Swedish cuisine
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Swedish cuisine is similar to the cuisine of Denmark and cuisine of Norway in being traditionally simple. Fish and turnips have played prominent roles.
History
Sweden's long winters explain the lack of fresh vegetables in many traditional recipes. Plants sustaining winter became the cornerstones: various turnips in older times such as the native rutabaga (a.k.a. "the swede"), gradually supplanted by the potato in the 18th century. A lack of spices made the food rather plain, although a number of local herbs and plants have probably been used since ancient times.The importance of fish has governed population and trade patterns far back in history: due to the vast supply of fish, in particular herring, people settled on the east coast around present-day Stockholm, and on the west coast around present-day Gothenburg. These remain Sweden's most populated areas to this day. For preservation, fish were salted and salt became a major trade item at the dawn of the Scandinavian middle ages, which began circa 1000 AD.
Cabbage conserved as sauerkraut or lingonberry jam was used as a source of vitamin C during the winter. Lingonberry jam, still a favorite, also added some freshness to the often rather heavy food.
Meals
There are three meals per day: breakfast, lunch and dinner. In all schools including high school, a hot meal is served at lunch as part of Sweden's welfare state. Among workers, lunch is often not so heavy, and may be a sandwich or a salad. At evening, the dinner is usually a hot meal. At the table, Swedes usually serve themselves.Meats
There are long traditions of hunting and fishing in Sweden, depending on the distance to the coast or forests. Hunters mainly focus on deer and moose, which make natural additions to the Swedish cuisine.To add some vitamins and make the rather heavy food more enjoyable a traditional jam is made from lingonberry and served with meat. A more exclusive but not uncommon jam is the cloudberry jam, which is one of the traditional foods served at the annual Nobel Prize dinner.
Breakfasts
Breakfast usually consists of open sandwiches, possibly crisp bread (knäckebröd). The sandwich is often buttered, with toppings such as hard cheese or cold cuts. Swedes usually do not have sweets on their breads such as jam (like the French), peanut butter (like the Americans), or chocolate (like the Danes). However, the traditional Swedish bread, sirapslimpa, less fashionable today, is sweetened in itself, baked with syrup.
Yogurt or filmjölk (fermented milk) are also common breakfast foods, usually served in a bowl with cereals such as corn flakes, muesli, or 'knäcke', and sometimes with sugar, fruit or jam.
A third food that is commonly eaten at breakfast is porridge (gröt), often made of rolled oats, and eaten with milk and fruit or jam, especially the sort made of lingonberries.
Drinks are milk, juice, tea, or coffee. Swedes are among the most avid coffee drinkers in the world.
Dishes
In August, Swedes traditionally eat boiled crayfish at feasts known as kräftskivor.
The most highly regarded mushroom is the chanterelle. It is considered a real treat. The chanterelle is usually served together with a piece of meat, or just fried with a sauce and some onions and put on a sandwich. Second to the chanterelle, and considered almost as delicious, is the porcini mushroom, or Karl-Johansvamp named after Karl XIV Johan who introduced its use as food.
The internationally most renowned Swedish meal is the meatballs, or köttbullar.
Traditionally, Thursday has been soup day because the maids had half the day off and it was easy to prepare. One of the most traditional Swedish soups is the pea soup, or ärtsoppa. It dates back to the old tradition with peas being associated with Thor. This is simple meal, basically consisting of yellow peas, a little onion and often pieces of pork. It is often served with a tad of mustard and followed by thin pancakes (see Pannkakor).
Potatoes are the main complement to most dishes. Only in the last 50 years have other complements such as rice and spaghetti become standard on the dinner table. There are several different kinds of potatoes: the most appreciated is the new potato, which ripens in early summer, and is enjoyed at the feast called Midsummer. Other sorts of potatoes are eaten all year around.
Other typical Swedish dishes:
- Smörgåsbord -- Smorgasbord
- Köttbullar -- Swedish meatballs
- Julskinka -- Christmas ham
- Inlagd sill -- Pickled herring
- Surströmming -- Fermented Baltic herring - a rather different tasting species of herring - it has about 10% fat whereas Atlantic herring is 16% - this may occur because of the Baltic having half the salt concentration of usual seas.
