Crazy about ABBA’s costumes?

Owe Sandström is the world famous designer who created all the magnificent costumes worn by Swedish super group ABBA. On Tuesday 17 July, Owe will be at Kronberg’s Ateljé in Skansen open air museum – where ABBA’s last studio album cover Visitors was shot in 1981. He will talk about how the costumes were made and he will also bring along some unique ABBA memorabilia. Kronberg’s Atelje is open 11 AM-4 PM.

Later in the evening Owe Sandström and The Original ABBA band will take part in the TV show Allsång (Sing-A-Long), broadcast live from the Solliden stage at Skansen.

Besides being ABBA’s costume designer, Owe Sandström directs Stockholm International Horse Show, works as a safari guide in Kenya and is the founder of Sweden’s largest animal care education center.

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• Sing-a-Long at Skansen, Stockholm (curiousabout1.wordpress.com)

Owe Sandström with Agnetha Fältskog and her daughter Linda Ulvaeus. Photo: Tibor Bárany, TIBORFOTO.com

Sing-a-Long at Skansen, Stockholm

The host of popular TV show Allsång på Skansen (Sing-a-Long at Skansen) Måns Zelmerlöw, is is carried by his young supporters in the audience. Photo: Lars-Eric Örthlund

Tuesday 26 June marks the beginning of the highlight of Swedish summer – the Sing-a-Long at Skansen (in Swedish Allsång på Skansen). This televised event is broadcast live between 8 and 9 PM every Tuesday evening until 14 August. So if you want to sing your heart out in the company of others, this is the place to be. The host of the show is the 26-year-old multi-talented Måns Zelmerlöw, former Idol, Dancing with the Stars and actor/dancer in the musical Grease.

The event has in increased in popularity over the years – the first sing-a-long was back 1979 – especially among the youth, and queues form early in the morning in order to get the best seats, although Skansen doesn’t open until 10 AM. The record audience is 36 000, but usually it’s about 20 000 people trying to get a peak at their favorite artist and sing-a-long. Both Swedish and international starts perform. On Tuesday, 10 July, Eurovision Song Contest winner 2012 Loreen will enter the stage.

Yummy Lard Sausages at Backstugan

At restaurant Backstugan you can enjoy traditional Swedish dishes like Lard Sausages (Isterband). Photo: Ewa Beit

If you’re visiting Sweden and someone suggests that today’s lunch will be Lard Sausages (Isterband in Swedish), it may not trigger your appetite much. And you will probably not believe that they’re any good. But try and move beyond the initial resistance.

Like many other traditional dishes from times gone by, lard sausages are now considered a delicacy. They’re no longer a poor man’s diet but a favorite among many Swedish chefs, and quite expensive in the restaurants that still serve them. Hardly anyone makes them at home anymore.

Lard sausages are made from barley groats mixed with lean pork, lard, ginger, salt and white pepper, they are cured in hog skins for a week. In this time a slight lactic acid fermentation takes place, leaving the sausages smelling somewhat sour. Once fried in a pan or oven the smell disappears and the spices blossom. The traditional trimmings are stewed cabbage or potatoes and beet-roots.

I had some excellent lard sausages at Restaurant Backstugan (cottage on the hill) the other day. The restaurant is located on Greta Garbos Väg (road) in Filmstaden in Solna, a neighboring municipality to Stockholm. Filmstaden was once Sweden’s Hollywood, where famous actress Greta Garbo starred in a number of movies before crossing the Atlantic. The friendly restaurant proprietor Lennart Johansson will greet you and treat you to homemade bread, homemade Tapenade spread and delicious food. Lunch is SEK 90 (USD 13) and includes bread, salad, beverage and coffee.

Take a bite at Stockholm Culinary Week 1–6 June

Don’t be shy! Whether you’re a gourmet or a gourmand, be sure to take a bite. Some of Sweden’s best chefs will treat you to Swedish specialities and cross-over food at Stockholm Culinary Week early June. There will be oyster tasting, chili cook-offs, bar tending know hows, cook alongs, culinary walks and trips to the archipelago (the thousands and thousands of islands surrounding Stockholm).

For more info visit Stockholm Culinary Week.

Vintage Champagne Auction to be held in Mariehamn, Åland on 8 June

It’s time for another spectacular champagne auction in the tiny city of Mariehamn. The town is located in the autonomous archipelago region of Åland, in the Baltic Sea between Stockholm and Turku. The date to mark in your calendar is 8 June. Last year’s auction of two bottles of antique champagne gave profits of €57000 (USD 75000). All proceeds from the auction goes to preservation and research of marine life in the Baltic sea.

Top: The new auction site. Center: Diver Christian Ekström, present when the “treasure” was found. Bottom: Fabienne Moreau, historian at Veuve Clicquot, celebrates with Åland’s deputy county council Britt Lundberg, shortly after the first two bottles were auctioned to the same buyer via an internet offer from Singapore. Photo: Tibor Bárány © TIBORFOTO.com

The name and destination of the ship that sank more than two centuries ago are still unknown. The ship wreck was discovered by divers in 2010 and and a total of 168 bottles of Veuve Clicquot, Heidsieck and Juglar champagne were retrieved from the ocean. Read more about the champagne auction here.

If you go to Åland don’t miss a visit to Smakbyn (Taste Village) near the castle of Kastellholmen in Mariehamn, where famous chef Michael Bjorklund offers traditional Nordic cuisine and Pub Niska (named after a notorious Finnish prohibition smuggler), which offers pizzas with Nordic toppings. If you plan to visit Åland or Finland in May, travel by Viking Line ferries and enjoy Michael’s Nordic Culinary Meny and the breathtaking scenery of Stockholm’s archipelago on your way east. Bon Appétit!

