Portrait of NikAnnika Märak @chokladnomad

You know that feeling when someone enters a room, and it’s absolutely impossible to miss their arrival?

Last spring, during our Pop-Up in Stockholm, Nik Märak stopped by—and instantly filled the entire space. Just look at the photos; you can see for yourself that she’s someone you want to be close to, hoping a little of that brilliance might rub off!

Nik runs the account @chokladnomad, and the first time we spotted her was actually on the TV show Så mycket bättre. I was sitting at home on the sofa when I suddenly took notice—there, on stage, was a pair of Operose trousers. Nik was wearing them while joining in a joik as Daniel Adams-Ray performed his interpretation of Jåhkåmåhkke, a joik written by Nik’s daughter, Maxida.

NikAnnika lives in and is based in Stockholm but has her roots in Jokkmokk/Sápmi. She actively works to spread knowledge about Sámi culture through storytelling, music, and food.

She is both a multi-talent and a multi-expert. She is a bakstra, chef, pastry chef, and flatbread baker at Skansen. On top of that, she is also an artist, storyteller, educator, and inspirer. And that’s something you can truly sense in her entire presence—it’s captivating to have a conversation with her!

Would you like to learn how to bake flatbread or something sweet? Then you should definitely take a course with Nik, who teaches everything from the basics of sourdough bread to macarons, pralines, and cake decorating.

Since we couldn’t do the photoshoot in her usual work environment this time, we took a walk around the block instead. I’m pretty sure a bit of her brilliance rubbed off on my shoulder, and I walked back to the Pop-Up with my head held high.