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klarastjarnljus · 3 years

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Hagging Out December 2020, making Äggost.

Preparation: Three liters of milk in a large pot. Nine eggs and three deciliters of sour cream. Glögg (spiced wine) in the glögg heater, for the cook. White glögg with apple-cinnamon flavour, to be exact. And almonds and raisins to go in the cup.

Äggost, or eggost (ost=cheese) is an old dish that's most common in the west of Sweden and over the border to Norway. The Swedish province that represents the dish belonged to the Danish-Norwegian union until 1658, and many traditions predates the treaty that made the province Swedish.

There are a few variations of how to make äggost, but the principles are the same: milk (or milk + heavy cream) and eggs are curdled, and the curd lifted with a skimmer into a mold to let it drain and set.

In my family, we start by heating the milk, carefully. Meanwhile, wisk the eggs and sour cream until perfectly blended and smooth. (People who prefer to curdle with vinegar doesn't use sour cream, but just wisk and add the eggs.)

When the milk is hot - but very importantly not boiling - the egg mix is slowly poured into the milk while stirring.

Then it's time to patiently stir and watch, while slowly heating the pot without letting it boil. When it begins to curdle, it's important to keep stirring, so the curd doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot and get burned.

Keep heating and stirring until the curd coagulates and gets thicker.

Then it's time to take the pot off the burner and separate the curd from the whey (the leftover liquid) and put it in a pretty shaped mold (a pasta strainer would work as well). Traditionally the mold is made of wood, and is slightly cone shaped, like a layer cake, but in my family we have always just had these more modern tin molds. (I have them in three sizes, and stacked a three layer äggost for my wedding a few years ago.)

Between each layer, I sprinkle a couple of teaspoons of sugar. You can also skip the sugar and eat the äggost with herring, something my aunt's husband serves for Christmas lunch (but my sister and I eat it separately with jam anyway).

When the mold is full, I let it cool completely and then put it in the fridge overnight.

When it's done, it's turned over on a plate and holds the shape perfectly well. It has kind of the same softness as cheesecake, but not the same texture. It's close to what very soft and silky cottage cheese would be, but tastes more like a bland, not as heavy sweet omelette or soufflé... The best way to experience the taste is to eat it!

The recipes were often family secrets and passed on from parents to children.

Debates and contests between families and islands were common, and there's still a sense of secrecy and mystery surrounding the recipes and processes of making the sacred äggost.

It's common around Christmas time, like at my aunt's, but we make it for New Year's Eve, and when I was little we used to celebrate Easter with a family friend, and they made äggost for Easter.

My wedding was in August, and fresh strawberries was perfect for äggost.

Eggs and milk were a luxury back in the day, and the dish were made for special feasts but were also appropriate during fast - like the Eve before Christmas or Easter. Eggs symbolize abundance, prosperity and fertility and fits very well on any springtime holiday. Candlemas, Easter or May Day would for example be just as appropriate as Midsummer or Harvest.

The circular stirring represents for me the circular motion of the year, and at New Year's, stirring out the old and stirring in the new, clockwise, is as meditative as it is productive. It's a good ritual, and it makes a great festive treat with whatever jam or berries you like! Cloudberries and blackberries are common, but since my parents grow raspberries, that's what I'm most used to. My brother and my husband prefer strawberry jam, which is very tasty as well.

@graveyarddirt

#hagging out #äggost #traditions #sweden #göteborg #bohuslän

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