The Nordic Cookbook

Outstanding book of incredible information. This book has so much more than just the recipes. It reminds me of cooks illustrated style of instruction and background. It’s uses teaching moments to educate you on the Nordic cuisine, culture, cooking and more.

My maternal great-grandparents were both from Southern Sweden before they immigrated to America. I'm 3rd generation American and over the generations, some of our Swedish heritage was lost. My grandfather knew how to read and speak Swedish fluently and he cooked and prepared Swedish dishes. However, my mother never learned his mother tongue, but she learned how to prepare some Swedish and Scandinavian dishes. When I was a kid, my mother prepared the dishes that her father taught her like potato and bacon dumplings, which is similar to the Oland-Style Potato and Wheat dumplings "Olandska Kroppkakor pg. 460 in the book and fish cakes with dill sauce similar to the Danish Fish Cakes "Fiskefrikadeller" pg. 226 that were served with potato pancakes. This is a great book that brought me closer to my heritage. There are so many recipes in the book and it includes the region that the recipe is from. A brief history is also included with some of the recipes. The measurements are written in both European and American measurements, so it makes it easier for me to follow the recipes and not have to calculate conversions. Awesome book!! If I made one recipe from this book every day, I would have over 2 years of having a different recipe each day.

This is a wondrously huge cookbook. It's not just a collection of recipes but it's also glimpses into Nordic culture and its food history--through photos, chapter prefaces, and recipe background info. While a small portion of the recipes do call for exotic meats not common in other worlds, many of them can be substituted for other meats. Like the section for Game, the bird in question can be substituted for common quail, Cornish game hen, etc. Of course the exact result may differ, but you can still get a taste of the spirit of the dish and get a unique experience out of it. And not to worry: there are also entire chapters dedicated to the common meats, like beef, pork, and seafood. The recipes are not overly complex--they don't call for perfect mastery of intricate techniques or fancy tools and equipment. They are humble dishes, but presented from a different perspective and palate than what we may be used to. Many dishes may feel so familiar to you already, but there is something different about it, like maybe it uses a completely different kind of sauce or flavor profile, so it's still approachable and not so exotic seeming that you could never cook it. I find this book great for getting new ideas for casual home cooking, especially since most recipes use common ingredients already. I especially like the sections covering recipes and history of drinks, jams, and condiments. I expect to use this book for many years, with many sticky bookmarks sticking out of it. The only con is that the book is never going to stand on a cookbook stand because it's so thick!

This is one of those books that initially I tried NOT to buy. I checked it out from the library, again and again. It got to the point where I realized I needed to have it around all the time, and I finally bought it. I have made a variety of dishes from this book and all have been stellar. The rice pudding is great at Christmas time, Norwegian style. The Crisp Waffles are sooo buttery and delicious (different than any I have ever had!). A+ book, highly recommend!

Must have for a chef's library. Beautiful book, beautifully written. This is NOT Food Network. It is a serious book for serious, inqisitive people. Some reviewers complain about a multitude of "issues" in the book. I say educate yourself and step it up or stay in your ready meal lane. However, most complaints are due to ignorance. Most daring to intermediate cooks can handle 90%+ of this one. And the rest will learn alot if not set on cooking everything from a can. I read this book like my Larousse and some things I cook and some I don't. If you have reindeer available great for you. If you don't then you've just been educated in a cuisine from another culture or region of the country or world. Larouse has recipes for bear and Chow but I don't cook either because I don't live in China, and I don't hunt bear. If I lived in Maine or Canada certainly I could cook the Caribou or the Puffin and you could too. So enjoy the book for what it is. A reference, a great usable cookbook, and a fine cultural resource that you may not be familiar with. If you love food, you'll love this book. My favorite section is the preserving techniques and recipes.

This book is a bookend, a doorstop, a coffee table curiosity. That sounds mean, and I don't mean for it to be, but this book is mammoth and unending. If you are looking for authentic recipes, their names in all the Nordic languages, and have a surplus of puffins, this is the book for you. If you're looking to add Nordic or Scandinavian recipes to your everyday rotation, let me offer some suggestions. Andreas Viestad has a lovely show and book that are fun and experimental, and include the usual Nordic classics like lefse, cloudberries, and smorbrod. Trine Hahnemann has an open-faced sandwiches book that will save any weeknight supper. Her Nordic Diet book is great for light meals and breakfasts; and her Scandinavian Cookbook is wonderful, too. Her cinnamon buns are terrific. This book has its place, alongside other great ramblings like Feasts for All Seasons, but it is a bit difficult to access in the everyday, and the binding is a little flimsy for its heft. The photos are evocative of the icy landscape that inspires them. I understand it was a great undertaking and work of adoration to create this cookbook, and that's very admirable thing.

I bought this as a gift for my daughter and her husband. Cooking different healthy dishes from all over the world is their passion. This book covers basic traditional recipes from all of the Nordic countries, giving historical descriptions of how the recipes came to be. My daughter could not tear herself away from it in order to open other Christmas presents. However, it is heavy! So you’ll need a very sturdy book rack if you intend to consult it while cooking. This is a well researched volume that they will keep for a very long time.

Pros: The breadth of this cookbook is hard to comprehend , It is amazing to see someone put this much love into a subject. The instructions are very clear and technique based and shines light into a group of cuisines , not often talked about. Must have for a chef's library. Cons: I found there to be a lot of near duplicate recipes with little variation but this is exampled as variations on traditional between countries, i.e , Finland does it this way. I find this interesting but not for everyone. very little to no pictures, which is common for Phaidon Press and fine by me but maybe not for everyone

The author, in his straightforward scandi-minimalist writing style, sets out the scope of the book at the beginning - you probably aren't going to make everything in this unless you own a smokehouse overlooking a fjord and can harvest your own wild twigs and herbs. It's encyclopaedic as well as instructive, and the stories accompanying some of the recipes are delightful - Finnish guy mixing business with grilled eels and getting eel grease on his car seats. Nilsson has a storyteller's eye and a scientist's objectivity. His in-depth understanding of food, culture and people comes through. Book is also massive; great as door stop or for pressing flowers, if you like the items in your home to be multi-functional.

Purchased as a gift for a colleague, so I have not used the recipes myself. The book is well constructed and contains an impressive collection of foods and information, I may buy one for myself.

Como todos los libros de Phaidon, está editado de maravilla: bien encuadernado, papel bonito, buen diseño, dos cintas de punto de libro, textos excelentes... Megnus Nilsson es un chef de culto que recoge en este libro lo mejor de la cocina nórdica, con fotografías realizadas por él mismo (lástima que no hay fotos de todos los platos). Genial para renovar el repertorio de cocina con un toque nórdico exquisito

While some ingredient might be difficult to put your hands on (whale meat, etc...), the book gives a complete overview of the cuisine of this part of the world and many recipes are easily achievable (and substitution for other product shouldn't be too difficult). Tried a few and will continue. I particularly like the stories around the recipe, makes the reading much more interesting.

The book is very good, good graphic, good ricetta