The Bridge to Somewhere

We came to Malmo on the south west coast of Sweden partly because of a Nordic Noir TV programme we'd stumbled across called The Bridge. The Oresund bridge links Sweden and Denmark and in the first episode a body is found severed at the waist, half on the Danish side and half on the Swedish side. Gruesome, but we were hooked.

The Bridge is not just a bridge. It is a bridge running 8 kilometres from the Swedish coast to an artificial island in the middle of the Oresund Strait, then it becomes the 4km Drogden tunnel emerging in Denmark. This whole feat of engineering magnificence deserves that overused term awesome. Much more dramatic photos can be found here.

Our walk to view the structure takes us past the redundant ship building yards and warehouses that housed long defunct businesses. The buildings have either been transformed into IT or biotech centres and apartments, or demolished to make way for new build developments, open spaces, lovely parks, cycle and walkways, and providing water access.

Malmo has surprised us. It seems to merge old and new quite successfully.  We started the day with breakfast at the hotel, eating in what was a cellar built in 1307, nearly 500 years before James Cook came to New Zealand. The hotel has been here in some form since 1519.

Breakfast in a room over 700 years old.  That doesn't happen very often.

In contrast, the Turning Torso (2005) by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava is the second highest residential building in Europe. It defies belief, stretching 190 metres up and twisting 90 degrees from base to top. I have to include three photos so you can appreciate the different aspects it presents as you move around.

The Bridge opened in 2000 and changed the face, and future, of Malmo. It links the city to Europe's motor and rail network through Copenhagen.  Ten thousand Danes now live here (pop 300,000) and commute as taxes are lower in Denmark and rents are cheaper on Malmo.

Half the multiethnic population is under 35, which becomes evident when we go to dinner at the highly rated and evocatively named Bastard.

On midsummer eve it is pulsing and they're turning people away. Earlier in the day we wormed our way into the affections of the maitre d and he told us he'd find a table if we came about 8:30. He did. They serve tapas style sharing plates and we enjoy the best meal we've had all trip: anchovies on sourdough that's been toasted in the wood fired oven, cod roe with crisp radishes, salad greens, veal tongue (braised and made into a patty crumbed and deep fried) served with a salsa verde, and slow cooked rolled pork belly.

When we finally take the train to Copenhagen and cross The Bridge, it's an anticlimax. Much better seen from a distance or from the air.  

Fortunately there were no severed bodies.

Besides caviar, what did you eat in Russia?

I'm glad you asked!
As a non Russian I'd describe the food as comfort food. Hmmm, shouldn't all food give some comfort? But you know what  I mean. Hearty, warming food that sticks to your ribs - soups, bread, dumplings, pancakes, porridge, stews and casseroles, potatoes. My uninformed theory is the love of filling food stems from the days when there wasn't much to go around.


There are always several soups on the menu, including Borscht, and often Okroshka. Our daughter in law (who is Russian) says she can't go two days without soup and she loves Okroshka.  This is a soup of thinly sliced vegetables and boiled meat and it's made with Kvas,  a fermented bread drink.  I know, it's sounding better and better!  That it is fermented probably means it will be trending on western menus before long.  It's an acquired taste.

Our dumpling guy


Dumplings come in all sizes and are often eaten for snacks as well as part of a meal. Cabbage is a popular filling. Mmmm I hear you say.  We found a great hole in the wall coffee place near our Moscow hotel where we conversed with the guy using a translation app. His coffee was excellent as were his Korean dumplings. Go to Russia and eat kimchi and pork dumplings for breakfast. Why not? Delicious.

The son and d-i-l had recommended a beer and sausage place near the Bolshoi, so we went before the ballet. It's all culture right? Spicy sausages grilled over a huge pile of charcoal, stuffed into bread with onions and mustard. You'd think we were at a baseball game. We wiped our fingers before going into the theatre. 

The hunter-gatherer tracking down a spicy sausage

Stews and similar dishes come thickened and always (in our experience) with potatoes. Pork, beef and lamb are all popular. Salads run from Greek to Caesar, along with local compositions such as the delicious Georgian salad with walnut dressing we ate one night.

Georgian salad with walnut dressing

Nuts turn up a lot, particularly walnuts. They coated the delicious delicate fried smelt, acted as binding for the various starter spreads, and popped up in salads. 

Fish is popular, particularly fresh water species including, God be praised, salmon. Delicious salmon tartare, fillets, baked, smoked....yum.  Russians' love of fish means sushi restaurants are very popular, which came as a surprise.  Sushi and Russian don't go together in my head.  Smoked fish, yes, and markets are full of it. And we ate little fish, smelt, quickly fried and very tasty. Like a larger, stronger flavoured version of New Zealand whitebait. 

walnut crumbed smelt with gazpacho sauce

Bakeries have great bread and delicious pies and pastries. Sour cream and cream cheese desserts feature heavily and taste damned good with luscious fresh berries.

 

As in all European cities there are restaurants of every stripe. Italian, Chinese, Indian and so on. We didn't come away totally wowed by anything, but nothing was really inedible or terrible either. Possibly because I ignored the 'bovine brains' when I encountered them on a menu.  Presentation varied hugely and there are attractive and unattractive ways to serve any dish. We saw some unattractive ones, some over complicated styling, some no frills slapitonaplate ones that still tasted good. 

I love good food!