Feasts and Treats
In the northernmost reaches of Europe, the sun never sets on Midsummer Eve. What better time to keep an eye peeled for fairies? Nordic fairies, or “hidden folk” as they are known in Scandinavia, engage in most of the same activities that fairies of other regions do: they dance in rings, avoid baptism at all costs, and steal human babies, leaving their own offspring behind in the cradle. They also abduct older children and even adults, carrying them off into their mountain halls. While Scandinavian fairies can be devastatingly attractive, they never look as good from behind as they do from the front. Even the most handsome fairy prince is likely to have a tail, shaggy bark growing on his back, or a hollowed-out back like a trough.
Whenever the weather permits, northern Europeans prefer to dine outside. Lingering over a delicious meal in the garden while the Midsummer sun flirts with the western horizon is perhaps the best way to catch at least a glimpse of the fairies.
Nordic Hot Dogs
In Sweden, they’re called Swedish hot dogs. In Denmark, they’re called Danish hot dogs. You can get Danish hot dogs in Germany, but my German cousin insists on driving over the border for the real thing. They really ought to be pork, but they have so many good things piled on top of them that if you must use vegetarian hot dogs, they just might not taste too awful. As far as I’m concerned, the hot dogs are really just a vehicle for the remoulade sauce and curry ketchup. No, I haven’t made this one into a casserole: one has to draw the line somewhere!
Prep time: 15 minutes (longer if you fry the onions)
Cook time: 10 minutes
Servings: 8
8 high quality hot dogs
8 submarine rolls
For the remoulade sauce:
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
¼ teaspoon dried tarragon
¼ teaspoon dried cilantro
1 teaspoon chopped capers
For the ketchup:
½ cup ketchup
½ teaspoon curry powder
Other toppings:
1 large yellow onion or 1 cup dried fried onions
4 baby dill whole pickles
Mayonnaise (optional)
For the hot dogs, the longer the better. For authenticity, I recommend a good pork hot dog like Thumann’s or Schaller & Weber, but if you have another favorite hot dog, that’s fine. Why sub rolls? Because they’re sturdier than hot dog buns and capable of supporting all those toppings. Besides, leftover bits of roll can be soaked in milk and deposited in the corners of the garden as offerings to the fairies.
The sauces and toppings can all be prepared ahead of time, but let’s assume that it’s already Midsummer Eve and a party of hungry Witches and fairies is soon to descend on your garden.
First, the remoulade sauce. In a small bowl, stir the mustard and mayonnaise together vigorously until there are almost no lumps. Stir in the herbs and chopped capers. Set aside.
For the curry ketchup, simply stir curry powder into the ketchup. Set aside.
Now for the toppings. If you are making your own fried onions, start by halving your onion, then slicing it very, very thin. Fry them in a nonstick frying pan WITHOUT any butter or oil until they are brown and decidedly shrunken. They will crisp up as they cool. The pickles should also be sliced very thin. Why not just buy sliced pickles? Because they won’t be thin enough! We want ours to be paper thin. Authentic Nordic hot dogs also have a line of mayonnaise piped onto them. This seems a bit much to me, but I’ll leave that up to you.
As soon as all of your toppings and sauces have been ensconced in their own attractive serving dishes, each with a little serving spoon, it’s time to cook the hot dogs.
Boil hot dogs according to package directions. Cut the sub rolls lengthwise, but only cut halfway through. You want them to cradle the hot dogs without them falling through. Warm the sub rolls in the oven or toast lightly in a toaster oven.
At the table, demonstrate proper assembly to your guests: Put a little remoulade in the crevice of the bun, followed by the hot dog. Top with another line of remoulade, a drizzle of curry ketchup, and mayonnaise, if desired. Place fried onions and overlapping slices of pickle, as many as you like, on top. Now all you have to do is figure out how to bite into it!
Black Iced Tea Punch
Many magical things are supposed to happen at the stroke of midnight on Midsummer Eve, including rivers turning to wine, but all you really need is a glass of my Black Iced Tea Punch. This is actually a version of a fruity iced tea my cousin Astrid made one summer to accompany our Currywurst—yet another Germanic hot dog tradition. Astrid used herbal tea for her punch, but I figured we could use a hit of caffeine tonight while we’re out gathering fern seed and watching for hidden treasures to reveal themselves. (Because she is an altogether better person than I am, Astrid also used agave syrup instead of sugar.)
If you don’t have a lemon balm plant, you must get one! They’re easy to grow from seed, and if you plant one in the ground, it will come back twice as a big in the spring. You can also grow them indoors: not only is it not poisonous to cats, my cat hasn’t had a hair ball since she started herself on a daily regimen of fresh lemon balm leaves.
Astrid also recommends the addition of dried sweet woodruff to any iced tea punch. In Germany, you can find it in syrup form, but in the United States, you might have to grow and dry your own.
Prep time: 5 minutes
Brew time: A few hours
Servings: 8
4 bags black tea
4 cups water
4 teaspoons sugar
2 cups blackberry, black currant, or other dark berry juice
1 orange cut into thin slices
1 tray ice cubes
Fresh lemon balm leaves
Early in the day, put the tea bags and water out in the sunshine in a glass pitcher or large jar to brew. (It’s the longest day of the year, after all!) When the tea is nice and dark, bring it inside and add sugar, berry juice, and orange slices. Add ice cubes and lemon balm leaves just before serving.
Cold Rice Pudding with Raspberries
According to Swedish folk wisdom, rain falling from a sunny sky means the Witches are baking cakes. So, if you want fine weather for your Midsummer merrymaking, make this cold rice pudding instead. On Christmas Eve, I make a warm, sweet rice porridge for the nisse or Nordic house elf. This rice pudding, which is served chilled, is strictly for human consumption, though you never know who might be joining you for dessert on Midsummer Eve!
No time to make the raspberry sauce? Top with mandarin orange segments instead.
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes for pudding; 10 for raspberry sauce
Chill time: 2½ hours
Servings: 6–8
For the pudding:
¼ cup water
2½ cups 2% milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
⅓ cup short grain rice (actually a little bit more)
1 envelope Knox unflavored gelatine
⅓ cup sugar (added first)
½ cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar (added later)
For the raspberry sauce:
2 cups frozen raspberries
Sieve
2 tablespoons white sugar
Garnish:
Raspberries, blackberries, strawberries or fresh seasonal berries
Fresh lemon balm leaves
Pour ¼ cup cold water in a small bowl. Stir gelatin into it and let sit.
In a medium-sized pot, heat milk and vanilla until bubbly. Stir in the rice and simmer uncovered for around 30 minutes, stirring occasionally and smooshing any lumps with a wooden spoon. Don’t let it boil over!
Turn off heat and add your clear blob of gelatin to the rice, and stir for a few seconds until gelatin disappears. Stir in ⅓ cup sugar and pour rice into a large bowl. Chill for 90 minutes. In the meantime, you can make the raspberry sauce or catch up on all those shows you missed during the week.
Whip the heavy cream with 2 tablespoons sugar until stiff. Take the now-gelled rice out of the refrigerator and gently fold in the whipped cream. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for another hour or until ready to serve.
Still haven’t made the raspberry sauce? Now is the time!
In a small pot, heat frozen raspberries over low heat until berries are thawed and mushy. Strain into a bowl, stirring the seeds round and round with a wooden spoon or pestle to separate as much juice and pulp as you can. When there’s not much more than a clump of seeds in the sieve, give up, discard seeds, and stir 2 tablespoons of sugar into the sauce. Pour sauce into a small pitcher.
Just before serving, spoon rice pudding into glass dishes, top with sauce, and garnish with fresh berries and lemon balm leaves.