'With equal parts of birch wood and passion, we keep the flames alive. We cook all our ingredients over an open fire. Charcoal and smoke are our most powerful tools. No electric griddle, no gas stove - only natural heat, soot, ash, smoke and fire. We have chosen these ways to prepare our food as a tribute to the ancient way of cooking. At Ekstedt it is the flames that are superior.'

Through his bold flavours at the eponymous Michelin-starred restaurant, Niklas Ekstedt ignites our primal fire-side instincts. His abandonment of modern technology may be a little difficult to replicate in your own kitchen, but his spirit will convince you to get back to basics where you can.

The restaurant, Ekstedt, is at the very heart and centre of the book, providing the foundation for Niklas' stories of seasonal, and regional, traditional Swedish cooking. Dishes from the restaurant, and in the pages of this sumptuous book, include braised lamb shoulder with seaweed butter and wild garlic capers, juniper-smoked pike and perch, ember-baked leeks with charcoal cream, pine-smoked mussels, and wood-oven baked almond cake.

Stunning photography from David Loftus brings Niklas' recipes and the Nordic seasons to life.

This special is uniquely and sumptuously packaged and signed by Niklas.

After stints at some of the world's best restaurants, Niklas went back to his Scandinavian roots and founded the Michelin-starred Ekstedt in Stockholm, bringing innovative Nordic cooking to the world. The award-winning restaurant uses only Scandinavian wood in their magnificent fire pit or their wood-fired oven, giving the food a truly unique character.
Niklas is often travelling, whether it's hosting a long table banquet at Wilderness Festival, or presenting on Swedish prime-time television. He has also appeared on Saturday Kitchen and MasterChef, and has published a number of cookbooks both in the UK and Sweden. He lives outside Stockholm with his wife and two children.

@niklasekstedt