SOME MORE ABOUT SWEDISH EATING HABITS
Porridge and gruel (hot cereals)
Porridge and gruel were everyday dishes in the old days and will even now provide cheap and easily prepared nourishment, morning as well as evening, when you have thousands of things to do apart from cooking.
Nowadays, porridge has become a rare dish on the breakfast table (not with me, though, I eat porridge for breakfast at least 3 times a week). This is undoubtedly due to the increased consumption of cultured milk products like soured milk and yogurt. Perhaps it is time to rediscover the hot gruel as breakfast on cold winter mornings.
Both porridge and gruel make excellent evening meals for those who have their main meal at mid-day.
Everyday soups
The traditional everyday soups were often prepared in such a way that they could be used to dispose of leftovers. One lived after the principle that everything must be put to use. As the meat was normally boiled, good broth was available, which together with fresh or dried vegetables made a good and satisfying dish.
With the supplies available today we can, all the year round, produce the good and wholesome soups which formerly used to be seasonal specialties. We can enjoy Spring Vegetable Soup and Broad Bean Soup even in winter time, thanks to frozen vegetables.
Pea soup is one of the most popular, ready-cooked dishes. But those who have prepared large quantities of home-cooked soup appreciate having a supply in the deep-freeze for Thursday dinners, which is the most common soup day in Sweden.
Fish
In the past fresh fish was, of course, only available along the coast and round the lakes. In the interior the fish was salted, dried, or fermented. Salted herring, dried cod, lutfisk, and fermented Baltic herring was eaten there. Today, these dishes are considered delicacies.
Nowadays, everyday fish dishes are mostly prepared from frozen fish, but the salted herring has kept an important position in Swedish cookery. It can be prepared in a large number of ways, simply fried, in gratins, even minced in patties. Salted herring for frying or pickling is available in tinned versions, which need no soaking.
Herring caught in the northern part of the Baltic is called strömming (Baltic herring). It is somewhat smaller (9 inches) than the herring caught in other waters, which may grow to 14 to 16 inches. Use small herrings in recipes calling for Baltic herring.
Meat
Meat has always been important in Swedish food. The everyday meat was salted, fatty pork. A pig could weigh up to 440 lbs when it was slaughtered. Salted bacon was often dried to spickefläsk. Blood and entrails were utilized, among other things, together with fatty pork for sausage meat. The sausages were smoked, salted, or dried.
The beef was often of a poor quality, as the cows were skinny and allowed to grow too old before they were slaughtered. Also here, most of the carcas was utilized, including the tripe and the udder. Much of the meat was salted. Boiled salted brisket of beef was a popular dish.
Mutton was part of the daily fare, whilst lamb and veal were reserved for festive occasions.
Nowadays, the fresh Swedish meat is of good quality and the consumption of beef as well as pork has increased. Compared with other countries, however, the meat consumption in Sweden is still low.
Pork is, of course, still very important, and there are many different ways of preparing it, fresh or lightly salted. There are also many casserole dishes where beef, lamb, or veal is cooked together with vegetables, especially winter vegetables like carrots, turnips, and cabbage.
Minced meat (beef, pork, veal, and lamb) is used a lot in Swedish everyday cooking. The Swedish meatballs are well known, but there are many varieties with interesting seasonings, for instance the Beef Patties à la Lindström.
Reindeer meat used to be a regional specialty, but is now available frozen throughout Sweden. It may be found in delicatessen shops stocking Scandinavian food. You may use elk/moose or venison as a substitute.
Potatoes
Potatoes have been very important in the Swedish diet. During periods of food shortage, they have certainly saved many from undernourishment. It was impossible to imagine a day without potatoes. They were eaten boiled or fried in a variety of dishes.
Boiled potatoes were used for dumplings, they could be used for sausages, and in various kinds of bread. Raw potatoes were grated and used for porridge and gruel, in sausages and meat dishes, and for potato pancakes.
