The first time I had cloudberry jam was not so long ago. It was a quiet afternoon in the borough of Hammarby, Stockholm. A late breakfast actually, must have been around 4 p.m.
No hangover. Though we were up till the waking hours. Last night we went to see play The Andersen Tapes at Debaser. It was their debut gig. I don’t remember if we talked or not after arriving home. We had free tickets to get Carlsberg pints at the club. It was three nights since I had proper sleep. The big white couch has never been so irresistible.
Clearly it wasn’t my idea. I’m devoted to diet coke for breakfast and waiting for lunch. But as a good guest I couldn’t refuse even though my kitchen skills were going to be proven. I was handed a blueish bowl and some unknown steel object that might have been taken out from a surgeon’s kit. I think it’s called a whipper, but I’m not sure. The plan is to make Swedish pancakes. Pannkaka. Pour evaporated milk on the bowl. Whip it!
After embarrassing myself trying to make the evaporated milk denser and leaving all cooking responsibilities, the pancakes were eventually made. Huge pancakes. I did serve the table though.
I was explained how this works. You get the pancake and you put some of the cream I just tried whipping on. On top of that I had to spread some jam. Choices were this time raspberry and cloudberry. Then you roll it. After having some sort of burrito, you use fork and knife to cut it. It’s so easy to get full with them. I could have only 2, she had 5. And she is still skinny. I guess it’s a Swedish thing. Or maybe there’s something in the milk.
You wouldn’t guess that I preferred the taste of raspberry, right? Well, I did. I’m not at all a sweets person. I barely eat candies and I avoid any sort of pastries. What I’m trying to say is that I wasn’t too fond of the raspberry’s cloying taste, but my taste buds could handle them better than the cloudberry jam’s strong taste. I guess it’s an acquired taste.
I’ve been staring today to a cloudberry jam pot I have on a shelf next to many 7″ sleeves. It was a gift I was given long time ago, just as I was starting the label. I wonder if it’s time to open it and start practicing to acquire the taste. Moving to Sweden is always an option.
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