On a “whim”, I decided to have dinner in Malmö, Sweden during my trip to Copenhagen.  Malmö is a train-ride away across the Øresund bridge (about 30 minutes journey plus the length of stop for the Swedish Police checks after crossing the bridge). I chanced upon an article in the SAS inflight magazine discussing gastronomy in the Southern province of Sweden. It strongly piqued my foodie radar.

Although I did not manage to go to the featured restaurants in the articles, I did have a delicious Swedish dinner at Arstiderna i Kockska Huset. This restaurant is set in a historic building that is about 500 years old.  The building used to house the Danish Mint when Malmö was then part of Denmark. This building also blends beautifully in the grand Stortorget Square.

I chose the classic Swedish set menu accompanied by Swedish Schnapps infused in cumin and Swedish beer. Both are commonly consumed together on special days/feasts (Christmas, Midsummer, etc). Well, apparently, they would sing after the Schnapps. Luckily the establishment did not make me do that, or they would have the ancient bricks falling over their heads.

The set menu comprised of local ingredients.  We started with asparagus panna cotta and crab meat as amuse bouche.  The starter was whitebait roe (caviar).  They served reindeer fillet for the main course. Reindeer meat originates from the Northern part of Sweden, near Lapland (which I have tried before in Tromsø).  For the cheese course, Allerum cheese was used. This cheese is an aged cheese and is also known as the Priest cheese. Due to the aging process, some lactose intolerant people can consume this cheese. The server told me so, as he is one. The final dessert was freshly made vanilla ice cream. It seems like a plain dessert, right?  However, they added a compote of cloudberries onto the ice cream. That made the whole situation much more interesting.

I have to say dinner in Malmö is quite a success 🙂  I could not say I made history, but I definitely ate some.