Although the consumption of processed potatoes, like French fries and potato chips, is increasing, many of the traditional potato dishes are still prepared in Swedish homes.
Baked potatoes are increasingly popular, either as an accompaniment to roast meat or as a dish on their own, served with soured cream and e.g. whitebait roe.
New potatoes are a real summer delicacy boiled with dill and served with a pat of butter. At Midsummer the very first new potatoes are served with matjessill (sweet-pickled herring), soured cream, and chopped dill or chives. Matjes herring is available in many delicatessen shops around the world. Try out the Swedish Midsummer meal and you will find that it is, in all its simplicity, delicious.
Vegetables
The vegetables used in traditional Swedish food are those that are suited to the harsh Swedish climate and can be stored for long periods. Some wild plants have also been used, e.g. nettles.
To prepare for the long Swedish winter, broad beans were dried, string beans were salted, carrots, turnips, onions, beetroots, and parsnips were stored in cellars. In this way variation and nourishment in the diet was ensured the year round.
Nowadays there is a strong tendency towards the use of fresh imported vegetables, especially in salads. The traditional Swedish vegetables are, however, both inexpensive and wholesome. They are mostly prepared in simple ways, underlining the special flavor of the vegetable.
Egg dishes and the like
Eggs have always been important, and are even more so today because of their flavor, their nutritional value and their role in many cooking techniques. In view of their nutritional value and usefulness, eggs are also cheap.
In the old days eggs were scarce during the dark season, when the hens stopped laying. This made eggs an appreciated spring primeur. Nowadays, eggs are used on the same scale all the year round, except at Easter, when the Swedes eat lots of them.
Eggs and milk are the main ingredients in many popular Swedish dishes - pancakes, plättar, omelets, and gratins.
Desserts
Many modern Swedes see the dessert as an unnecessary and fattening luxury. This is unfortunate, because most Swedish desserts are light and refreshing. But even those who have stopped serving cooked desserts still put a bowl of fresh fruit on the table to finish the meal.
Swedes love fruit, especially soft fruit, and there are many varieties to choose from, wild as well as cultivated. They are eaten fresh when in season and are frozen or made into fruit syrup for winter use. The fresh or frozen berries are often served with whipped cream or vanilla cream sauce.
Fruit syrup can be used for refreshing drinks, but it is also the basic ingredient in many desserts. It is thickened with potato flour to make fruit soup or fruit creme. The wild rose hips are often dried and then made into a delicious soup, rich in vitamins.
Cloudberries, which grow in the northern regions, make a delicious jam, often served with pancakes or ice cream.
To Swedes in general, the most important of all berries are the lingonberries (red whortleberries). They are usually made into jam, which is served with pancakes and other desserts, but also with various meat dishes.
Apples and pears are used in tarts and pies, and the traditional apple cake is a Swedish version of the English Brown Betty.
The Swedish bread
The daily bread has always been important, both practically and symbolically. It had to be satisfying and to keep well. In the old days rye was the grain most readily available, and so rye bread was most commonly baked.
The interest for home-made bread is now increasing steadily. The best bread is that baked in the old way - with coarsely ground, scalded flour or with leaven, but with less sugar and fat than before. Some people even try to bake crisp bread (the most Swedish of them all). It can be baked in an ordinary oven, but it does, of course, get very hard.
All the breads in this chapter can easily be baked at home. Fresh yeast is specified in most recipes, but dried yeast of the fermipan type may be used just as well. Follow the directions on the packet.
Bread is now mostly baked from wheat and rye flour, but oats and barley flour are also used and sometimes a mixture of three or four grains. Traditionally, the bread was sweetened with treacle/molasses, but nowadays many types of unsweetened bread are available. Swedish crisp bread is now internationally known and can be bought in many countries. The flat bread is delicious, but less well-known outside Sweden. It can be made at home with excellent result.
