Like most children, I had a happy childhood. A normal, typical Swedish upbringing. I was born in Gothenburg, but we lived in the suburbs outside the city, in a house that was just 2 kilometres from the coast next to the forest. It was truly the best.
Although in my case, it wasn’t always that way because I was a little different. Before I turned one year old, I began to lose a lot of weight and I was beginning to become more and more malnourished. After months of tests and not getting any better they finally discovered that I suffered from coeliac disease. In the 70s being coeliac was difficult. There were very few products made for us and the ones that were available were often horrible.
I must say though that being coeliac did have some advantages. I learned an important lesson during that time as a young boy, which was how to read labels. I quickly learned what was good for my body and what was bad. I think that this is where my interest in food came from. Well, that and from both my grandmothers’ kitchens.
When I was a child, my parents often worked a lot and in Sweden, it wasn’t common to have a nanny or use a babysitter. Instead, we stayed with our grandparents. I spent a lot of time with them every day after school. I loved spending the afternoons with my grandmothers and watching them cook.
I will never forget the wonderful meals we all shared at my grandparents’ table surrounded by family. I was definitely lucky to have been able to share and enjoy both of my grandmothers’ passions for cooking and to have learned and seen all of the different ways there are to cook.
I remember by the time I was around 7 or 8 I was hooked on cooking! I would go home and spend my time in the kitchen, just learning how to make my own dishes.
I started with what seemed like the easiest thing to me at the time and that was a traditional French omelette. As time went on though, I ended up trying to cook anything and everything. I never grew tired of trying. I stuck with it until I got it right. I learned so much by doing that, the experience was invaluable. Once I conquered a dish I quickly moved on to the next.
To this day, I still cook almost daily. I’m always trying new things and I don’t stop until I get what I’m looking for, that perfect formula. You can find all my recipe creations published on the Natruly blog or on my Instagram and social media channels. You can also get my free recipe ebook by subscribing to my mailing list!
