed GASTRO the best restaurant in Skåne and the Christmas buffet stays true to the Gastro concept of preparing locally sourced fish, game and vegetables to perfection, capturing the essence of Skåne’s traditional cuisine.
Celebrate the holidays like royalty at the baroque Örenäs Castle, set on a bluff in Glumslöv, just 15 kilometers south of Helsingborg. Sweden’s youngest castle (a 92-year-old whippersnapper) houses a hotel and restaurant that hosts a Christmas buffet complete with a small orchestra to entertain guests. This is also the setting of an opulent Twelfth Night ball in January where ladies in rustling gowns and their tuxedoed consorts dance and glitter in the ballroom. The castle grounds are lovely and afford vast views of the Sound and the little island of Ven. The surrounding hills and valleys offer some Skåne’s premiere sledding if snow is forthcoming. The most enduring attraction in the area must be the magnificent Örenäs passage grave nearby. Several people at a time can creep into the large, 5000-year-old grave chamber but bring a flashlight and perhaps some candles for dramatic effect. Below the castle is the diminutive fishing village of Ålabodarna, “the eel shacks” where eel fishermen traditionally lived. Walk along the only road past picture perfect houses, to the tiny harbor where in summertime Sweden’s smallest restaurant serves visitors through a window.
Step back in time in provincial Billeberga, 20 km southeast of Helsingborg, where an out of the way farm houses Farbror Elofs Skafferi (Uncle Elof’s Pantry). This is the most peculiar restaurant you may ever set foot in but the experience is unforgettable, especially at Christmastime. The entry to the country courtyard is laid with evergreen boughs that fill the air with rich, green perfume. Crossing the threshold sends you into a wacky museum of random kitsch, where grown men and women sit at rickety yard-sale tables and play with whatever toy or bauble they find there. Meanwhile one lucky member of each party tries to keep track on an old clipboard of how many shots of homemade Swedish schnapps everyone is having. There is a wall of bottles to choose from with handwritten labels announcing such unlikely flavors as saffron, dill, ginger, horseradish and clove. Novel and zany as it is, it is hard to understand what all the fuss is about, that is until you see the buffet spread. Long tables sag under the weight of 22 different kinds of homemade pickled herring, the best of the rest of traditional Swedish Christmas dishes and an enormous Italian feast. Save room for the silky little panna cottas. If you find a trinket that strikes your fancy you will probably be able to take it home. Just ask the waiter to put it on your bill.
If Christmas fare is wearing thin head back into town and straight to NIKLAS HELSINGBORG where the dashing young celebrity chef Niklas Ekstedt devises beautiful winter dishes that please all the senses. The epic wine list matches his Classic French and Mediterranean cuisine where you will detect masterful currents of experimentalism, reminiscent of his time at Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago, El Bulli in Barcelona and French Laundry in Yountville, California.
When you are hungry, New York style, book a table at Brooklyn on the square by St. Mary’s church. Inspired by the legendary Peter Luger’s steakhouse under the Brooklyn Bridge, Chef-Patron Rickard Persson serves whopping Porterhouse and New York strip steaks and lobsters. In the lofty and genteel rooms of the oldest restaurant in Sweden, now home to the Café le Fils du Rasoir, you can savor a monstrous, steaming bowl of French onion soup and other French classics. Come in from the cold at the new Copenhagen-style bistro and wine bar, Papi, just off Kullagatan. Designed by esteemed Danish architects Vandkust, the interior features cozy sofa niches where you can nestle in for lunch or glass of wine. On weekends devour wonderful brunches at Papi, Brooklyn, Sofiero or the restaurant in Dunkers.
The word gourmet originally meant wine taster and at Lagmark on Sundstorget you can live out this meaning at a new shrine to wine, the “Vinotek”, that allows guests to sample some of the world’s finest wines for a song. The long gallery of stainless steel and glass proffers 40 bottles of fine wine but the doyenne of the collection is the Chateau d’Yquem. A sip of this, the world’s most exclusive dessert wine, always seduces first-time tasters. “In 25 years I never sold a bottle and now I sell one or two a week,” proprietor Torbjörn Lagmark declares. Lagmark is a foodie mecca that also offers catering, cooking lessons, a gourmet deli and an array of dainty Swedish tapas dubbed gourmetas.
Bask in relaxed ambience at MeNTO on Kullagatan, notably Helsingborg’s only Cristal restaurant and where each dish includes something fresh off the grill. Your hosts, award-winning bartender Susann Nilsson and bartender/sommelier Ola Book dazzle with clever concoctions of fresh fruit and flavor fusions inspired by the finer cocktail trends of London. Try the Frisky Bison, an artful union of apple, pear, crushed mint and lemon that is utterly fresh or the lavish pineapple Flirtini spiked with Cointreau and topped up with champagne.
If the night is still young, follow the music to Mink behind St. Mary’s church. This is the place to dance till dawn and if the floor gets too crowded patrons are welcome to board the tables and the long (though narrow) bar and very regularly do. If you make a go at it then you will be happy to discover that the ceiling is low enough to help you keep your balance. Bar tenders do brisk business anyhow, nimbly serving drinks through the forest of twitching legs. The Tivoli in the venerable old station building by the ferry harbor is buzzing almost every night with live concerts, stand-up comedy and drag shows. A jazz club lurks under Kullagatan and at the Grand Hotel’s piano bar champagne cocktails flow to the tunes of Elton John and Robbie Williams.
