ON THE PERSONAL SIDE. Malgorzata Haggu, a molecular biologist at the Department of Rheumatology and Inflammation Research, is equally content at the lab counter and the kitchen stove. And she is happy to share the recipes on her food blog.
Today it was Malgorzata’s turn to provide afternoon coffee at the department, and she let me taste the cake she baked for her colleagues earlier that day. The serving plate also had a Polish baked good – a rich cake filled with chopped nuts and dried fruit. “It’s called ‘squirrel’ in Polish, because squirrels love nuts!” she says with a smile. Many of the recipes on her blog are modified, classic recipes from her native Poland, but she also makes her own variations of recipes from her husband’s native country, Iran. “I almost never follow recipes. Every time I’m going to make a dish, I change the recipe a little to see how it will be and to make it better.”
For eight years, she has been running the blog, matmedmera.eu (http://matmedmera.eu/), and now it has around 600 visitors a day. It was recently featured in Aftonbladet, which recommended her recipe for taco pancakes (http://www.aftonbladet.se/matvin/article23748456.ab).
It all began when she thought a blog would be a good way to compile her recipes. Now she dedicates about two hours a day to the blog—she answers questions and comments, seeks out inspiration, plans and prepares food, and photographs and publishes her recipes. “I make food from the blog every day. It’s always a party at our house. Cooking is my passion and the blog is my hobby, and my family is used to it. They ask, ‘Can we eat now?’ because they know I want to photograph the food for the blog before dinner.”
To ensure high-quality photos, she has built a small photography studio in their home where the lighting is perfect for capturing the dishes. Both Malgorzata and her oldest son use the blog like a big family cookbook. “My son lives in Stockholm, and sometimes he calls because he’s looking for a certain recipe that he wants to make, and I help him find it on the blog.”
As a microbiologist, Malgorzata works in Anna Karlsson’s group, where she conducts lab experiments with galectin-3, a carbohydrate-binding protein that plays an important role in modifying the immune response. Days in the lab are often long. The experiments are conducted in various steps, and Malgorzata usually starts early so she can get home to her family. “I enjoy lab work and I like starting early. I’m often first to arrive in the morning, maybe because I like being able to concentrate on what I’m doing. It’s relaxing, and I like being able to work alone, just like in the kitchen.”
You can read Malgorzata’s blog here: http://matmedmera.eu/
