The falafel is the ultimate street food in these vegan days. From Karachi to Casablanca, it’s the popular filler with an unknown story. Nobody is really sure where the first falafel appeared. Is it a delicacy from ancient Egypt, refined by the Copts – some believe it was Tutankhamun’s favourite snack – or should we think of it as Arabic?

In Israel, the falafel plays an iconic role in Jewish cuisine and it’s widely considered to be the national dish of the country. Maybe Abraham himself enjoyed stuffing his pita bread with this ancient doughnut. As with almost everything else in the Middle East, the origin of the deep-fried chickpea patty is a delicate matter. The heated falafel debate has actually turned into a veritable food fight, much like the great hummus war that has been going on between Israel and Lebanon for the past few years. But let’s leave all that behind. The falafel is no longer just
a Middle Eastern treat. It has, for a while now, gone west.

Mange Schmidt comes from the world of music, but has a deep-rooted love for true street food, prepared the way it should be. Together with Jimmy Blomberg Dali and Jason Diakité, an old friend from the music scene better known as Timbuktu, he wanted to bring the true falafel to Stockholm. “Up here the falafel culture has been terrible,” says Schmidt. “Frozen, premade doughs, with no fresh herbs or passion in the recipe – something very different from what I learnt to love when down in Malmö. So we decided we wanted to make fresh falafels every morning and bring them out to the people! Let them know how a crafted Middle East treasure really tastes.”

Sweden’s third-largest city, Malmö is the country’s true falafel capital – the place where the best examples are to be found in the nation, something that’s probably linked to the number of people moving there from falafel-loving parts of the world. Schmidt and Diakité – who has been a fixture on the Malmö hip-hop scene and even written a song called En High 5 & 1 Falafel – decided that bringing good falafels to Stockholm would be their mission. And it didn’t take long to come up with a name for their restaurant: Malmø.

The main recipe used at Malmø is a family treasure from a Palestinian woman who lives in Malmö, but anyone is free to use it, as it has already been published in Schmidt’s book, Street Food: An Introduction, which he wrote with Jonas Cramby. In this cookbook, every recipe requires you to make the meal from scratch, something that’s very important to the energetic entrepreneur and rapper, and a practice that brings him joy after a long day in the kitchen. Yes, the owners love to cook at the restaurant.

“We start from scratch every morning,” Schmidt says. “Fresh organic herbs and nothing but the best. Only our own special sauces and pickles. I also we want to emphasise that a falafel is even better with a good beer, such as Pilsner Urquell – a pilsner whose creators share our passion for craft. It is actually a perfect combination, though not widely explored in the Middle East, for obvious reasons. But let’s change that over here. Burgers and beer… I say falafel and pilsner!”

To mark their first year of falafel action, on March 1 they will be hosting a grand event with Pilsner Urquell at their Stockholm restaurant as part of Brewers and Makers, Pilsner Urquell’s ongoing celebration of craftsmanship throughout Europe. The finest fresh Pilsner Urquell – delivered directly from the brewery in the Czech Republic – will be served together with fancy falafels: a feast to celebrate how a true delight from one part of the world so perfectly matches another from a totally different culture. It is a fact that the falafel has evolved from being an esoteric nibble in the alleyways of the Levant to become the vegan jewel of modern street food.
Malmø, K25, Kungsgatan 25, Stockholm
malmofalafel.com 

Team credits
Words by Alfredo L Jones
Photography (MALMØ) by Pejman Biroun Vand
Special thanks to Pilsner Urquell

From the composer Sibelius to the artist Tom of Finland, the Finns have always managed to stand out. Even in warfare: their brave fighting to keep Stalin out gave the country a special place in the history books. Later, it was through designers such as Alvar Aalto that Finland established itself as a powerful force in modern expression. It’s a country renowned for its originality and proud natives.

This transformation from a rather poor country on the outskirts of Europe to one of the most progressive in the world was made possible through the paper industries. It was an industry that produced an awful, smoky odour that couldn’t be ignored when the ships arrived from all over the world. “What is that awful smell?” a young sailor wondered. “The smell of money,” was the famous answer. That horrid fog from the chimneys created great wealth and built the foundation of modern Finland, and maybe there is something deeply profound within the Finns and their adoration of smoke. They love to be surrounded by it, sweating together in cramped cottages, enjoying a beer. And they love to smoke anything they can eat.

