Rachel Khoo’s book The Little Paris Kitchen set the template for her appeal – highly styled covet-the-lifestyle images and classic food with a fresh twist. Why mess with that formula, just replace the French chic with a hefty dash of Scandi cool. Khoo says that the recipes here are traditional home-cooked dishes learned from her new Swedish family and friends.

Most of the ingredients are familiar and there are no complex techniques that will leave you teetering on the edge of a meltdown. On the downside, there’s little that got me really excited, either. There’s no denying that the food tends towards hearty and comforting, so on a miserable winter weekend I’m tempted by squash pancakes, porcini toast with bacon and thyme and apple and cheese spelt buns (would that I could look as effortlessly glamorous as Khoo while up to my eyeballs in flour). Given her background as a pastry chef it’s not surprising that there are lots of cakes, biscuits, buns and baking, some beautifully scented with a whiff of cardamom and caraway seeds.

 

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