- Gravad lax -- Salmon, salted, and cured
- Kåldolmar -- Cabbage rolls
- Raggmunk -- Potato pancakes
- Kroppkakor -- Boiled potato-dumplings, filled with pork
- Fläsk och bruna bönor -- Pork rinds and brown beans
- Julbord -- Christmas smorgasbord
- Blodpudding -- Black pudding
- Pölsa -- Hash
- Palt -- Blood bread
- Pyttipanna -- Chopped and fried meat, onions, and pre-boiled potatoes.
- Falukorv -- Sausage originating from Falun. The lifts and pumps at the Kopparberg copper mine in Falun were, before the introduction of steam engines, powered by oxen. When these oxen died from strain or old age, the skin was turned into leather ropes used in the mine, and the meat was turned into sausage - Falukorv.
- Smörgåstårta -- Sandwich cake
- Janssons frestelse -- Grated potatoes, onion, anchovy and cream - the anchovy here is not the genuine anchovy but a quite different species and is also spiced - see http://www.dlc.fi/~marianna/gourmet/anchovy.htm
- Lutfisk -- Stockfish
- Kaviar -- Swedish caviar comes in tubes and is typically made from cod roe.
Drinks
Sweden is one of the heaviest coffee drinking countries in the world, second only to Finland. Milk consumption in Sweden is the highest of any country in the world. Milk is bought in milk cartons, and it is no coincidence that Tetra Pak, the world's largest maker of milk cartons, is Swedish.At Christmas
- Julmust -- Traditional stout-like, very sweet seasonal soft drink (jul means christmas in Swedish) Also called påskmust (påsk meaning Easter) (carbonated)
- Glögg -- Mulled wine
Sweet drinks
- Enbärsdricka -- Traditional juniper berry soft drink
- Sockerdricka -- Traditional sweet-sour soft drink (carbonated)
- Fruktsoda -- Traditional lemon-lime soft drink
- Champis -- Soft drink alternative to sparkling wine (carbonated)
- Pommac -- Soft drink alternative to sparkling wine (carbonated)
Liquor
Stronger beverages are mainly of two kinds: The Akvavit, also called Aqua vitae, Scandinavian vodka or schnapps. A second popular drink is Absolut Vodka, one of the worlds best known liquor brands. Both have around 40% alcohol. The production of hard liquor has a tradition dating back to the 18th century and was at a high in the 1840s. Since the 1880s, the governmental Systembolaget has a monopoly on selling spirits with more than 3,8% alcohol, limiting the access.The hard liquor has a tradition of being mulled. Gourmets pick their own selection of wild herbs, and put into a bottle of liquor for a few days.
The typical Swedish beer is of a bright and bitter kind. The brands Pripps Blå and Norrlands guld are typical exemples.
Treats
In the summer, various cakes are common, often made with the fruit of the season. In the summer, the strawberry and cream cake is highly regarded. With the late summer and autumn, apple cakes are baked. The apple cake is often served with vanilla custard, but sometimes with icecream or whipped cream.In the winter, other treats are common. This includes the
- Knäck -- Christmas toffee
- Ischoklad -- Cold ice-chocolate "toffees"
- Lussebulle or Lussekatt -- Lucia bun, a Swedish saffron bun eaten on the Saint Lucia celebration (December 13).
- Pepparkaka -- Ginger snap
Other treats are:
- Chokladboll -- Round balls made of an oatmeal-cocoa-sugar-butter mix, often coated in coconut shavings or whole-rolled oats.
- Ostkaka -- Swedish cheesecake (very different from American cheesecake).
- Salmiak -- Liquorice candy flavoured with salt and Ammonium chloride.
- Spettekaka -- A sweet Swedish cake, shaped like a hollow cylinder. It comes from the southern region of Sweden, Skåne.
Pancakes, muffins, sponge cake and different sorts of pies and cookies are typical desserts, practically always served with coffee. Typical pies are apple pie, blueberry pie and rhubarb pie and there are many different recipes for each. Pancakes and muffins are never ever served American style - for breakfast. In recent years American brownies, cookies and cup-cakes have become popular in cafés and restaurants.
See also
Further reading
- Simply Swedish, Margareta Schildt-Lundgren, 2000. ISBN 91-974561-7-9
External links
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