Laminated pastries are my primary vice. If they\u2019re in any way descended from or related to their European ancestors, I\u2019ve sought them out in every Bay Area county. But Scandinavian baked goods have never held my attention\u2014at least the American iterations of them. The ones I\u2019ve tried were sugar bombs often thickly coated with frosting. Scandinavian bakeries are also a hard-to-find endangered species.<\/p>\n
After a change in ownership, Neldam\u2019s Danish Bakery\u2014established in 1929\u2014on Telegraph Avenue in Oakland rebranded itself as A Taste of Denmark before closing for good in 2022. A routine online search only yields three other Scandinavian bakeries in the Bay Area: Scandia Bakery in Sonoma, Copenhagen Bakery & Cafe in Burlingame and Nichole Accettola\u2019s Kantine in San Francisco.<\/p>\n
Located a few blocks away from the Castro on Market Street, Accettola opened Kantine in 2018 and published her baking cookbook, Scandinavian from Scratch: A Love Letter to the Baking of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, in 2023. Until last month, I\u2019d never been in. I\u2019d filed it under the category of \u201cToo Much Sugar for Me.\u201d But with the recent publication of Accettola\u2019s second cookbook, Scandinavian Everyday, I was drawn in by the chef\u2019s description of the Nordic Diet which informs both her personal narrative and the recipes. She describes it as a mindset rather than as a diet: \u201cEat locally and seasonally, reduce food waste, and focus on plant-based meals.\u201d<\/p>\n
Accettola writes that cooking is \u201cmore than just preparing meals\u2014it\u2019s a reflection of values, of how we choose to nourish ourselves and those around us.\u201d When I dropped by Kantine to try a bowl of the chef\u2019s signature porridge, I briefly met her in person. But a few days before that we spoke about her new cookbook.<\/p>\n
\u201cI struggled a little bit with this book because I don\u2019t want it to come across as this incredible feat,\u201d Accettola said. \u201cIt\u2019s a challenge for a lot of us to do that thing of being able to take a breath and step away from whatever the routine or errands and say, \u2018I\u2019m going to be more thoughtful about what I\u2019m doing in the kitchen tonight and how I shop.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Scandinavian Everyday begins with a set of \u201cKitchen Best Practices\u201d that segues into suggestions for how to stock a larder and an introduction to lacto-fermentation. \u201cWe need to set ourselves up for success,\u201d Accettola said. \u201cJust having some staples on hand where you are filling up your kitchen. Small adjustments through time will definitely create some good habits.\u201d<\/p>\n
To illustrate her approach to cooking within the framework of the Nordic Diet, the chef offered meatballs as an example of an old-fashioned dish she reimagined. \u201cNot doing away with all the meat, but making meatballs as we did where 50% of the farce is made with vegetables, and it still tastes great,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
If there\u2019s a job opening for a porridge evangelist, Accettola is the ideal candidate. \u201cBefore we opened, I was doing porridge pop-ups around the city and just tweaking my recipe,\u201d she recalled. Kantine\u2019s savory grain porridge remains one of the cafe\u2019s most popular dishes, and is featured on the cookbook\u2019s cover. \u201cWe\u2019ve tried different toppings\u2014asparagus, squash and other roasted vegetables\u2014but there\u2019s a clear preference that it always stays mushroom,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s my favorite dish on the menu.\u201d<\/p>\n
Accettola lived and worked in Denmark for several years. At her last job in Copenhagen she was part of a team whose goal was to improve public meals at schools, prisons, hospitals and elderly care homes. The chef focused on porridge recipe development for preschoolers. During that process she ordered a bowl of sweet porridge at a cafe. It had a little bit of salt in it which highlighted the flavors of tart apples, bananas, diced pears, cinnamon sugar and toasted coconut.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole freshness of it was probably one of the first times where I was like, \u2018This is so good. We need to play with these toppings because there can be so many different variations,\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Denmark also has a porridge-making competition. When Accettola participated in it, she came in as the first runner-up. \u201cIt was wonderful to walk into this room to see that people were really focused and it was the real deal,\u201d she said. \u201cThey were very serious about, \u2018Let\u2019s bring porridge to the people.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n