THIS IS a hearty meal for the coldest and darkest nights of the year. During the winter the Swedes eat pickled meats and many root vegetables. This whole meal is typical of the food that requires a glass of aquavit in order to get it all down, This has become one of my favorite feasts. SWEDISH CORNED PORK ROAST (Serves 12-16) Piease note that this dish takes 10 days of pickling time, but it is well worth the effort. Uf you prefer to buy a corned or pickled fresh ham, a Swedish market will have such a thing for you if you order well in advance. TO CORN THE ROAST: 2 gallons water 1 pound pickling salt I teaspeon saltpeter 8 pounds boneless pork butt, tied 2 bay leaves 15 whole peppercorns 5 whole allspice In a large stainless-steel pot or pickling crock, mix the water, pickling salt and saltpeter together until dissolved. Untie the pork roast and place in the pickling solution. Place a heavy plate on top of the pork so it will remain submerged. Cover and refrigerate for 10 days. Check occasionally to be sure the pork is covered by the liquid. After 10 days, remove the pork and retie it into a roast. Rinse well with fresh water. Place the roast in a large kettle, cover with cold water and add the remaining in- eredients. Bring to a boil, cover and sim- mer 2 hours and 15 minutes. Slice the pork and place on a large platter. Serve with Sweet and Hot A Swedish winter feast NEWS photo Paul McGrath SWEDISH CORNED pork roast and sauerkraut, part of a traditional winter meal. Mustard (recipe below). SWEET AND HOT MUSTARD (Makes about 2 cups} This wonderful mustard is a gift from friends Pearlie and Lester Baskin. {t will keep, refrigerated, for a week and you will come to love the stuff on all sorts of meats. It is just perfect with corn- ed pork roast. 1 4-02. can Colman’s dry mustard I cup malt vinegar 1 cup sugar 6 eggs, beaten In a small stainless-steel bow! mix the mustard and the vinegar until smooth. Allow to sit on the counter for 3 hours. Combine the mustard mixture with the sugar and eggs in the top of a decuble boiler. Add cold water to the bottom pan of the double boiler. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook 20 to 25 minutes, stirring regularly until thickened (the con- sistency of mayonnaise). Store in the refrigerator. SWEDISH SAUERKRAUT (Serves 6-8) The peoples of northern Europe and Scandanavia all seem to love sauerkraut. It is best if you can buy it fresh from the barrel, but that is getting hard to find. Sometimes you can find a fresh product packed in a plastic pouch, or stick to glass. I swear I can taste the can if you offer me sauerkraut from a tin. t pound smoked pork jowl, diced 2 medium yellow onions, peeled and sliced 1 pound green cabbage, cored and shredded 2 quurts sauerkraut (packed in a glass jar) ft apple, cored and coarsely chop- ped 2 cups dry white wine 1 tablespoon light brown sugar 1 teaspoon caraway seeds 1 teaspoon freshly ground black * pepper, or to taste Heat a 4- to 6-quart pot and add the diced pork jowl. Brown the jow! to render most of its fat. Remove the pieces of pork from the pot and set aside. Pour off most of the fat, ieaving 2 table- spoons in the poi. Add the onions to the pot and saute a few minutes. Add the cabbage and reserved cooked jowl and cook, covered, 5 minutes until the cabbage collapses. Rinse the sauerkraut in a col- ander and squeeze dry. Add the sauerkraut to the pot with the re- maining ingredients and combine. Cover and simmer gentiy for 1 hour, stirrizig occassionally. Creative cooking for the between season Inquisitive Cook SUE WILSON ANNE GARDINER WE’RE BETWEEN seasons now — an awkward time, when the dregs of winter still lurk in shadows, and spring tentatively teases with fleeting warm prom- ises. And as cooks, we must cither buy imported vegetables, expen- sive and often lacking in flavor, or try some creative cooking with old-fashioned root vegetables. Turnips, parsnips, carrots and onions, the mainstays of winter fare for our hardy forebears, are unfortunately frequently ignored today. But wait! Root vegetables are quite like shy wallflowers, not overly attractive, and quite con- tent to stay in the background. With a little coaxing and a bit of spicing, these stolid winter stand- bys are transformed to intriguing dinner companions. Most root vegetabies are high in starch and low in moisture. And they have a tough outer skin that holds in flavor and keeps out moulds and bacteria. These are the simple seerets of their keeping qualities. Try mixing winter vegetables. Ann Willan of the famous Ecole de Cuisine La Varenne in Paris, suggests transforming carrots, turnips and small whole onions by glazing them. Parsnips could easily substitute for turnips. For each pound of vegetables, cut approximately the same size, use two or three table- spoons of butter and onc table- spoon of sugar, plus salt, pepper and enough light stock or water to cover. Winter vegetables high in starch take longer to cook than young vegetables because their fibres are tougher and take more time to soften. In addition, the extra star- ches accumulated by winter vegetables must be given sufficient time to take up water so they swell and absorb surrounding fa- vors, Count on simmering strong- flavored root vegetables for about 15 minutes. An open pan allows steam to carry away some of the strong flavoring compounds, especially important in the case of turnips. You may choose to ccok each vegetable separately and then combine them for glazing. Cook turnips only until they’re just tender because their favors actually get stronger, the longer they cook. Notice that when strong flavors are minimized, their natural sweetness becomes more noticeable. Cook the vegetables until nearly all the fiquid has evaportated. The remaining butter, sugar and small amount of liquid becomes a glaze. Shake the pan gently, wrapping each picce of vegetable in a subtle gloss. Garnish with chopped parsley, and season to taste. The process of glazing not only adds sheen, it also browns, as natural sugars are eaposed to direct heat. Browning is further enhanced by added sugar.