A Taste of Sweden, Ikea Rhodes
I went to Ikea and all I got was this…
Awesome piping kit! A swedish education! And dinner with a bunch of really interesting people. An email from Dave from Ikea’s This Is Home project saw A Table for Two, Chocolatesuze, Citrus & Candy, Grabyourfork, Here Comes the Food, I Am Obsessed With Food and The <3 of Food come out west to the Rhodes Ikea base for dinner Swede style and an introduction to the new Ikea kitchen range.
I can’t be the only one obsessed with Ikea can I? It helps that my current unit is approximately 85% furnished with Ikea products and say what you will, but I love my Billy Bookcases! That said, I’d never actually stopped to eat at Ikea preferring to rush home and entertain myself with seemingly simple but ultimately frustrating furniture building instructions (I don’t jest, I really do love it). For those visting the Mothership, the main cafe is located on the first floor just after the escalators and a small deli is conveniently situated on the ground floor, selling all sorts of swedish goods as well as a packaged frozen version of the meatballs I am about to try for the first time.
Lingonberry & Elderflower cordial
The night starts off with non-alcoholic cordials, Ligonberry and Elderflower which are thickly sweet to the tongue. The Elderflower scent is not unlike canned Lychees and goes down nicely. We are informed that usually these drinks are spiked with a kick of vodka but I somehow doubt that Ikea has an alchol license so we have ours straight up.
The Premium Cider Koppaberg comes in a Mother sized can and for once, the advertising doesn’t lie as it is indeed a refreshing taste of sweet pear. The carbonate in the drink spits alarmingly while being poured but is actually rather light on the tongue when drunk (I say this as a non-carbonate drinker).
Petra is our resident Swedish expert and gives us a quick rundown of the different entrees for the night. I’m interested to note that each of the employees wears a tag around their neck with a number of flags on them, Petra’s has the Swedish, German and Australian flag which as she explains means she is fluent in all 3 languages. When asked what would happen if you spoke more languages than would fit on your tag she laughs and suggests they would probably be better off working at the UN.
Middle: Shrimp, Egg, Cucumber and Mayonaise Sandwiches, Bottom Left: Boiled Egg & Kallar Creamed Smoked Roe on Leksans Knäckebröd triangle
As soon as the explanations are over the food bloggers swarm in to get their shots of the entrees for the night. The entrees themselves are curious mix with ingredients coming mainly from the egg and herring families. I think the Kallar smoked roe is my personal favourite and not just because of the grinning face on the packaging! Looking somewhat like creamed salmon it tastes more like pureed anchovies but less salty.
Left: Boiled Egg, Mustard picked herring on Hällakaka, Right: Various types of Herring
My co-blogger of the night Helena is in love with the Herrings. I have to admit that even as a non-pickles style of food fan, the herring is pretty good and even better when teamed up with the mustard!
Food bloggers gone wild!
I’m pretty amused when I get home to realise that our photography shenanigans have had on-field commentary courtesy of our host and twitter.
The food bloggers are taking photos of the Swedish entrées. All is quiet.
Swedish caviar & sour cream wrapped in Tunnbröd
Oh, I now realised that I have lied earlier. THIS is hands down my favourite, the pure creamy-ness of it is surprising and I am so utterly engrossed in eating that I’m caught with a full mouthful when the presentations begin.
Contrare to what I had assumed, the frypan range offered by ikea was pretty vast, from the $4.50 (yes that’s right) Steka fry pan all the way up to Favorit, a 25 year guaranteed, oven proof, Teflon stainless steel pan. Say that 3 times fast! My co-blogger was all too happy to pose for a funshot (bonus shots of Billy + Helen’s shoulder).
Having devoured our entrees we then head off enmass towards the IKEA Cafeteria, when asked by Dave if we were all planning on getting the meatballs, I couldn’t help but laugh.
The total count turns out to be 7 plates of meatballs, two of the Salmon Pytti Panna and two Chicken Schnitzels. What can I say, we love our meatballs! Despite all my vists to IKEA this is my first taste of these famed meatballs, I have heard stories of people making the trek out to IKEA simply for lunch and you know what, I get the hype.
Left: Chef's Special - Salmon Pytti Panna, Right: Chicken Schnitzel with chips and gravy
For those strong enough to resist the urge of the balls, there was the colourful Pytti Panna which as Petra explains is a swedish dish traditionally made up of leftovers from the night before. It really is comfort food at it’s most basic level and the accompanying sauce is what makes this dish.
