Toast Skagen by my Aunt Vanessa

I am so lucky to come from a family full of gourmands. Not only are all of the women excellent cooks, because they all are, but the men also appreciate good food and the time that it takes to put together a good meal. Their roll goes beyond sommelier, because they also serve as recipe boxes and the memory-keepers of past meals. I remember listening to my father, uncle, and grandparents reminisce about specific meals they had eaten together in Switzerland more than 30 years prior. Not only did they remember what they ate, but also what wine they drank and who the waiter was.

This week my parents and I are out in Montana visiting my uncle and aunt at their ranch in Livingston. My aunt is Swedish by birth, but has lived here for most of her adult life. She is one of the best cooks that I know, and I think that most of her friends and neighbors would agree. Whenever we come out to Montana to visit their ranch, our mouths begin to water at the thought of sitting at her dining room table. Her blueberry cheesecake is one of the only two cheesecakes I have ever loved. (The other is Autumn Stoschek’s from Eve’s Cidery.) But beyond the special cheesecake, every meal is memorable.

She and my uncle recently took a trip to Sweden with my cousins to see where she had been born and visit the places of her youth. My parents and I are enjoying the wake of their culinary wave in the Baltic sea. This morning she served us cardamom cake, which was perfectly moist and crumbled at the poke of a fork. And for lunch she made Toast Skagen, a simple dish of cold shrimp tossed with mayonnaise, mustard, and dill, which is served on toast sautéed in butter, and then garnished with caviar. The dish was part of a Swedish culinary revamp by Tore Wretman after World War II, when the country saw an influx of foreign foods that threatened the traditional Swedish kitchen. I love cold poached seafood, especially when it is served with a good quality mayonnaise. It was delicious.

As I write this blog, I see her laying out a spread of mushroom pate, pheasant pate, whole wheat crackers and setting out the glasses for Prosecco. Not only am I feeling quite fortunate, but I also feel a certain sense of responsibility to remember these meals and their importance for my family.