Receta
Boreal forest broth with chaga and embers-roasted roots — a tribute to Fäviken (Magnus Nilsson)
Yield: 4 servings · Prep time: 2 h 30 min (plus 1 to 8 h decoction) · Difficulty: Difficult
A tribute to Magnus Nilsson's defunct Fäviken, the twenty-eight-seat dining room deep in Jämtland (Sweden) that for eleven years took radical Nordic cuisine to its purest extreme before closing, at its peak, in December 2019. From its foraging and forest ethic we borrow an idea: let the place speak. Chaga (Inonotus obliquus), a fungus that grows on boreal birch trees, imbues a dark broth with a forest flavor that embraces embers-roasted root vegetables.
Ingredients
- 20 g chaga (Inonotus obliquus), in pieces, for decoction
- 1 carrot, 1 turnip, 1 beetroot and 1 parsnip, unpeeled, brushed
- 1 onion, halved and dry-charred
- 1 bay leaf, juniper berries and thyme
- Dried wild mushrooms (whatever you have) to enhance the broth
- Oil, coarse salt and mild vinegar for pickling
Simbiosis products used
- Chaga (Inonotus obliquus) from our functional line
- Can't find one of these mushrooms? Contact us by any means: as your trusted supplier, Simbiosis can get you the ingredients you need, even if they are not published in the store.
Preparation
- Prepare the decoction: boil the chaga in 1.5 liters of water, reduce heat and simmer for 1 to 8 hours, until the water turns mahogany. Chaga is woody: it is infused, not eaten.
- Strain the decoction and use it as the base for the broth. Add the charred onion, dried mushrooms, bay leaf, juniper and thyme; simmer for 40 minutes and strain again.
- Cut the root vegetables into large pieces. Roast them over embers or in a very hot oven until the skin is charred and the inside is tender and sweet.
- Pickle thin slices of turnip or beetroot in mild vinegar with salt; they will provide the Nordic acidic accent.
- Serve the root vegetables on a plate, pour the hot chaga broth around them, and top with the pickles. Austere, dark, intensely forest-like.
Functional note
Chaga (Inonotus obliquus) concentrates polysaccharides, melanins, and polyphenols that contribute to antioxidant defense and support immune function, as part of a balanced diet. In boreal tradition, it has been consumed for centuries as a forest infusion.
Informational content; not a substitute for medical attention. Simbiosis products are food supplements: they are not medicines and do not cure, treat, or prevent diseases.