Niklas Ekstedt on the Swedish cuisine, his biggest cookery confession and IKEA meatballs

About this episode

Niklas Ekstedt discusses his Swedish culinary journey and unique cooking philosophy.

In this episode, we sit down with Michelin-starred chef Nicholas, who takes us on a journey from his childhood in rural northern Sweden — raised near the country's largest ski resort on the Norwegian border — to running a fire-only restaurant in Stockholm. Nicholas shares how growing up among the Sami indigenous community shaped his cooking philosophy, why he refuses to use chocolate, lemon, or olive oil in his Stockholm kitchen, and how his mother's approach to buying 50 kilos of plums at the right price still influences his restaurant today. We dig into the art of Swedish preservation — pickling, fermenting, and jamming everything from asparagus to cloudberries — and why Nicholas believes our obsession with "fresh at all costs" is a little bit mad. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

People in this episode

Host: Good Food

Guests: Niklas Ekstedt, Nicholas

Topics covered

• Swedish cuisine
• cooking philosophy
• food preservation
• Michelin-starred chef
• cultural influences

Keywords

• Swedish cuisine
• Michelin-starred
• food preservation
• pickling
• fermenting
• IKEA meatballs
• cooking philosophy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: IKEA

Places: Sweden, Stockholm, Norwegian border

More episodes of Good Food

• Falafel Burger · June 11, 2026 · 5 min
• Honey & Co's Itamar Srulovich and Sarit Packer on why there should always be food left on the table · June 9, 2026 · 51 min
• Buttermilk Fried Chicken · June 3, 2026 · 6 min
• Saturday Kitchen 20th Anniversary Special with Amanda Ross · June 2, 2026 · 40 min
• Maqlooba · May 28, 2026 · 7 min
• Ilhan Mohamed Abdi on Food, Faith & Fasting · May 26, 2026 · 37 min