Travel Notes: Why Skåne Should Be On Your Travel Bucket List

In the far South of Sweden, just over the Oresund bridge from Denmark, the rural area of Skåne – dubbed the breadbasket of Sweden – is a place of undulating, stitched blanket fields, sandy beaches, boat-bobbing harbours, forests, fruit orchards, vineyards and tiny red roofed villages that hide world class restaurants serving menus that reflect the area’s field to fork munificence. Skane is a sensational food spot but the area still feels sneakily under-the-radar, stripped of the pretentions or waiting lists that usually attend such an exciting and delicious food scene. 

This is what you should do: fly to Copenhagen then rent a car and drive over the bridge to Skåne. Your first stop is Malmo, the area’s city centre and a former industrial town that has a lively and unpretentious restaurant offering that is as exciting as anything in Copenhagen. (Malmo is the Brooklyn to CPH’s Manhattan.) Restaurants here all do that listing of dishes by individual ingredients ‘Trout. Caraway. Potato’ etc. that is the new Nordic standard – a cuisine and ingredients-first, seasonal approach to cooking that has inspired a million menus across the globe.  But Malmo is a city that isn’t trying too hard. There’s something winningly understated about Saltimporten Canteen’s lunch menus of farm-supplied ox cheek stew, cauliflower with leek and charred pear sorbet, all served at long communal tables – the restaurant is closed for dinner so the chefs can have a family life. While, Lyran, a self-styled ‘urban inn’, is currently the hottest table to book, showcasing the best local ingredients - white asparagus, Jerusalem artichoke, garlic and rhubarb - and their producers.