Product Description

In this long-awaited book, Marcus Samuelsson introduces the simple techniques and exciting combinations that have won him worldwide acclaim and placed Scandinavian cooking at the forefront of the culinary scene. Whether it's a freshly interpreted Swedish classic or a dramatically original creation, each one of the dishes has been flawlessly recreated for the home cook. Every recipe has a masterful touch that makes it strikingly new: the contrasting temperatures of Warm Beef Carpaccio in Mushroom Tea, the pleasing mix of creamy and crunchy textures in Radicchio, Bibb, and Blue Cheese Salad, the cornflake coating on a delightful rendition of Marcus's favorite "junk food," Crispy Potatoes.
In "The Raw and the Cured," Marcus presents the cornerstone dishes of the Scandinavian repertoire, from a traditional Gravlax with Mustard Sauce (which gets just the right balance from a little coffee) to the internationally inspired Pickled Herring Sushi-Style. The clean, precise flavors of this food are reminiscent of Japanese cuisine but draw upon accessible Western ingredients.
Marcus shows how to prepare foolproof dinners for festive occasions: Crispy Duck with Glogg Sauce, Herb-Roasted Rack of Lamb, and Prune-Stuffed Pork Roast. Step by step, offering many suggestions for substitutions and shortcuts, he guides you through the signature dishes that have made Aquavit famous, like Dill-Crusted Arctic Char with Pinot Noir Sauce, Pan-Roasted Venison Chops with Fruit and Berry Chutney, and Fois Gras "Ganache."
But you'll also find dozens of homey, comforting dishes that Marcus learned from his grandmother, like Swedish Roast Chicken with Spiced Apple Rice, Chilled Potato-Chive Soup, Blueberry Bread, Corn Mashed Potatoes, ethereal Swedish Meatballs with Quick Pickled Cucumbers, and Swedish Pancakes with Lingonberry Whipped Cream.
From simplest-ever snacks like Sweet and Salty Pine Nuts and Barbecued Boneless Ribs, to satisfying sandwiches like Gravlax Club, to vibrant jams and salsas and homemade flavored aquavits, Marcus Samuelsson's best recipes are here. Lavishly photographed, Aquavit and the New Scandinavian Cuisine provides all the inspiration and know-how needed for stunning success in the kitchen.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #75164 in Books
• Published on: 2003-10-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 312 pages

Amazon.com Review
What kind of food would a French-trained Manhattan chef, born in Ethiopia and raised in Sweden, produce? The unique food of Aquavit, the Scandinavian restaurant whose refined, contemporary cooking Marcus Samuelsson presents in his eponymous debut cookbook. Samulesson's cuisine reflects the Swedish love of seafood, game, and pickled and preserved dishes, enlivened by Indian spices (brought to Sweden in the 17th century), plus other approaches. Thus Aquavit offers reborn Scandinavian favorites like Gravlax with Mustard Sauce and Swedish Roast Chicken with Spiced Apple Rice plus delights like Tandoori-Smoked Salmon with Goat Cheese Parfait, Hot-Smoked Char with Lemon Broth, and Glazed Salmon with Wasabi Sabayon. Though the book includes among its 150-plus recipes fare that's definitely friendly to the home cook--like Barbecued Boneless "Ribs" (made with boneless pork shoulder) and Slow Roasted Turkey Wings--this is fundamentally a chef's collection, and will probably be pored through more readily than cooked from. Nonetheless, for readers interested in the food of singular talent, presented in an oversized format as lovely as the cooking itself, the Aquavit is essential.

Chapters cover the basic menu stops, including soups, salads and sides, plus the likes of Steamed Crab Rolls from "Bites, Snacks and Little Plates"; Blueberry Bread from "Crackers and Breads"; and Lamb Sausage Wrap from "Sandwiches." Chapters on dessert offer such treats as Swedish Pancakes with Lingonberry Whipped Cream and Chocolate "Blini"; and a drinks section includes the unusual and very palatable likes of Lemon, Pepper, and Dill Aquavit and Yellow Mary Mix, a yellow-tomato bloody mary descendant. Illustrated with ravishing color photos that reiterate the sleek pleasures of the food, Aquavit is as special as its innovative and very worldly author. --Arthur Boehm

