Many good meals in the Luleå region of Swedish Lapland start with a snowmobile ride. The cold air and exercise while travelling across the frozen sea of the Luleå archipelago make us a little hungrier than normal and by the time we are taking off our helmets we are already looking forward a refreshing drink and a delicious meal.

The cuisine of Swedish Lapland is often sourced from our own fresh and clean nature. Wild game, berries, fish and more are ingredients to some of our classic dishes. Tonight we will take a look in the kitchen to see how our Chef and his team put together an amazing locally sourced 3 course dinner.

There is time however, after our outdoor adventure, to relax before dinner and to enjoy a glass of wine or beer and make use of the free wifi to post amazing pictures of the days events.

While our guests are relaxing I sneak into the kitchen and find head chef Fredrik and service manager Julia and trainee Amanda busy with the last minute preparations for dinner. The table is being set for our group of 12 and the folding of napkins and setting of plates for the first of 3 courses is underway.

The menu for tonight’s dinner is as follows:

Entree: Lightly salted and lightly cooked Arctic char with cauliflower purée, pickled fennel salad, water crests, sour dough crumble and browned butter.

Main Course: Reindeer sous vide, Carrot purée, Roasted onion, Shiitake mushrooms, wild game stock.

Dessert: Brownie, home made ice cream, caramelised crushed pecan nuts, Cloud berries, white chocolate snow.

Preparations

The entree is a Swedish Lapland favorite that includes the famous arctic char complemented with style. The final preparation of the water crests is underway as is the addition of the pickled fennel to the salad.

The cauliflower purée for the entree as well as the ingredients for the main course including the wild game stock, carrot puree, roasted onions and shiitake mushrooms have been prepared and await service. Even the shiitake mushrooms are local being grown in Luleå in an undergound bunker dating back to the cold war. The reindeer loin has been prepared using the sous vide technique to keep in all the juices and flavors. The exact method of preparing is however a secret that Fredrik keeps to himself. The onions have been caramelised and roasted in the ovan.

The cloudberries are also ready but I couldn’t find the brownies or ice cream. I suspect that at this point they are in a secret location hidden from me. 🙂 The forest floor in Autumn is covered in berries and Brändön Lodge sources theirs from the local community.

 

I did finally locate the caramelised crushed pecan nuts which are prepared in advance in the kitchen as is the shredded white chocolate snow.

As our guests move to their table the restaurant team moves into action and the service of each of the 3 courses commences.

Entree

Fredrik adds the cauliflower purée, the arctic char and the pickled fennel salad.

Next he adds the sour dough crumble and finally dresses with the browned butter.

The final result ready for serving

Main course

First Fredrik lays out the carrot purée on the plates. Followed by the reindeer, which has been lightly browned on each side, is added.

Next comes the Shittake mushrooms and roasted onions

Finally the wild game stock is added and our main course is ready for serving.

 

Dessert

There is nothing as delicious and as simple as berries and ice cream but here in Swedish Lapland it has become an art form.

The brownie, cloudberry jam and the caramelised and crushed nuts are added to the plate.

Followed by the white chocolate snow and a dollop of delicious home made vanilla ice cream.

Final touches are made and serving begins.

The dinner is fantastic and our guests, who have enjoyed a variety of wine or beer during service, are extremely happy.

Following dinner, guests moved down stairs to the lounge area to relax and enjoy the remainder of the evening and wait for the northern lights to appear.