In Sweden, bread is rarely eaten plain with meals as is the custom abroad. Instead it is made into open sandwiches, smörgåsar. They are eaten with coffee in the morning, as a quick lunch or snack, with soup, or whenever you feel hungry. Swedish sandwiches are usually not very elaborately made, just a slice of bread and butter and a slice of cheese, sausage, ham, or boiled eggs.
Coffee party with seven kinds of cakes
Coffee is the Swedish national drink above all. Traditionally it was served at any time of the day and the kettle was usually kept hot in Swedish homes.
Nowadays coffee vending machines and automatic coffee percolators are found at every place of work and many Swedes drink coffee morning, midday, afternoon, and evening. It is, however, comparatively rare to take part in a coffee party with the traditional seven kinds of cakes.
The fine sweet buns and cakes and the elaborate fancy cakes are now eaten less, but old-fashioned rusks and biscuits may provide wholesome snacks.
The coffee party with the many delicious cakes is, however, part of the Swedish food tradition. Many Swedes allow themselves such a treat on special occasions, for instance to celebrate a name-day on a real summer day during "The Ladies' Week" (I'll tell more about that when the time comes) in the end of July. In the old days, you sampled all the different kinds, but you did not need to finish them. Whatever you could not eat, you brought home. This tradition is still observed in some places.
What makes the Swedish baking tradition particularly attractive is its variety. There is something for everybody, for every mood and occasion.
The ingredients are well-known. Plain flour and baking powder are always used at self-rising flour is not very widely used in Sweden. Some recipes call for ammonium carbonate. If this is not available, substitute double quantity of baking powder. The final result will, however, be less crisp. Unless otherwise specified use granulated sugar, which is equivalent to the Swedish strösocker.
Pickles and preserves
The ability to preserve foods and store them for future needs was important in the old days. Among the methods used were preservation by means of sugar, salt, or vinegar. With modern-day cold storage and an ample supply of fresh food the year round, there is no longer any need to "bottle" vegetables and fruit. Many Swedes still do it, mostly because of the "home-made" taste, but maybe for the sake of tradition too. It gives a nice and cozy feeling to have jars filled with cucumbers, pots with beetroots and apple sauce, and why not some bottles of lingonberry drink?
An advantage with home bottling is that you have full control of the sugar content and the addition of preservatives.
FESTIVE FOOD
Feasts used to mean a lot as longed-for breaks in the daily toil. There were many reasons for feasts. Family celebrations such as birthdays, christenings, confirmations, banns, weddings, and even funerals. Harvest and parish meetings also gave occasion for festive gatherings.
It was important to find time to be together, to see one's family, neighbors, and friends and together enjoy the festive food, so very different from the monotonous daily fare.
Feast dishes were all those things, that were too expensive or too rare to be eaten regularly. The dishes served were numerous and varied, because everybody brought food along: thus it became a kind of surprise party.
Large feasts are no longer common. Both the number of guests and the number of dishes have been reduced. Anyone who can prepare some tasty dishes suitable for cooking on a larger scale, such as a festive fish gratin or an old-fashioned pot roast, can entertain without trouble. This has helped to keep the traditional Swedish hospitality alive.
The Cold Table - SMÖRGÅSBORD
Originally the smörgåsbord was intended as an hors d'oeuvre, a great number of different dishes (most of them cold, but some hot), served with bread and butter and accompanied with beer and schnapps. The modern variety, served in many Swedish restaurants, is a complete meal, including some hot dishes and a simple dessert.
A large-scale smörgåsbord is rarely served in private homes nowadays. Most families have, however, a few special favorites, which may be served as a first course.
If you have the chance of sampling a real Swedish smörgåsbord, think well. Choose one or two herring dishes plus maybe a smoked herring salad, a couple of the hot dishes and a selection of cold meats, a paté, and one or two kinds of cheese. Pickled beetroots, gherkins, lingonberry jam, and mustard should accompany the cold meats, and don't forget the boiled potatoes, the soured cream, and chives for the pickled herring. Add a selection of breads (e.g. a white bread, a rye bread, and some crispbread) and some butter and your smörgåsbord is ready. It's easy to want to try it all and eat too much …
Porridge and gruel (hot cereals)
Porridge and gruel were everyday dishes in the old days and will even now provide cheap and easily prepared nourishment, morning as well as evening, when you have thousands of things to do apart from cooking.