“When we were asked to create a dish for Eat Pilsner, it was obvious we wanted to do something that really felt Finnish. And for us, that was to smoke some ingredients the traditional way – in a cottage. Or as we call it, mökki,” says Antti Lappalainen at Fisken på Disken in Helsinki – the first restaurant in Finland to be chosen to spread the message of beer gastronomy.

Finnish cuisine has come a long way since the country was a rather rural province of Sweden and later Russia. As with other Nordic countries, this was not a place of plenty. Everything had to be used up thoughtfully. “For us Finns, simplicity is important,” says Lappalainen. “Nothing should be used if it’s not really needed. Just as in our design tradition. Less is… enough.”

Like many other countries, Finland has had to dispel some prejudices regarding its food culture. Just over a decade ago the French President Jacques Chirac claimed, “After Finland, [Britain] is the country with the worst food.” But just as in the British Isles, the restaurant culture in Finland has gone through a reformation. Helsinki and other Finnish cities are now regarded by many as the next destination for anyone who’s become hooked on Nordic cuisine. Somehow, gastronomy in Finland has preserved its own unique traditions better than others.

“In many ways, we have kept our ways up here,” says Lappalainen. “You have to remember that we have a very homogeneous population and therefore fewer imported food cultures than other Nordic countries. We hardly have any immigration. But naturally we have learnt from our history, being at the crossroad of so many different food traditions. And we’re curious people. We like to travel!”

Featuring a natural and historic culture clash between the Arctic circle, Russia, the Baltic Sea, the Finnish lake district and a huge continental influence among the old bourgeoisie, Finland’s food scene is already one of the most schizophrenic in Europe. Yes, they love their bear meat, carrot à la porkkanalaatikko and that beloved mustard they always brag about, but Finns also love oysters and rare wild game. And now new restaurants combining all these traditions in a new way are popping up like forest chanterelles. They are combining the new with the old. Purifying the traditions. And one of the traditions in Finland is actually using beer in cooking.

“Cooking with beer is something we’ve been doing for ages in Finland,” Lappalainen continues. “I use it frequently in my reindeer stew and in my mustard. But as we’re a seafood restaurant, we decided to use beer gastronomy with one of the classics – mussels – but in our Finnish way.”

Very far removed from French moules, this dish combines typically Finnish ingredients such as radishes, dill and buckwheat. The mussels, an example of Swedish interaction through the centuries, are poached in butter and pilsner – everything with a distinctive smoked undertone. As we said, the Finns are seriously obsessed with smoke. What else could you expect from the homeland of the sauna? Up there, they do things their way.

Eat Pilsner is an invitation for restaurants all over Europe to create new dishes using Pilsner Urquell – the original pilsner – as a key ingredient. Mökki Mussels Urquell was created by Fisken på Disken, Helsinki; fisken.fi

Credits:

Words by Tor Bergman

Special thanks to Pilsner Urquell

Art Credits:

1. Finsch Landschap Eno Herajärvi, No. 734 Ståhlberg, Helsinki (1998), by IK Inha

2. Photograph byTiina Törmänen

3. Sunset at Lake Tuusula (1902), by Pekka Halonen

In the bible, God seldom shows up. But when he does, it is often suggested that food is what is at the forefront of his mind. Apparently, gastronomy is regarded as something very important in the heavens, and goat meat is regularly a relevant matter for discussion. It’s a piece of meat that was very popular back in the day.

“Goat has unfortunately had a bad reputation since the ‘You shall not boil a young goat in the milk of its mother’ quote from the Old Testament,” says Göran Svartengren, the head chef at the restaurant that bears his name. “And it seems that, even back then, it was regarded as something that wasn’t very special. But the truth is very much the opposite. Young goat is fantastic – as a steak on its own, or in a stew or a sausage. It’s like lamb, but even more exquisite.”

Svartengrens is a well-known spot in Stockholm for meat lovers. Here they serve impressive pieces of meat from local producers, knowing that their guests are very demanding. Today we go out on the town for dinner like there was no tomorrow, but we are also pickier and more educated than ever. And wastage isn’t something we appreciate these days.

