A Story Of Contrasts

My Spanish-Swedish roots come from my grandparents. My grandfather, Göran, grew up in a remote part of Värmland, Sweden, where hunting and fishing are ways of life. He was deeply connected to nature and the wildlife surrounding him, and his upbringing in the forest helped shape his character.

My grandmother, Carmen, was on the other side of that spectrum. Born in Madrid. She was raised in a very conservative family, with her father being a General in the military.

They met in Madrid when my grandfather was on a business trip visiting a Spanish associate, who happened to be Carmen’s brother. My grandmother always said, “I knew right then and there that I had met the love of my life”.

The two became a couple, but marriage didn’t come easy. My grandmother was deeply Catholic, and her father strongly desired my grandfather to convert from Protestantism to Catholicism before marrying. So he did.

The newly married young couple moved to Värmland, which was a big contrast to my grandmother’s life in Madrid. This blend of contrasts has followed me my entire life — from my childhood years in Spain to my adulthood in Sweden. I need the silence of the woods. I need the pulse of the Mediterranean. I need the scents, the flavours and the people of both cultures. It shapes who I am and what I get inspired by. And hopefully, this blend of contrast is instilled in MORJAS, too.

– Henrik, Founder