From Publishers Weekly
When he became executive chef at New York City's swank Aquavit at the tender age of 24, Samuelsson began educating Americans about his native Swedish cuisine, but he also received an education in return. And it's that exchange that elevates this book beyond traditional Swedish cooking to an expression of one chef's unique viewpoint. There are certainly traditional Swedish dishes represented, such as Gravlax with Mustard Sauce, Swedish Meatballs, and Prune-Stuffed Pork Roast, but they stand side-by-side with successful experiments like Pickled Herring Sushi-Style, with slices of herring served on tiny mashed potato logs that resemble rice, and Warm Beef Carpaccio in Mushroom Tea, inspired by a trip to Japan. Every cross-cultural gambit, from a Tuna Burger with Cabbage Tzatziki to a Gravlax Club Sandwich with guacamole, sounds fabulous (with photos by Shimon & Tammar, which are as beautifully clear and crisp as the recipes). Samuelsson unabashedly confesses to a fascination with "junk food culture" that dates back to a time before he knew what the words meant and results in wonderful finger foods such as Crispy Potatoes dredged in corn flakes and panko bread crumbs and fried twice. Desserts exhibit the same combination of adherence to tradition and thoughtful experimentation and range from Swedish Pancakes with Lingonberry Whipped Cream to Black Pepper Cheesecake with blanched peppercorns. Samuelsson is one of our great chefs, and a warm-hearted and generous writer to boot.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
New York's Aquavit restaurant has introduced diners to the sophisticated delights of Scandinavian food. Its celebrated chef Marcus Samuelsson has now documented his triumph in a cookbook, Aquavit. Samuelsson's gift lies in his imaginative ability to combine traditional Scandinavian fare such as salmon with a modern palette of spices, herbs, and vegetables to satisfy contemporary sensibilities. Roasted red snapper has an expected mustard and dill sauce, but the tang of Asia's lemongrass adds a surprising dimension. Arctic char gets a crisp, heady crusting of fresh horseradish root and an accompaniment of mussels made fragrant with curry. If you thought there was no new way to prepare french-fried potatoes, Samuelsson's Crispy Potatoes will astonish with their double coating of corn flakes and Japanese breadcrumbs. For dessert, try a pear poached in glogg, Scandinavia's spiced wine, and topped with a "ragout" of walnuts, endive, and Stilton cheese. Mark Knoblauch
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

Finally, bringing Swedish food into the spotlight!
If you have ever eaten at Aquavit in New York, you know how hard it is to resist buying this gorgeous cookbook. If the meals at the restaurant can be created to be even half as amazing at home, the book is weel worth its cost!
Luckily, they have turned out to be extremely successful in my own kitchen. And, might I add, most of them are far easier to make than they appear. I love this book and appreciate the chef's work so much that it blows my mind when I read some of the criticism in the reviews.
First of all, this book is so beautiful that I keep it in a bookshelf in the living room, not the kitchen. The pictures are so lovely but at the same time might intimidate certain readers who fear they won't be able to recreate the image. To this I have to say: "It's ok. You aren't putting the meal into a book to be published and you're not serving it to paying customers... It's allowed to look different, as long as it still tastes good." Samuelsson is a chef. The food is on a different level than that of Ina Garten, Rachel Ray or Nigella Lawson (as much as I like all of them.) Some of these recipes will take a bit more effort, but many you can make with very little effort! The soups, roast chicken, meatballs, salads, and many main courses are not as difficult as they appear.
Another gripe I've read in other reviews is that the recipes are not as much Scandinavian as they are Asian. Whoever said this knows very little about Swediesh food! As a Swede, I found all of the recipes to be based in strong Swedish tradition. But like the title says, it's the NEW Scandinavian cuisine, melded with tastes from all over the world. Ingredients like curry, have been used in Northern Europe for centuries now.
This book has brought a lot of joy to our home. The pictures and tastes make us homesick! His food is authentic and groundbreaking at once and I believe Marcus Samuelsson deserves all the praise he has received.

Swedish With A Twist
If you've ever eaten at Aquavit, then you know what to expect from this world class chef's first cookbook. It's loaded with wonderful recipes reflecting Marcus Samulesson's multi-cultural
backgroud and it's beautiful book to look at. While there are many classic Swedish dishes in this book, Marcus also shows us his creative approach to Scandinavian cooking. As a novice chef, I found the the recipes informative and easy to understand. I also liked the fact that many of the recipes had variations and included some background information or cultural history. And, just as you might expect from a restaurant named Aquavit, there's a nice selection of aquavit recipes in the drink section. This is now my favorite cookbook.

Full of surprises...
This is not a perfect cookbook, by any means. Out of 19 recipes we tested, 12 gave excellent results and 7 were disappointing. That's not a very respectable ratio. But the good recipes are so startlingly good they make up for a multitude of sins. Some of my favorites are Juniper-Apple Soup (superb balance between fruit and meat flavors, especially when garnished as suggested with duck confit); Coffee-roasted Duck Breasts (a simple preparation resulting in a deceptively complex flavor); Salsify "Tagliatelle" with Smoked Salmon (a delicious and unusual dish faintly reminiscent of spaghetti al carbonara); Salmon Bundles with Orange-Fennel Broth (again a sophisticated balance of sweet-tart fruit flavors with the bass notes of seared salmon); Squab Toasts (irresistible treats in fig season); and many more. Less successful, to my palate, were the Pickled Herring Sushi-Style (harsh combination of strong flavors); Curried Cauliflower, Potato, and Sprout Salad (muddied, indistinguishable flavors); Salsify Cappuccino (no standout flavor I could discern at all); Pear and Fingerling Potato Ragout (too sweet); and Glögg-Poached Pears (not exciting enough to warrant all the work). Overall, it seems to me that this chef has a marvelous instinct when it comes to fish and meat, and creates many new flavor combinations that really work. He is less reliable with vegetable dishes and desserts, both of which tend to be excessively sweet. We cook out of this book frequently, however: if you have the patience to sift the wheat from the chaff, this book will reward you with plenty of delicious and inspirational meals.