Aquavit and gravadlax

I see August has managed to pass by without me writing a single entry on here, but worry not, this blog is not moribund! I've just been out and about a lot, including a few days in Malmo seeing my friends there. I failed to take any photos of our crayfish party but the carnage was not photogenic in any case. I did at least manage to bring back some aquavit.

The Bridge!

After an afternoon sampling the delights of the Malmo festival, visiting various designer-type shops ranging from swanky to trashy, and stuffing our faces with cake at the fabled Hollandia (where I was very glad to be with someone who understood the complex queueing system), my Swedish friend and I went home via the state-owned booze shop which is a place of fascination for me. It's actually nothing like as bad as you might expect and has a pretty good range of stuff comparable to a UK off-licence, but not as cheap.

Here I was able to look at a range of aquavits and to make a change from Linie aquavit which I wrote about here, I went for this Herr Gards one instead. It cost 199 kronor if memory serves, which is about £20, for a 500ml bottle, so is more expensive than the Linie stuff. Also, it's Swedish, not Norwegian.

G and I had some with gravadlax and rye bread the other night which worked very well. I've been storing it in the freezer and it has a lovely gloopy texture when poured. It's aged in sherry casks, has notes of cumin and aniseed and there is a certain resemblance to a lighter style of whisky. The essential accompaniment to a Nordic evening in London.

Linie Aquavit

Apologies for the lack of posts lately - things have been manic. However, 2011 bodes well with some exciting Christmas and New Year drinking lined up and a trip to Burgundy in the first week of January!

Meanwhile, I had the good fortune to be Copenhagen at the weekend and managed to procure a bottle of Linie Aquavit at the airport. I have to admit they didn't make it easy. Initially I opted for the litre bottle which was on special offer. But at the checkout, the man told me I couldn't have this as I was travelling within the EU, so instead I had to have the smaller size.

After several minutes fuming with indignation, I decided I wanted the damned stuff so much that I went back and got the half litre bottle. This time, the man told me I wasn't allowed that either, but only the 70cl bottle. I hadn't even seen this size of bottle on the shelf but fortunately (he could probably see the smoke coming out of my ears at that point) he was kind enough to go and get it for me, so all was well. I'm still not sure what that was all about, and why the 50cl bottle was banned! Heigh ho.

Linie Aquavit is made in Norway and travels round the world on a ship to mature. It's therefore of interest to a madeira-lover as that is the method they used to use to mature madeira. I have just looked up the (exceedingly wanky) website to learn more and see that it's made from potatoes - that could explain why it appeals so much to one of Irish ancestry - flavoured with aniseed and caraway. Apparently it's matured in sherry barrels.

The website has suggestions for a range of improbable-sounding cocktails (Linie Banana Dream - I don't think so) but G and I have been drinking it neat. It's a pale brown colour, 41.5% alcohol and has a clean, refreshing taste with a hint of fennel. It makes me feel as though I'm in Scandinavia again and apparently it goes well with smoked salmon - I may have to try that. Skål!