Swedes love traditions despite being one of the most modern countries in the world. And food is a central part of the festivities. Some countries have holy days, but avant-garde Sweden has cinnamon bun day, waffle day and practically a whole season dedicated to a gooey almond paste and cream bun. You just gotta love it, really. And a lot of the festivities revolve around light, albeit it sunlight, candle light or no light.
Midsummer in Sweden
Carolina Romare/imagebank.sweden.se
Book in advance if you want to partake in food festivities. If there’s one tradition the Swedes’ never stray from, it’s planning. And we are not talking weeks, we are talking months ahead.
The months of August and September mean kräftskiva in Sweden. Don a silly hat, leave your inhibitions at home and succumb to the Swedish crayfish party. And bring your singing voice – you’re going to need it.
Waffles Day, or Våffeldagen in Swedish celebrates the waffle. No surprise there.
For your nose and your taste buds sampling surströmming is a bit like the feeling people get in the seconds before jumping out of an aeroplane – with a parachute on of course. In culinary terms surströmming is an extreme sport. Wild, wonderful and pure Swedish.
The Swedish semla season officially starts on Shrove Tuesday, but many sneaky bakeries and cafés try to get the jump on the competition by starting earlier. Which means more semla for semla lovers.
4 October is the Cinnamon bun day and Sweden will celebrate its most famous bun, the Kanelbulle. Why not try to make them yourself at home?
Christmas and the run up to it is all about one thing: the famed Swedish smorgasbord that is called Julbord (pronounced ‘yuleboard’) at Christmas time. This is where you get practically 101 dishes elbowing for space on a table or, a series of tables.