The Nordic Cook Book by Magnus Nilsson

When I was a little girl, my family celebrated St. Lucia’s day on December 13, approximately halfway between starting the countdown to Christmas on our Advent calendars, and being allowed to open our presents.

We attended an evening mass that including a ceremony honoring the martyr, and once at home, risked conflagrations by attaching lit candles to our Christmas tree. We also ate traditional Scandinavian St. Lucia’s day foods: saffron buns and gingerbread cookies.

Why Scandinavian? Although St. Lucia was from Syracuse, Italy, her feast day is widely celebrated in Northern Europe, perhaps because of her association with light in the face of long arctic winters.

This echo from my past is why thoughts of Christmas send me scurrying to Magnus Nilsson’s Nordic Cook Book looking for festive recipes.

A doorstop of a tome, with 768 pages, it’s jam-packed with simple recipes from all of the Nordic countries. This includes 22 pages devoted to herring, a handful of ideas for preparing reindeer, and a whole host of ways to use rye flour.

In the back of the volume there’s a pantry stocking section with info on how to make mustards, jams, pickles and fermented beverages.

Part of what I love about the book is that some of the recipes are utterly quotidian — boiled cabbage, for instance — while others (to many Americans) may be shocking. In the latter category, one might place the recipe for Elaine’s Sami Blood Pancakes with Smoked Reindeer Fat, or Finnish Liver Casserole with pork liver, golden syrup and sugared lingonberries.

In recent years, I’ve tended to purchase cookbooks that have a slightly narrower focus, and consequently, are shorter. Regional cuisines are so varied that it seems impossible to capture the “food of Italy” or “American cuisine” in a single volume. That said, as I snacked on this volume at a bookstore, I realized that it would expand my knowledge so significantly that it was worth the splurge.

I probably won’t be preparing rendered kidney fat or seal soup during the holidays, but there’s a good chance that a Roasted Goose with Apple Compote and Kale Salad, or a Norwegian Christmas Cake might end up on my table. And, since I missed St. Lucia’s day this year, when I celebrate with my family, I’ll flip to page 544 and make a batch of St. Lucy’s Day Saffron Buns.