Nowadays, porridge has become a rare dish on the breakfast table (not with me, though, I eat porridge for breakfast at least 3 times a week). This is undoubtedly due to the increased consumption of cultured milk products like soured milk and yogurt. Perhaps it is time to rediscover the hot gruel as breakfast on cold winter mornings.
Both porridge and gruel make excellent evening meals for those who have their main meal at mid-day.
Everyday soups
The traditional everyday soups were often prepared in such a way that they could be used to dispose of leftovers. One lived after the principle that everything must be put to use. As the meat was normally boiled, good broth was available, which together with fresh or dried vegetables made a good and satisfying dish.
With the supplies available today we can, all the year round, produce the good and wholesome soups which formerly used to be seasonal specialties. We can enjoy Spring Vegetable Soup and Broad Bean Soup even in winter time, thanks to frozen vegetables.
Pea soup is one of the most popular, ready-cooked dishes. But those who have prepared large quantities of home-cooked soup appreciate having a supply in the deep-freeze for Thursday dinners, which is the most common soup day in Sweden.
Fish
In the past fresh fish was, of course, only available along the coast and round the lakes. In the interior the fish was salted, dried, or fermented. Salted herring, dried cod, lutfisk, and fermented Baltic herring was eaten there. Today, these dishes are considered delicacies.
Nowadays, everyday fish dishes are mostly prepared from frozen fish, but the salted herring has kept an important position in Swedish cookery. It can be prepared in a large number of ways, simply fried, in gratins, even minced in patties. Salted herring for frying or pickling is available in tinned versions, which need no soaking.
Herring caught in the northern part of the Baltic is called strömming (Baltic herring). It is somewhat smaller (9 inches) than the herring caught in other waters, which may grow to 14 to 16 inches. Use small herrings in recipes calling for Baltic herring.
Meat
Meat has always been important in Swedish food. The everyday meat was salted, fatty pork. A pig could weigh up to 440 lbs when it was slaughtered. Salted bacon was often dried to spickefläsk. Blood and entrails were utilized, among other things, together with fatty pork for sausage meat. The sausages were smoked, salted, or dried.
The beef was often of a poor quality, as the cows were skinny and allowed to grow too old before they were slaughtered. Also here, most of the carcas was utilized, including the tripe and the udder. Much of the meat was salted. Boiled salted brisket of beef was a popular dish.
Mutton was part of the daily fare, whilst lamb and veal were reserved for festive occasions.
Nowadays, the fresh Swedish meat is of good quality and the consumption of beef as well as pork has increased. Compared with other countries, however, the meat consumption in Sweden is still low.
Pork is, of course, still very important, and there are many different ways of preparing it, fresh or lightly salted. There are also many casserole dishes where beef, lamb, or veal is cooked together with vegetables, especially winter vegetables like carrots, turnips, and cabbage.
Minced meat (beef, pork, veal, and lamb) is used a lot in Swedish everyday cooking. The Swedish meatballs are well known, but there are many varieties with interesting seasonings, for instance the Beef Patties à la Lindström.
Reindeer meat used to be a regional specialty, but is now available frozen throughout Sweden. It may be found in delicatessen shops stocking Scandinavian food. You may use elk/moose or venison as a substitute.
Potatoes
Potatoes have been very important in the Swedish diet. During periods of food shortage, they have certainly saved many from undernourishment. It was impossible to imagine a day without potatoes. They were eaten boiled or fried in a variety of dishes.
Boiled potatoes were used for dumplings, they could be used for sausages, and in various kinds of bread. Raw potatoes were grated and used for porridge and gruel, in sausages and meat dishes, and for potato pancakes.
Although the consumption of processed potatoes, like French fries and potato chips, is increasing, many of the traditional potato dishes are still prepared in Swedish homes.
