Autumn is well underway in Sweden’s Smaland province when I visit. In the forest, fire-engine red lingonberries are clustered on dense bushes, mushrooms are bursting up from the springy moss and the first apples are weighing down the trees.

The natural bounty and generosity I encountered in Ramkvilla, a small village here, is summed up by the crayfish party, one of the area’s great gastronomic traditions. It involves abundance in every form, but particularly schnapps swigging, loud singing and huge bucket loads of crayfish, which are similar to yabbies.

That’s how I found myself miming Swedish drinking songs between slurps of dill-infused broth from crayfish heads in a candlelit lake house in Sweden on a Saturday night. It turned out not just to be about the paper crayfish hats, lighting of the crayfish lanterns or the onslaught of toasts around the table, but about the journey and build-up itself.

Three days before the event, we rowed in a boat to lay down plastic cages with fish for bait, returning before the first light allowed the crayfish to crawl their way back out. During the day, we traipsed through the forest to collect wild mushrooms to adorn the cheese quiches traditionally served with the crays and mayonnaise, and at dusk we battled with the mosquitoes to gather forest berries to dress the cake.

Inspired by the uninterrupted fragrance of the forest, abundance of time and wild treats to play with, here are my versions of some of the tastes I savoured. They’re subtle, wild and sometimes laborious, but all about reaping nature’s rewards. Smaland, this skal (cheers) is for you.

Menu
* Fresh cheese with herbs, see the recipe here
* Soused herring, see the recipe here
* Cheese and potato tart with caraway crust, see the recipe here
* Yabbies with dill mayonnaise, see the recipe here
* Smoked potatoes, see the recipe here
* Basil and berry cake, see the recipe here

Rachel Khoo is the author of The Little Paris Kitchen (Michael Joseph, $39.95).
Also be sure to check out Rachel’s soul food recipes here.