Scans to memory. [Modern Scandinavian Baking by Daytona Strong]

Master the art and heart of Scandinavian baking—60+ authentic recipes

Now you can whip up a slice of Scandinavian hospitality in the comfort of your own kitchen! Modern Scandinavian Baking is a complete guide for bakers of all levels who want to create the sweet and savory treats of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

From breads, to pastries, cakes, and cookies, there’s a simple and scrumptious recipe to delight everyone in this beautifully designed Scandinavian cookbook. Enjoy contemporary takes on classic bakes, plus a comprehensive guide to stocking your pantry with Scandinavian staples, like rye flour, cardamom, baker’s ammonia, and beyond.

When you think of the Scandinavian nations (Sweden, Norway, Denmark), a tapestry of food can be imagined. Seafood is prominent because of local proximity to the seas and ocean. I'm not entirely sure why rye for that matter is so emblematic of regional cuisine, specifically of Danish cuisine, though I'm sure this might be a case of the latter informing the former. Clear and starchy spirits also come to mind, but who knows why? Politics is almost always the answer.

A region's cuisine is influenced by the history of its politics. I'm sure many dissertations have been written on the subject, from spice trade influences to the role of "New World' discovery and colonization. How that regional cuisine will be maintained and remembered or changed and adopted is also influenced by the politics and movement of its peoples. In Modern Scandinavian Baking author Daytona Strong relates the migration and resettlement of her Norwegian ancestors in the United States and how the generations of shared and remembered cuisine have and continue to shape her life.

I have very fond memories of watching New Scandinavian Cooking on my local PBS channel in high school. Rapeseed. Outdoor cooking and quick ferments against open air landscape backdrops. Random history lessons. Like that show this book was a quick culinary tour through Scandinavia. The recipes were quick and easy to understand, though probably best understood in the context of the entire book. I know of some areas in the U.S. that are known for more recent migrations and pseudo-settlements of ethnic groups from given countries. Being that I'm not that familiar with the Norwegian and general Scandinavian migrations it was interesting to have a first-hand account of how it played over generations relayed to me through food.

The overall tone for whatever reason didn't sit entirely well with me. Besides that the only issue I had with the book is a small one. A lot of the recipes I was unfamiliar with, I had to Google a majority of them to get a sense of what they were. Yes, there's something to be said for not including pictures of every recipe, you don't want to set a rigid interpretation or high bar of success when it comes to cooking, but how will I know how close I've come to the expected product if I have no idea of how it's to look? And it's not as if there were no pictures in the book, they were just so sparse with respect to how many recipes were included. Still, I quite enjoyed the book. It was a short read and would be a solid reference tome to keep in the kitchen if you're the type to keep texts in the kitchen, or even if you just want a book to reference Scandinavian cooking from. 4 stars from me.

Modern Scandinavian Baking is set for publication April 14th, 2020.