A night on the town will leave you feeling that the 122,000 residents of Skåne’s second city love life and are determined to live it well. So come hither, bon vivants. When the winter sun sinks into the dark slice of Denmark and the sounds feasting and laughter float out from candlelit restaurants, the pearl of the sound is your oyster.
Local heroes share their best winter tips
Håkan Nilsson, Wine Consultant and Writer
“I love going to the Pålsjöbad sauna and bathhouses in the late afternoon. I take all my foreign visitors there for a sauna and a swim in the Sound. It is wonderfully relaxing and also happens to be the best hangover cure I know of.“
Niklas Ekstedt, Celebrity Chef and Owner of NIKLAS HELSINGBORG
“I go to the theatre and concerts and take winter walks at Sofiero and Fredriksdal. My favorite way to warm up is to visit one of Helsingborg’s three gourmet chocolatiers for a cup of delicious, rich hot chocolate.”
Johan Wissman, Silver Medalist at the 2006 European Athletic Championships and Swedish record holder in the 200-meter sprint
“During the winter you really just want to find a cozy place indoors and Helsingborg has lots of restaurants and coffee shops to suit every style. I like the restaurant and lounge, Bara Vara, and the 50’s style coffee shop Ebbas Fik on Bruksgatan that has giant cookies and big slices of cake.”
Getting there
By air
Ängelholm's airport is just a 30-minute drive from Helsingborg and has direct flights to and from Stockholm. Kastrup in Copenhagen and Sturup in Malmö serve international travelers.
By land
Drivers can follow the E6 north from Malmö (1 hour) or south from Gothenburg (2 ½ hours) and the E4 from Stockholm (7 ½ hours). Trains run several times a day from Malmö, Gothenburg and Stockholm and deliver you to Knutpunkten, the central station in Helsingborg where all the train, bus and ferry traffic meet.
By sea
The most enjoyable way to arrive in Helsingborg is, without a doubt, by ferryboat from Denmark. The flags of Kronborg, Hamlet’s famous castle, wave you off from Helsingör.
Where to stay
The Elite Hotel Mollberg on Stortorget is a classic address. The site has been a hotel since the 1300’s making it Sweden’s oldest and it also houses the oldest restaurant in Sweden, now home to the charming Café le Fils du Rasoir. www.elite.se/hotell/helsingborg/mollberg
The Radisson SAS Grand Hotel in a beautiful 1920’s building on Stortorget houses an excellent restaurant and lounge, a piano bar, a chic coffee shop, an Italian trattoria and the divine Japanese city spa, Njuta. www.radissonsas.com
Villa Thalassa, perched on the edge of the Landborgen ridge in the Pålsjö forest, is one Sweden’s most beautifully located hostels. www.villathalassa.com
Farbror Elofs Skafferi in Billeberga provides quaint rooms for guests overwhelmed by the idea of returning to the real world too soon after dinner. www.elofsskafferi.com
At Örenäs Castle ask for the rooms in the castle itself. They offer weekend packages and special deals for the Christmas buffet and the Twelfth Night ball. www.orenasslott.com
Mark your calendar
December 3rd, Julskyltning
The shop owners in Helsingborg honor the Swedish tradition of unveiling the Christmas ornamentations of the shop windows on the first advent. White lights twinkle across town and candied almonds are roasted and sold on the corners.
December 7th, Port Wine Tasting
One of Sweden’s top wine experts, Håkan Nilsson, hosts a port wine tasting at bistro and bar Dahlberg on Stortorget. www.gastro.nu/gastropub
December 8th-10th, Christmas at Fredriksdal
For an authentic Swedish Christmas market do not miss “Christmas at Fredriksdal”, where you can buy old fashioned candies, homemade delicacies and crafts in old shops on the exquisitely preserved rural village streets. The beautiful manor house and gardens date back to the 1700’s. www.fredriksdal.helsingborg.se
December 13th, Santa Lucia Day
Take part in one of Sweden’s most magical Christmas traditions on Santa Lucia Day’s festival of light. A candlelight procession of young girls dressed in white glides into St. Mary’s Church and spellbinds the audience with song. The procession and concert begin at 7 p.m. and are free.
December 14th, Symphony
The revered Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra pays tribute to Mozart’s life and travels with the symphony, “In the Masters Footsteps” at Helsingborg’s concert hall. www.helsingborgssymfoniorkester.se
January 6th, Twelfth Night Ball
A black-tie affair at Örenäs Castle marks the traditional end of Christmas festivities. www.orenasslott.com
January 19th-21st The Cod Festival
Helsingborg hosts its 28th Annual International Cod Festival, one of the largest international sea angling competition the world, with a prize table of 400,000 SEK and 50,000 SEK for the biggest cod (upped to 150,000 SEK if you can beat the all-time record of 25.3 kilos). The festival, which usually includes over 600 participants from 20 or more countries, takes place in the North Harbor. Contact Hans Elmroth and Margareta Andersson on or Lisa Olsson on for more information.
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