“It’s a shame that we only enjoy the cheese from the goat and disregard the meat. The Greeks are smart – they know how tasty the goat is. So we want to put the it back on the menu,” Svartengren continues. “And there are many other interesting things out there waiting to be put on the restaurant table. Well… all in a civilized and educated tradition, of course.”

Goat meat is also very lean. If you think chicken breasts are your best option for lean-meat proteins, you’re on the right track. A little further up the health spectrum you’ll find goat meat. Not only is it the leanest red meat out there, it has lower calorie and cholesterol levels than chicken and turkey. It suits a new, health-conscious generation. But as with lamb, it should not be too old – kid is the best there is.

“Kid is a true delicacy and goes very well with beer. That’s why kid was my first thought when Pilsner Urquell invited me to create a dish for Eat Pilsner,” says Svartengren. “However, when you’re involved with beer cuisine, it’s important to have a sweetness to complement the bitterness of the pilsner. It’s not like wine, which you can reduce and reduce. You must take care, but when you do, you get tremendous results.”

But the world of gastronomy is a conservative one. In restaurant kitchens around the world, wine is naturally the dominant liquid when it comes to making sauces and stocks, but making food with pilsner offers new possibilities – and not just with classics such as robust stews. It also goes really well with seafood, as other restaurants have shown with dishes such as raw pilsner lobster and scallops Urquell.

Goat is too often regarded as a lowly dish. Something you eat on the horn of Africa, while waiting for a container ship to pass by to hijack, perhaps. In the film Captain Phillips the pirates keep reminding the captain, played by Tom Hanks, that when the hijack is over they shall enjoy some lovely goat in their Somalian hideout.

But the old view is about to change. Goat is finally coming to town.

Eat Pilsner is an invitation for restaurants all over Europe to create new dishes using Pilsner Urquell – the original pilsner – as a key ingredient. Kid, pilsner and marrow, created by Svartengrens, was made using kid sausage, marrow and Pilsner Urquell. The dish includes dry-aged topside of ox, smoked marrow, onion cream, beetroot, applewood and pilsner onion sauce.

Credits

Words by Alfredo L. Jones

Film and images produced by The Forumist

Special thanks to Pilsner Urquell

The beer boom is not losing its grip on the citizens of the world. Yet we find that the quest for the most bizarrely innovative brew doesn’t really attract the same interest that it used to. Instead we go back to tradition. How beer was in the older days. And what is more traditional than the original pilsner. Pilsner Urquell has been brewed in the same fashion since 1842, when it became the world’s first pale lager beer. A pilsner with an instantly recognisable taste and famous for its rich foam.

So, if you want to use a good beer in the kitchen for cooking, it’s seen as the perfect match. Cooks especially seem to love Pilsner Urquell, and not only as their favourite tipple after a long working week – some also use it in their profession.

Preparing food with beer has been around for a long time. Our grandparents did it, and in many beer-producing countries it’s often the natural choice to use in stews, soups and sauces. Still, beer has not really been explored much by restaurant chefs, which is something that is about to change. And so it is at Linje Tio, in Stockholm, a place known for its delicious range of fresh Mediterranean fare, that we come to eat pilsner.

The welcoming venue, situated in Hornstull, in the south of the city, was recently selected as one of the 100 best bars in the world by worldsbestbars.com – a rather astonishing accomplishment for a restaurant and cocktail bar that has only been around for about four years. The restaurant is part of a three-part venue called Tjoget, which also includes a wine bar and old-fashioned, state-of-the-art barbershop. It is, however, it is the mixology and cooking at Linje Tio that grabs the biggest headlines.

The selection of food at this cosy yet spacious spot shows influences from all over the Mediterranean region – from Spain to the Middle East. And the chefs are a mixed, dedicated, crowd, all united in the same ambition: never to make the dishes more complicated than necessary. Less is always more if you have top-class ingredients, which we should all know by now, after decades of listening to TV chefs preaching that very mantra.