Baked potatoes are increasingly popular, either as an accompaniment to roast meat or as a dish on their own, served with soured cream and e.g. whitebait roe.
New potatoes are a real summer delicacy boiled with dill and served with a pat of butter. At Midsummer the very first new potatoes are served with matjessill (sweet-pickled herring), soured cream, and chopped dill or chives. Matjes herring is available in many delicatessen shops around the world. Try out the Swedish Midsummer meal and you will find that it is, in all its simplicity, delicious.
Vegetables
The vegetables used in traditional Swedish food are those that are suited to the harsh Swedish climate and can be stored for long periods. Some wild plants have also been used, e.g. nettles.
To prepare for the long Swedish winter, broad beans were dried, string beans were salted, carrots, turnips, onions, beetroots, and parsnips were stored in cellars. In this way variation and nourishment in the diet was ensured the year round.
Nowadays there is a strong tendency towards the use of fresh imported vegetables, especially in salads. The traditional Swedish vegetables are, however, both inexpensive and wholesome. They are mostly prepared in simple ways, underlining the special flavor of the vegetable.
Egg dishes and the like
Eggs have always been important, and are even more so today because of their flavor, their nutritional value and their role in many cooking techniques. In view of their nutritional value and usefulness, eggs are also cheap.
In the old days eggs were scarce during the dark season, when the hens stopped laying. This made eggs an appreciated spring primeur. Nowadays, eggs are used on the same scale all the year round, except at Easter, when the Swedes eat lots of them.
Eggs and milk are the main ingredients in many popular Swedish dishes - pancakes, plättar, omelets, and gratins.
Desserts
Many modern Swedes see the dessert as an unnecessary and fattening luxury. This is unfortunate, because most Swedish desserts are light and refreshing. But even those who have stopped serving cooked desserts still put a bowl of fresh fruit on the table to finish the meal.
Swedes love fruit, especially soft fruit, and there are many varieties to choose from, wild as well as cultivated. They are eaten fresh when in season and are frozen or made into fruit syrup for winter use. The fresh or frozen berries are often served with whipped cream or vanilla cream sauce.
Fruit syrup can be used for refreshing drinks, but it is also the basic ingredient in many desserts. It is thickened with potato flour to make fruit soup or fruit creme. The wild rose hips are often dried and then made into a delicious soup, rich in vitamins.
Cloudberries, which grow in the northern regions, make a delicious jam, often served with pancakes or ice cream.
To Swedes in general, the most important of all berries are the lingonberries (red whortleberries). They are usually made into jam, which is served with pancakes and other desserts, but also with various meat dishes.
Apples and pears are used in tarts and pies, and the traditional apple cake is a Swedish version of the English Brown Betty.
The Swedish bread
The daily bread has always been important, both practically and symbolically. It had to be satisfying and to keep well. In the old days rye was the grain most readily available, and so rye bread was most commonly baked.
The interest for home-made bread is now increasing steadily. The best bread is that baked in the old way - with coarsely ground, scalded flour or with leaven, but with less sugar and fat than before. Some people even try to bake crisp bread (the most Swedish of them all). It can be baked in an ordinary oven, but it does, of course, get very hard.
All the breads in this chapter can easily be baked at home. Fresh yeast is specified in most recipes, but dried yeast of the fermipan type may be used just as well. Follow the directions on the packet.
Bread is now mostly baked from wheat and rye flour, but oats and barley flour are also used and sometimes a mixture of three or four grains. Traditionally, the bread was sweetened with treacle/molasses, but nowadays many types of unsweetened bread are available. Swedish crisp bread is now internationally known and can be bought in many countries. The flat bread is delicious, but less well-known outside Sweden. It can be made at home with excellent result.
In Sweden, bread is rarely eaten plain with meals as is the custom abroad. Instead it is made into open sandwiches, smörgåsar. They are eaten with coffee in the morning, as a quick lunch or snack, with soup, or whenever you feel hungry. Swedish sandwiches are usually not very elaborately made, just a slice of bread and butter and a slice of cheese, sausage, ham, or boiled eggs.