…and for dessert it’s Oven baked Rhubarb with vanilla ice cream made of cream and eggs from Åland Islands and cookies. Photo: Tibor Bárány © TIBORFOTO.com

Fun for football lovers at Arlanda Airport

A new “daycare center” has opened at Arlanda Airport in Stockholm. With snacks, sausages and probably the best beer in the world, all traveling soccer (football) lovers will feel blessed and possibly proned to miss their flights when they discover the all new Carlsberg Euro Lounge. The lounge is part of the company’s sponsorship of the UEFA 2012 Championships, which will be held in June in Poland and the Ukraine.

Carlsberg Euro Lounge was inaugurated 11 April and opened 12 April for the public. Pictured are (left) Mark Jensen, MD Carlsberg Sweden and (right) Lars Edengréen, MD SSP, The FoodTravel Experts, Sweden. Photo: © Cision

Carlsbergs Euro Lounge is located in gate area 1–10, past the security check, in Arlanda Airport’s Terminal 5. The spectacular bar is a dream come true for all “soccer-o-holics” – with features like a poison green artificial turf, foosball game and four giant 70″ TV screens, that will air all games live and also highlights from previous tournaments as well.

I bumped into “Mr. Champagne”

Together with Richard Juhlin, the man with an almost "photographic sense of memory" of scents, aromas and flavors, thus the world's leading expert on Champagne.
Photo: Tibor Bárány © TIBORFOTO.com

Fancy shopping mall Sturegallerian in Stockholm is the new location of acclaimed “oracle” Richard Juhlin’s Champagne Club. The escalators from the bustling Food Court downstairs will take you up to his members only bubbly heaven. I bumped into Richard yesterday and he revealed to me that he’s currently working on his next book, which will contain 8 000 champagnes! It will be the most comprehensive guide to the exclusive bubbles ever published and a new coffee table bible, for sure.

In the mood in Mood

A compilation of the photographer's first impressions of new shopping mecca, Mood Stockholm.
Photo: Tibor Bárány © TIBORFOTO.com

Stockholm has been blessed with a brand new classy indoor shopping mall. Situated in the heart of the city, Mood Stockholm, offers a variety of shops and food establishments, run by quality conscious and passionate owners.

“Basta” to Food Waste

Anna Maria Corazza Bildt together with chef Stefano Catenacci of Operakällaren treated all seminar guests to a delicious "leftover" buffet. Photo: Tibor Bárány © TIBORFOTO.com

Swedish EU Parlamentarian Anna Maria Corazza Bildt, wife of Sweden’s Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, moves to raise awareness of  the amount of food being discarded everyday in kitchens throughout Sweden and Europe. Perfectly good, edible food is wasted  in school kitchens, at home and in restaurants. Corazza Bildt said at a seminar this morning: “Everyone needs to pitch in to stop the escalating food waste.”

It is estimated that every fourth grocery bag is thrown away. This behavior also results in more Co2 pollution, as a majority of the people in urban areas depend on their cars when they go shopping. There are, however, a number of ways to reduce food waste. One of the easiest is to lower the temperature in the refrigerator. With a four degree drop, from +8 to +4, one liter of milk will last for two weeks instead of one. The restaurants also have the option of offering their customers doggy bags for food not eaten or why not provide early night “happy hour buffets” from lunch leftovers, as Italian trattoria Italiano Papà in Stockholm recently started doing.

For more photos from the Basta to food waste appeal go to: http://www.tiborfoto.com/BASTAtillMATSVINNET/

For more info on how to reduce food waste, please visit http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/ags/publications/GFL_web.pdf

Stockholm turned green for Paddy’s Day

A huge crowd turned up for the annual Paddy Parade through the streets of Stockholm. Police estimates the number of people participating at somewhere in the vicinity of 650–700 people. Also, yours truly estimates the number of dogs to approximately fifteen, Irish Soft Coated Wheaten Terriers and Irish Wulf Dogs accounting for a good 98 per cent of the canine participation. The St. Patrick’s Day festivitites in Stockholm have actually been going on for close to a week now with various music and theater performances, gael football, and other cultural happenings.

Girl in her winning costume with little leprechauns in the background. Photo: Ewa Beit

Thursday’s host at the media event at Radisson Blu Royal Viking Hotell’s Sky Bar was Ireland’s Tourism Board. They put on a sustainable green event with marvelous food, lamb chops, cold cuts and artisan cheeses prepared and presented by famed Irish TV chef Donal Skehan. From the bar’s elevated position the view was clear to the five tall buildings in the city’s Haymarket, which all turned green at eight o’clock.

Yours truly with author Joseph O'Connor. Photo: Tibor Bàràny © TIBORFOTO.com

Awards were presented to the Swedish journalists who had  best portrayed Ireland in articles and films in 2011. The newly appointed ambassador to Sweden, Mr. Jam And es Joseph Carroll, was also present, as was famous Irish author and recipient of the Irish PEN Award 2012, Joseph O’Connor.His best selling book Ghost Light has been translated into Swedish and will be out in stores next week. The Swedish title is Spökljus.

Last, but not least, come 25 March, getting to Stockholm will become a lot more convenient as Aer Lingus will inaugurate a nonstop flight from Dublin with prices starting as low as 55,99 Euros.

The featured picture of the cocktails with green berries in was taken by Tibor Bàràny, www.tiborfoto.com. For more photos from the event visit: www.tiborfoto.com/StPatricksDay2012/.