It has often been argued that if modern gastronomy had been developed in a beer-drinking country instead of France, maybe the whole world would use more beer in its restaurant kitchens. Beer, however, is not just a liquid to be used instead of wine, it has its own requirements. David Falk, the sous-chef at Linje Tio, explains: “I believe we are sometimes much too conservative in the restaurant business. You should have wine in everything. Soups and sauces. It’s a cultural thing, but it’s all about how you apply it. Good beer has its own properties and it offers new possibilities.”

When preparing shellfish, a full-bodied pilsner such as Pilsner Urquell is, of course, absolutely perfect. It possesses the sweetness and bitterness that lifts the ingredients and goes so well with the freshness of those lovely fruits of the sea. For cooking mussels throughout Europe, beer is often the first option rather than wine, so why not with scallops?

“First of all, scallops are great to eat together with a good pilsner. That we all know. And cooking shallots with beer is a well-known classic. As a scallop is naturally sweet, the idea of adding the sweet pilsner foam on top as a garnish together with herbs came naturally to us,” says Falk, who together with his colleague and boss, Shanit Yakob, is the cook behind the recipe.

Pilsner Urquell is especially appreciated for its rich and tasty foam, and the pouring really changes the character of the beer – something that the chefs took into account when creating this dish. It’s a recipe that fits perfectly into Linje Tio’s unpretentious yet delicate menu that has a penchant for shellfish. As proved by this dish of scallops Urquell, it’s a fabulous way to eat pilsner.

Scallops Urquell

Serves 4

4 shallots, finely chopped
4 tbsp of butter
2 bottles of Pilsner Urquell
4 fresh scallops in their shell
Dill, chives and cress, chopped, to serve

01 Heat up the grill (burning coal, if possible). Next, set a frying pan over a medium heat, add 1 tbsp butter and sweat the shallots. When they are done, add a bottle of pilsner and bring it to the boil gently to create a shallot compote. Add the rest of the butter and cook until it is brown. Season with salt and pepper.
02 Clean the scallops, take the muscle out of the shell and put to one side.
03 Add 1 tbsp of the shallot compote to the bottom of each shell and places the raw muscles on top, then add a splash of pilsner. Put the top shells back on and place the scallops directly on the hot grill and cook for up to 5 minutes, depending on the size of the scallops.
04 When the scallops are ready, place them on plates. Garnish each with the herbs and 1 tbsp of pilsner foam. Serve immediately.

Credits:

Words by Tor Bergman

Linje Tio, Hornsbruksgatan 24, Stockholm

Pilsner Urquell

Some say beer has gone bananas; sometimes it’s flavoured that way, too. New, mysterious brews, with tropical fruits, gold*, or whatever the brewer has at his disposal, are being presented every day. Still, the kids love it, and people who just enjoy drinking have a splendid reason to do so, while seriously tasting and tweeting about every new brew that appears on the market. Thank God we have the Germans and their Reinheitsgebot, a law limiting the ingredients, to the joy of the conservatives. There, beer is made from old recipes and further refined, thanks to the wonders of the industrialisation of the late 19th century: cooling devices that allow exact temperature and, most importantly, control of the yeast. Almost every central European master brewer will tell you, “Anyone can make a spaced-out IPA in their own bathtub, but let them try making a perfectly balanced pils – over and over again!”

Belgium is, of course, another major beer-producing country. It is also home of Lambic beer: brews that have been fermented spontaneously by being exposed to wild yeasts and bacteria, often in (according to legend and branding) monasteries and remote caves. In Belgium, beer is truly part of the culture, even though the old fields where hops and barley used to grow majestically are long gone. So maybe it’s no coincidence that it’s here that “beer cuisine” – the tradition of preparing food with beer, and needless to say, drinking beer while eating it – is becoming a thing.

For as long as there has been an international gastronomy worth the name, wine has been the main alcoholic liquid in the kitchen for all basic dishes, stocks and sauces. Any chef knows that it is the fat in the butter and alcohol that really bring out the flavours. If the prophet of classic gastronomy, the legendary Auguste Escoffier, had come from a beer-drinking country instead of France, maybe the whole world would have long been using it in cooking, too.

