Special Available April 16-20

The Chocolate cellar

Address: 113 E. Ivinson Avenue, Laramie, WY 82070

Website: https://www.thechocolatecellarwy.com/

Country Represented: Sweden

Special: International Delicacies

Birgit Burke

Laramie Community Member

My maternal grandfather was from “the Old Country” as they used to say and spoke with a strong Swedish accent. He was a wonderful cook and at Christmas we were always treated to a full-on Swedish meal. At any other time of the year, though, there would always be some traditional Swedish food on hand for snacking. He always kept black licorice around which is probably why I am still a huge fan of it. Pickled herring in cream sauce. Knäckebröd.

But the one thing that I always loved and that my mom also kept around all year long was Bund Ost, a semi-soft, savory, yellow cheese that came in a wheel. It’s a simple farmer’s cheese that we ate both in plain or caraway varieties. Caraway was my favorite. We got ours at the market at Bishop Hill in northern Illinois.

Bishop Hill was a Swedish utopian community founded in 1846, and still has buildings that were built in 1848 through 1861 that house museums, classes, studios, and other businesses. Although the religious community dissolved, the town remained a hub for thousands of Swedish immigrants, like my grandfather. For me, the plain, earthy, familiar flavor of Bund Ost reminds me of the quiet hard work that my immigrant forebears put in that has planted me here and nourished me as an American.