Salt is a miraculous ingredient, not merely for its ability to accentuate flavour but also for its magical preservative qualities. Often these meet in glorious harmony and create something truly delicious.
December has a smell all of its own. Cloves. Pine logs. Satsumas. Cracked walnut shells. Cinnamon. Brandy. Cold blushed cheeks. A warm, sweet perfume rendered stronger by bolted doors and closed windows and lengthy dawns and early nights. Darkness it seems, accentuates the scent of December.
But for all that warmth and spice, for me, it is the smell of preserved fish that does the best job of summoning the ghost of Christmases past.
Jannson’s Temptation: from a shoot by @Photolotte for Verve Magazine issue two out now, featuring my column on Swedish food
I'm Alex Rushmer: writer, chef and Masterchef 2010 finalist. Welcome to my little corner of the Web. Why not get a cup of tea, snuggle down and make yourself at home?