Coffee party with seven kinds of cakes
Coffee is the Swedish national drink above all. Traditionally it was served at any time of the day and the kettle was usually kept hot in Swedish homes.
Nowadays coffee vending machines and automatic coffee percolators are found at every place of work and many Swedes drink coffee morning, midday, afternoon, and evening. It is, however, comparatively rare to take part in a coffee party with the traditional seven kinds of cakes.
The fine sweet buns and cakes and the elaborate fancy cakes are now eaten less, but old-fashioned rusks and biscuits may provide wholesome snacks.
The coffee party with the many delicious cakes is, however, part of the Swedish food tradition. Many Swedes allow themselves such a treat on special occasions, for instance to celebrate a name-day on a real summer day during "The Ladies' Week" (I'll tell more about that when the time comes) in the end of July. In the old days, you sampled all the different kinds, but you did not need to finish them. Whatever you could not eat, you brought home. This tradition is still observed in some places.
What makes the Swedish baking tradition particularly attractive is its variety. There is something for everybody, for every mood and occasion.
The ingredients are well-known. Plain flour and baking powder are always used at self-rising flour is not very widely used in Sweden. Some recipes call for ammonium carbonate. If this is not available, substitute double quantity of baking powder. The final result will, however, be less crisp. Unless otherwise specified use granulated sugar, which is equivalent to the Swedish strösocker.
Pickles and preserves
The ability to preserve foods and store them for future needs was important in the old days. Among the methods used were preservation by means of sugar, salt, or vinegar. With modern-day cold storage and an ample supply of fresh food the year round, there is no longer any need to "bottle" vegetables and fruit. Many Swedes still do it, mostly because of the "home-made" taste, but maybe for the sake of tradition too. It gives a nice and cozy feeling to have jars filled with cucumbers, pots with beetroots and apple sauce, and why not some bottles of lingonberry drink?
An advantage with home bottling is that you have full control of the sugar content and the addition of preservatives.
FESTIVE FOOD
Feasts used to mean a lot as longed-for breaks in the daily toil. There were many reasons for feasts. Family celebrations such as birthdays, christenings, confirmations, banns, weddings, and even funerals. Harvest and parish meetings also gave occasion for festive gatherings.
It was important to find time to be together, to see one's family, neighbors, and friends and together enjoy the festive food, so very different from the monotonous daily fare.
Feast dishes were all those things, that were too expensive or too rare to be eaten regularly. The dishes served were numerous and varied, because everybody brought food along: thus it became a kind of surprise party.
Large feasts are no longer common. Both the number of guests and the number of dishes have been reduced. Anyone who can prepare some tasty dishes suitable for cooking on a larger scale, such as a festive fish gratin or an old-fashioned pot roast, can entertain without trouble. This has helped to keep the traditional Swedish hospitality alive.
The Cold Table - SMÖRGÅSBORD
Originally the smörgåsbord was intended as an hors d'oeuvre, a great number of different dishes (most of them cold, but some hot), served with bread and butter and accompanied with beer and schnapps. The modern variety, served in many Swedish restaurants, is a complete meal, including some hot dishes and a simple dessert.
A large-scale smörgåsbord is rarely served in private homes nowadays. Most families have, however, a few special favorites, which may be served as a first course.
If you have the chance of sampling a real Swedish smörgåsbord, think well. Choose one or two herring dishes plus maybe a smoked herring salad, a couple of the hot dishes and a selection of cold meats, a paté, and one or two kinds of cheese. Pickled beetroots, gherkins, lingonberry jam, and mustard should accompany the cold meats, and don't forget the boiled potatoes, the soured cream, and chives for the pickled herring. Add a selection of breads (e.g. a white bread, a rye bread, and some crispbread) and some butter and your smörgåsbord is ready. It's easy to want to try it all and eat too much …
