Scandinavian

This moist sweet corn bread is a nice addition to breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

This is a fine dish for a cold day, and one that cries for ice-cold akvavit and beer. So popular is this soup with all the Nordics that it is said that the King of Sweden eats it every Thursday.

A delicious treat from Aspa Herrgård. If you don't want to caramelize the top in brûlée style, just sift powdered sugar over the tart before serving.

This recipe was created to accompany other canapés: Shrimp Canapés, Pickled Herring Canapés and Smoked Mackerel Canapés.

(Savory Sandwich Torte) A variety of fillings can be used in this savory sandwich torte, often served on special occasions in Sweden.

Norwegian men have taken to cooking for fun, and this excellent luncheon entrée is from Derek Blixen, manager of the Pan American World Airways Oslo office.

A luscious ending to a superb dinner. This three-layer cake has a whipped cream frosting that's spiked with brandy and molasses.

The long cooking time makes this lamb meltingly tender. Offer noodles alongside.

The children of Jean Garry, wife of editor-in-chief William J. Garry, may have left home, but they come back at Christmas for their favorite bread. The recipe was given to Jean by her mother (who isn't Swedish, but never mind). The bread which is lightly flavored with aniseed and orange, makes great toast for stocking-searching time. Sometimes Jean bakes the loaves in nine-inch aluminum pie tins. After they cool, she puts the breads back into the tins and wraps them up in colorful cellophane for gift giving.

Serina Kaker "When a good friend went out of town, I volunteered to water the plants in her apartment, and my reward was helping myself to the Christmas cookies, all nicely stored in a tin," says Jane A. Van Pelt of Alexandria, Virginia. "Well, they were delicious and had completely disappeared by the time my friend returned. She told me that the recipe had come to her through her Norwegian roots and was a favorite in her family. Now these cookies are a holiday favorite in our family, and I hope they will be shared with many others."

This Swedish stew called Sjömansbiffgryta is one of the most typical family stews, which every Swede knows. This is one of those "lots of bang for the buck" types of stews. It's so simple, yet the taste it delivers is so satisfying. It is best to cook it in an enameled cast-iron casserole because it goes into a very hot oven for quite a while, and all the liquid gets absorbed and the casserole becomes a little crusty. I know it seems like an awfully long time to keep a stew in such a hot oven, but trust me, it works. You can deglaze the casserole with a bit of water if you like and pour it over the stew, which should be transferred to a serving bowl.

"This recipe for Swedish drommar, meaning 'dreams,' comes from my grandmother," writes Elizabeth Wigg Maxwell of New Providence, New Jersey. "She and my mother made these every Christmas when my siblings and I were growing up. As children, we were amazed that my mother had to go to the pharmacy to obtain one of the ingredients: ammonium carbonate. Equally incredible was the fact that something which smelled so horrible helped make such delicious cookies!" "Years ago, I began baking drommar for my own family. I called the local pharmacy to request the unusual ingredient and was delighted when the pharmacist said, 'You must be making those Swedish cookies!'" Ammonium carbonate, used by European bakers, makes especially crisp cookies. Its smell, which you may find off-putting while making the dough, disappears completely in the baking process.

A Scandinavian table is seldom without them.

Favorite Danish ingredients get dressed up in pretty packages for the holidays. Complete the side dish offerings with some oven-roasted potatoes topped with butter and lightly sprinkled with caraway.

Indian spices have been part of Scandinavian cuisine for hundreds of years thanks to the region's thriving shipping trade.