The Schnitzel amazes me with its sheer size, but I have the most fun with Simon’s broken schnitzel heart…
Left: Punch Rolls and Delicato Balls, Right: Princess cake (Prinsesstårta)
Chocolatesuze can’t keep her eyes off the Princess Cake to the point of neglecting her meatballs. After watching her enthusiasm for the last 30 minutes I couldn’t resist sneaking off a plate as the foodbloggers continued their photographing. Marzipan is usually too sweet for my tastes, but the sponge, jam & cream combo is a definite winner for me.
Also available are Punch Rolls and Delicato Balls, Petral explains that the Punch Rolls have the nickname, ‘Vacuum cleaner’ due to their resembalance to old style cleaners. Being designated driver for the night I sadly stay away as they also contain Arach liqueur.
To finish off the night we are surprised with Show Bags! They contain a smorgashboard of goodies ranging from spatchulas, egg whisks, piping kits (which I am thrilled about), cookie cutters and the big mama, the lucky door prize which Billy scores! It contains a large cooking pot from the 365+ range (Everyday use) as well as a set of utensils. Lucky man!
Huge thanks to Dave @ This Is Home for the invite, I never really need an excuse to go out to IKEA but I think I’ll be stopping by the cafeteria for lunch next time I do…
IKEA
Rhodes Shopping Centre
1 Oulton Avenue
Rhodes, NSW 2138
Ph: (02) 8002 0400
Author
By Minh
Minh is a food, photography, tv loving girl who on occasion likes to think that she can cook. I can't hold my drink for what its worth and have an unhealthy obsession with green tea products.
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This article was written on 07 May 2009, and is filed under Blogger Meet Ups, Dinner.
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ahhhh i’m having gravy cravings having seen that schnitzel photo… absolutely love ikea, even more so after discovering their uber cheap brekkies. you guys look like you had so much fun!
shez’s last blog post..caramel brownie slice
lol. i didn’t even know that dave was twittering our actions! and hey, i think you forgot to link me (did u copy + paste? lol).
Helen’s last blog post..Coca-Cola cupcakes
LOL! So busted… ahaha sorry Helen!
Yes, totally schnitzel heart broken… *sob*
Great coverage and loved some of your photos, especially Petra and the over-the-shoulder food blogger shot
oohhhhh wahhhh… never knew ikea served food…
love the pics… food looks amazing.. nothing like what i thought would be served at ikea.. especially the desserts *droooooools*
food and home goods… my new favourite place! luckily for me my friend is a manager at the rhodes ikea store. might have to visit her (by her i might mean the kitchen) more often =))
Yeah I only discovered that Dave was twittering our actions on the night when I got home! I’m actually thinking of going back for meatballs asap! Was lovely to meet you Minh
Karen’s last blog post..A Taste of Sweden: for the love of meatballs and IKEA
gotta get myself one of those pans i think
s
Trip to IKEA for me is usually “get-in, search, get-out” and always get out from the exit on the right side – never visited their food section or cafe! I’ve got to get some those meatballs next time!
Yas’s last blog post..Oh spam filter that was.
Hmmm I don’t remember AstroBoy being there… but great meeting you guys ^^! MMmmm craving meatballs, I want a pile of them ^^!
FFichiban’s last blog post..Mövenpick Ice Cream – Manly, Sydney
As a Swede out in the big world I love going to IKEA to experience a little bit of home away from home!! I love browsing through the store knowing that I might just be the only one who knows how to pronounce, correctly, the name of every single item in the store. I secretly, or not so secretly at times, giggle at people’s somewhat lame attempts at pronouncing some of the names =)
Thanks for a great converage of your Swedish experience!
Did you get to try Dill & Chive flavoured crips/chips? They are my favourite “food” from home to get at IKEA, but not all IKEAs carry them…
Angelica’s last blog post..Thai Green Curry
[...] up with the other foodbloggers: Helen from Grab Your Fork, ChocolateSuze, Minh & Helena from Eat, Show & Tell, Billy from A Table for Two, Simon from The Heart of Food and the lovely Karen from Citrus & [...]
[...] me on the holiday were 3 good friends, who shall be henceforth known as Astroboy (as last seen in Ikea), oldguy and rin, all of whom shared my enthusiasm for trying as many dishes as possible. Between [...]