News Trendspotting: Nordic Food and Style After years of worshipping the Mediterranean, the food world is looking to Scandinavia and discovering everything from salted candies to micro-locavorism. Here, the best in new Nordic food and design, plus a cheat sheet to glögg and skyr. By Kelly Snowden and Joel Stein Joel Stein Facebook Instagram Twitter Website Joel Stein wrote a weekly column for Time magazine for 20 years, along with 22 cover stories; he was a weekly columnist for Entertainment Weekly and the Los Angeles Times. He is the author of the books Man Made: A Stupid Quest for Masculinity and In Defense of Elitism: Why I'm Better Than You and You're Better Than Someone Who Didn't Buy This Book.Expertise: wine, cooking, restaurants, entertaining.Experience: Joel Stein was not easy to work with on this bio. The only facts he provided that were verifiable were that he wrote a weekly column for Time magazine for 20 years, along with 22 cover stories; that he was a columnist for Entertainment Weekly and the Los Angeles Times; that he is the author of the aforementioned books; that he has taught at Princeton and written for several sitcoms; and that and has written for The New York Times, Bloomberg Businessweek, The Washington Post, the Financial Times magazine, the New Yorker, Esquire, Vanity Fair, GQ, Food & Wine, and Town and Country. There is no factual basis for his claim that his writing has "saved millions of lives and destroyed many more marriages." Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on March 31, 2015 Share Tweet Pin Email Nordic Food Lexicon Kjottkaker (right): Norwegian meatballs are spiced with nutmeg. In Scandilicious, her new cookook, London-based Signe Johansen shares her unusual cocoa-sauced recipe. Glögg: Aquavit-spiked wine punch served warm with raisins. Jarlsberg: Mild, nutty-tasting cow-milk cheese from Norway. Cloudberry: Tart, amber-colored berry that makes excellent jam. Grilled Salmon Gravlax Gravlax: Salmon dry-cured in a mix of salt, sugar and herbs. Left: Aquavit-cured and grilled salmon is a clever take on gravlax. Smorgasbord: Buffet of cold fish, cold sliced roasts and warm meats like ham. Skyr: Super-thick Icelandic yogurt made from skim cow milk. Back to top Nordic Food: Scandinavian Candy Shops © Ray Hom Sockerbit, New York City "Sugar cube" in Swedish, this shop has a massive selection that includes salty-sweet licorice logs, powerful striped mints and chewy rum-raisin fudge. The Candy Store, San Francisco This shop recently started importing hard-to-find Nordic candies, like super-sour gummy skulls and red Swedish monkeys that are firmer than the famed Swedish fish. Amy’s Candy Bar, Chicago Amy's has fantastic Finnish licorice (both traditional and strawberry-flavored), as well as caramel-filled chocolate horses from Sweden. Back to top Nordic Food: Scandinavian Chefs Post-Noma, the fooderati are searching for Scandinavia's next breakout chefs. Four Nordic stars to watch: Björn Frantzén Stockholm, Sweden Signature Dish: Carrot Macarons filled with Sweet Corn Frantzén and partner Daniel Lindeberg improvise each day's menu at their eponymous Michelin two-starred restaurant, Frantzén-Lindeberg. © David Cenzer/www.danielberlin.se Daniel Berlin Skane-Tranas, Sweden Signature Dish: Parsley Root Salad The chef serves elevated Swedish country food at Krog i Skane Tranas, his 24-seat spot in a rural village. Courtesy of Brygga 11, Geir Skeie Geir Skeie Sandefjord, Norway Signature Dish: Smoked-Fish Board Located on a fjord, the seafood-focused Brygga 11 is run by Skeie, who won the Bocuse d'Or global cooking contest in 2009. © Ray Hom Claus Henriksen Horve, Denmark Signature Dish: Cabbage Heads with Parsley Cream (left) Inside an early-18th-century castle, Dragsholm Slot features high-end New Nordic food from this Noma alum. Back to top Nordic Food: Ikea is Forever Humorist Joel Stein ponders our Scandi-centric moment, as we eat skyr, watch Nordic chefs and worship prefab furniture. When money is flowing and times are like a Jimmy Buffett song, we tend to think of heading south. To less stressful places with charmingly lax laws, fruity cocktails and warm azure water lapping upon us. These are cocky thoughts. They are 2006 thoughts. In 2011, we find ourselves thinking of all things Nordic. Of mittens and mutton. Of stylish sturdiness. So we are hunkering down, longing to eat at places like Copenhagen's Noma—easily the most influential restaurant in the world, converting chefs into micro-localists, foraging lichen in their basement and curing musk ox. Platters of toro sashimi might not be around in 10 years, but you can be sure there will be lichen and musk ox after the apes take over. Scandinavia is about resilience, hardiness, a cool edginess. It all makes sense right now; we want to simplify. To drink clear, hard liquors (aquavit) and listen to spare pop songs (Lykke Li). We trust these things in times of trouble. Because no matter how low the NASDAQ falls, you can always buy things at Ikea. And when they break, you can buy more. Joel Stein's book, Man Made: A Stupid Quest For Masculinity, comes out in May. Back to top Nordic Food: Luxury Lodging Up in the Leaves © Peter Lundstrom, wdo Suspended in the tree canopy, the five rooms of rural Sweden's Treehotel are designed to look like everything from a delicate bird's nest to a floating modernist cube (above). Even the sauna and hot tub are up at leaf level. Doubles from $600; treehotel.se. Back to top Nordic Food: Scandinavian Spirits © Ray Hom New Nordic Spirits Krogstad Floral, barrel-aged aquavit. $35; krogstadaquavit.com. Karlsson's 2009 Vodka Made from baby potatoes. $75; karlssonsvodka.com. Kanon Organic Vodka Swedish and organic, for eco-martinis. $26; kanonvodka.com. © Ray Hom Best Nordic Beers Nogne o Sunturnbrew Smoky, punchy potent brew. nogne-o.com. Mikkeller's Cascade Single-hop IPA. mikkeller.dk. Haand Bryggeriet Haandbic Sweet-tart lingonberry lambic. haandbryggeriet.net. Back to top By Kelly Snowden By Joel Stein Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit