The scene has all the elements of a fairytale. Dappled sunlight falls on the forest floor, Hansel-and-Gretel cottages dot the meadows overlooking the glistening North Sea, birdsong fills the air – and then, in a clearing, we spy a picnic table, perfect with its red-checked cloth, and groaning under a feast of Swedish fare.
For dedicated gourmands, it’s northern Sweden that’s most likely to be on the wish list, largely thanks to Fäviken, one of the most isolated restaurants on the planet. But we’re in the gentler south, in Skåne – the fertile breadbasket of the country – to take a foodie walking tour of the Kullaberg nature reserve and discover what the region has to offer.
“Most of Sweden’s food comes from Skåne,” says Mia Håkansson, our guide, as she serves us fried herring marinated in dill, milk and attika (strong white vinegar). “It’s the richest region for agriculture – and there’s everything the sea offers, too.”
The idea for the gourmet hikes came about when Mia and husband Mats visited their daughter in Australia and went on an Aboriginal food walkabout. After chatting to local farmers in Skåne, they devised a tour that marries walking with feasting on food grown within 5km of the land you’re tramping across.
Mats drives on ahead to set up picnics en route, while Mia recounts myths and legends of the troll who watches over the mountain as we walk. Stories of the producers are shared as we tuck in – there’s a man called Thomas who makes the rye bread with its delicious treacly aftertaste, while the buttery potatoes come from Ture in Hoganas, who grows 200 varieties (and battles to save ancient species). There’s a drink made of nettles, raw herring with cheese and crème fraîche from Andreas in Molle and salami from Ingemar and Eva in Brunnby Boställe.
The combination of food, forest and folklore is charming, and we finish with fika (a “little sweet teatime treat” that’s part of Swedish lifestyle) in the garden of artists Leonard and Lyla, sampling the regional meringue-like cake, spettekaka, while one of their friends plays her saxophone for us.
Mia’s food walkabout is a detour off the newly opened 70km Kullaleden walking trail, which hugs the coast of the Kullahalvon peninsula. Part of the 1,000km-long Skåneleden route, it’s a picturesque path along sweeping sandy beaches and over dramatic cliffs, passing seal colonies and small villages. There are campsites and hotels along the way as well as vineyards to visit, and farm shops, cafes and restaurants to sustain hikers.
The route begins in the ancient city of Helsingborg, where we check out a new microbrewery, Helsingborgs Bryggeri. There’s a tasting barn (the summer ale flavoured with elderflower wins our vote) and a weekly Saturday farmers’ market has just opened in the old stables, selling veg, fish and cheeses from the region.
But as well as having this wealth of simple, traditional fare, Skåne is associated with a more adventurous culinary scene. The capital, Malmö, 60km south of Helsingborg, was Sweden’s port to Europe for centuries, and Skåne was always the first region to experiment with new flavours. Dill, so much part of Swedish cuisine, originally arrived here from India, while the ubiquitous kåldolmar stuffed cabbage rolls came from Turkey.
Malmö is an industrial town that suffered a decline during the 1980s, but now has a cool, hip edge. The population is the youngest in the country, the rundown waterside has been reincarnated as a trendy place to live and hang out, and Øresund bridge (yes, the one in the Scandi drama The Bridge) has brought the rest of Europe closer. The cosmopolitan vibe is reflected in the range of food – you’ll find some of the top ethnic shops and restaurants in the country here.
My visit coincides with Malmö’s first Restaurant Day (restaurantday.org, the next is on 17 August) which is something of a misnomer, as it’s a day for non-restaurateurs to show their skills at pop-up eateries in people’s homes, and in parks and squares.
We hire bikes to explore and, armed with the Restaurant Day app, plan our foodie pitstops for the day, first visiting Ghenwa in her communal garden, where we eat warm Lebanese bread with local cheese. Radio journalist Madeleine has turned her sixth-floor flat into “On the Roof”, serving French fare on her terrace as we look down on children’s egg-and-spoon races in the gardens below. Hanna has recreated historical recipes by Gustava Björklund, one of the best chefs in Sweden in the 1800s, from boiled beef sausages with nutmeg to crisp breads with orange peel and aniseed.
If you have time to linger in Malmö, you’ll discover some of the Sweden’s best restaurants. Salt & Brygga (saltobrygga.se) is the country’s first Slow Food-certified restaurant, serving organic delicacies, many of them from Skåne: entrecôte from Wanås with rosépeppar sauce, braised brisket with chanterelles and marinated cucumber.
At Bastard (bastardrestaurant.se), chef Andreas Dahlberg is winning plaudits for his innovative nose-to-tail dining menu, while television chef Tareq Taylor has turned from fine dining to low-key local treats at the laidback Slottsträdgårdens cafe (slottstradgardenskafe.se).
My own foodie exploration ends in the perfect place – at a dinner party with a Malmö family, thanks to a new scheme run by the tourist board, where visitors can dine with locals.
Björn Carlstedt answers his front door in stripy socks and red jeans and shows us into his sunlit dining room, where the table’s neatly laid and decorated with tiny Swedish flags. It feels like we’ve stepped into some kind of Scandinavian Come Dine With Me – until Björn’s wife Kicki appears from the kitchen with a big grin and a tray of drinks.
We tuck into a smörgåsbord of homemade fare: thick, dark rye bread, herring with mustard sauce, Jansson’s temptation (potatoes with anchovies and cream) with meatballs, and äggakaka, an omelette-cum-pancake served with lingonberry dressing and local bacon. The schnaps (aquavit with cumin, star anise and fennel) flows freely and Björn introduces us to different local beers; soon we’re swapping stories like old friends. And then we stumble out into the night, aglow with the fun of an evening spent bonding with strangers in time-honoured fashion over a shared love of food and drink.
• The trip was provided by Visit Sweden (visitsweden.com). Mats and Mia’s Kullaberg Food Walkabout costs £80pp, kullabergsmatvandring.se. A Slice of Swedish Hospitality (dining with locals) costs £47 for adults, £21 for children, for dinner and drinks, mication.se. Villa Thalassa villathalassa.se in Helsinborg has double rooms from £80 a night, room-only. Rica Hotel in Mälmo (rica-hotels.com) has doubles from £50 B&B
