“Wanna have some lunch, made by Tommy Myllymäki?”
What kind of question is that? How could you ever turn that down?

Tommy won the silver medal in Bocuse d’Or 2011 and won Chef of the Year in Sweden 2007.

This Wednesday it was time for the final in the most prestigious competition for chefs in Sweden - Chef of the year. Sweden has taken it’s place among the great food nations of the world by taking traditional Nordic cuisine to completely new levels. Many of the great chefs around the globe now turn to Sweden, Denmark and Norway to learn from their success.
So it was really a top quality competition!

One of the exhibitors at the fair associated with the competition and also a provider of equipment for the contestants was Electrolux.
They showed us brand new products, both on the market today but also some concepts of what the future will bring.

To show off what really could be done with the products, they had invited Tommy Myllymäki to cook lunch for a happy few. As I walked by his kitchen I could feel the scent of thyme and garlic and it was mouthwatering. When stopping to look at what he was doing, a girl came up to me and asked if I wanted to enter the lottery and win one of the eight seats at the table later on.
What kind of question was that? Of course!

Just before 11 o’clock, when the first seating should begin, I was called up by a nice girl från Electrolux and asked if I was hungry. I had won one of the seats!

Tommy had made us a three course lunch:

A baked crayfish seasoned with lemon and served with jerusalem artichoke, ginger and a wonderful sauce/foam with rosemary. The ginger/jerusalem artichoke was a real winner and the soft texture of the crayfish was fantastic!

Then it was time for baked halibut with mussels, cucumber, algeas and salmon caviar.
The halibut had been wrapped in red seaweed who’s natural salt had brined the fish (!) before it was carefully baked on low temperature. It was both beautiful to look at and even greater to eat. Everything was accompanied by a tasty foam made from mussels.

While we sat there, eating our second course, Tommy finished of the steaks in the pan and the nice smell of garlic and thyme spread once again. It was steaks from the same kind of beef the finalists in the competition used for their dishes. Marvelous beef from Gotland!

Shortly after we finished the last drops of the mussel foam we were served the last course. It was beef with onions, beetroots and mushrooms with a zabaione and truffles. How about that!
He also served us a baked marrow which also had gone into the sauce the give it a bit more of a “meatier” character.
It was served with small pot with fried mushrooms, covered with a zabaione and topped of with freshly sliced black truffle. Mon Dieu! So good!

During the lunch we could ask Tommy questions about the food and just about anything else and he answered happily. So now I’ve got a few new tricks to try out in my kitchen.
Electrolux was also there to show a few new tricks of theirs, so if anyone care to give me a new steam oven for my kitchen… You’re welcome!

A big, warm thank you to Tommy and Electrolux for a fantastic, unexpected and nice lunch!