Hokkaido pumpkin

Having been to Kyushu and Honshu in the past, I have never made it up north to Hokkaido, though it has long been on my list. While the snow keeps falling over the interior of Halland, I am going for a culinary stand-in in the shape of a Hokkaido pumpkin as I try to recreate Pontus’ divine miso-glazed salmon with pumpkin purée and oven-roasted pak choi for dinner – but this time with a Pinot Grigio from Südtirol rather than the Chardonnay from Emilia-Romagna that I had at Arlanda.

As the pumpkin softens and the miso begins to caramelise, I am reminded that travel is as much about anticipation as geography – through flavours, scents, and small kitchen experiments in the November darkness.