It is, however, a mistake to think that one type of beer will be like white wine and the other like a claret. Beer has its own requirements. You should, for instance, not use the same proportions. When you start to cook it, you get a lot of bitterness, so when it comes to cooking with beer, take it easy. This new field of top-class gastronomy is yet to be fully explored. New restaurants are being opened and cookbooks are being written as you read. In Belgium the godfather of beer cuisine, Stefaan Couttenye, has been working with beer in the kitchen for more than 30 years, and many around the world are following in his footsteps.

In the beer-making countries of Europe, beer that had lost its freshness used to be the natural choice to put in a stew or soup. In Ireland there are countless recipes and in Sweden there’s a classic dish for which beer is vital: sjömansbiff, or “sailors stew”, which was traditionally made with beer, since fresh water was not to be wasted in cooking on board a ship. If prepared correctly, it’s a true delight. According to connoisseurs, dark beer should be used.

So basically, there’s absolutely nothing revolutionary about using beer in cooking. What is new about “beer cuisine” is that it has turned up in haute cuisine.

So much for cooking, but what about combinations where beer is the obvious choice? Well, every gourmet knows that porter, or stout, is the thing with oysters. Porter is also a classic for any kind of chocolate dessert. In Sweden a cold lager is the natural pairing with herring – wine is absolutely forbidden! Moules are mostly enjoyed with ale in Belgium, where moules frites is a national treasure. White asparagus spears and beer is the orthodox choice in countries where asparagus is treasured – the type of beer depends on the way you serve them. Spicy Asian food is another obvious combo, not to mention barbecue or any piece of Bavarian pork. Or to make it easier: do as they do in Belgium – drink beer with everything.

This beer boom is, of course, not a new thing. We know from archaeological evidence and even ancient recipes that beer was being made as far back as 5000 BC in Mesopotamia, today’s Iraq. Some historians even think that the mysterious “manna” that God provided for the Israelites during their travels in the desert, was, in fact, something to do with beer.

In the old days, some kind of ale was the natural drink for all the family, often due to the fact that the water tasted horrible and was unhygienic. In England, beer drinking was also promoted by the government, since binge drinking of gin didn’t quite help to build up worker loyalty and create the work ethic that was desired in the early industrial society. The famous prints Beer Street and Gin Lane (1751) by William Hogarth contrast the sickly, hopeless inhabitants of Gin Lane with the happy people of Beer Street, who sparkle with robust health and great motivation – “Here all is joyous and thriving. Industry and jollity go hand in hand,” wrote Hogarth some years later.

So continue to enjoy beer and food. It’s not exactly just hype.
It might even be – as the old Guinness slogan says – good for you.

* Yes, a small Swedish brewery used gold in tiny amounts as an ingredient recently.

Tasting Notes
Nothing in this world should be too easy. As all beer fans know, there is actually a striking difference between a quality beer that has been poured correctly and one that has not. There are also different ways to pour in order to get a different experience. Here, Pilsner Urquell, usually described as the original pilsner beer, guide us in how to complete the perfect Pilsner meal! It’s the Czech way.

NA DVAKRÁT / crispy
This pour offers the traditional amount of foam, which will help keep the carbonation and make your beer stay fresh longer. This makes it the perfect choice if you want to sit down and enjoy a meal with friends and want your beer to last longer. The carbonation will keep things light and intensify the flavours, so it’s basically the ideal choice any time food is in the picture and your main focus.

HLADÍNKA / smooth
This pour will result in a bit more foam and less carbon dioxide, which gives your beer a smooth and creamy taste. This is exactly what you need when you are in the bar and ready to drink, or perhaps together with a lighter meal, such as starters or seafood.

MLÍKO / milky
This pour will be served in a tall glass, and almost looks like it’s a glass of creamy white milk. No need to worry – it’s not just foam, the beer is in there! The great thing about this style of pouring is the smooth mouthfeel you get, without the bubbles, which gives it an even sweeter taste that is balanced with a bitterness towards the end. Yes, it’s the ideal pour to combine with desserts.

Credits:

Words by Tor Bergman
Tasting Notes by Anna Åhrén

Special thanks to Pilsner Urquell & there Food & Beer on youtube

Eat Beer illustration: Edoardo de Falchi

Main photograph: Beer Street (1751) by William Hogarth. All other photos courtesy of Pilsner Urquell.