Sweden travel - hotels in Sweden

Swedish cuisine tends to be hearty, practical and sustaining. Only recently have Swedish restaurateurs attempted to update it with a more modern gourmet approach. The cuisine differs rather a lot regionally, but could be considered traditionally simple in general. In the south the supply of fresh vegetables is better. In Sweden many local, traditional meals are eaten, in the north some with their roots in the Sami people, some not, including reindeer, and other game.

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.

Swedes usually have three main meals per day, but there are at least two traditions followed:

The older tradition, still common among Blue collar workers, consists of breakfast in the early morning (frukost), a light lunch before noon (lunch), and a heavy dinner (middag) at around five.

Since the early sixties, most 9 to 5 workers eat breakfast when they wake up, a steady lunch around noon, and a lighter dinner around six in the evening.

It is also common to have a snack, often a sandwich or fruit, in between meals (mellanmål). In most schools including high school, a free hot meal is served at lunch as part of Sweden's welfare state. Most Swedes also have coffee after lunch, and a coffee break in the afternoon, often together with a biscuit or similar.

Breakfast usually consists of open sandwiches, possibly crisp bread (knäckebröd). The sandwich is most often buttered, with toppings such as hard cheese, cold cuts, caviar, or messmör. Swedes usually do not have sweets on their breads such as jam (like the French and the Americans), or chocolate (like the Danes). However, orange marmalade on white bread is common, usually with morning coffee or tea.

Many traditional kinds of Swedish bread, such as sirapslimpa (less fashionable today, but still very popular) are somewhat sweetened in themselves, baked with small amounts of syrup. Like in many other European countries, there are also lots of non-sweetened breads, often made with sourdough (surdeg). Swedish breads may be made from wholegrain, fine grain, or anything in between, and there are white, brown, and really dark (like in Finland) varieties which are all common.

Filmjölk (fermented milk), or sometimes yogurt, are also traditional breakfast food, usually served in a bowl with cereals such as corn flakes, muesli, or knäckebröd, and sometimes with sugar, ginger (ingefära), fruit, and/or jam.

A third food that is commonly eaten at breakfast is porridge (gröt), often made of rolled oats, and eaten with milk and jam (especially the sort made of lingonberries) or cinnamon with sugar.

Common drinks for breakfast are milk, juice, tea, or coffee. Swedes are among the most avid milk and coffee drinkers in the world.

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 Charles XIV John (Karl XIV Johan) who introduced its use as food.

The internationally most renowned Swedish meal is the meatballs, or köttbullar.
Typical smörgås (an open sandwich) with hard-boiled eggs and cod roe caviar from a tube.
Typical smörgås (an open sandwich) with hard-boiled eggs and cod roe caviar from a tube.

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 of 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
* Stekt fläsk och bruna bönor — Pork and brown beans
* Julbord — Christmas smorgasbord
* Blodpudding — Black pudding
* Pölsa — Hash
* Isterband — Sausage made of coarsely ground pork, barley and potatoes
* Palt — Potato-dumplings with a filling of pork
* 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. [1]
* Lutfisk — Stockfish
* Kaviar — Swedish caviar comes in tubes and is typically made from cod roe.
* Waffles — Often served with jam with ice cream or whipped cream. Waffels also has its own day on March 25.
* Köttsoppa — A rustic beef and root vegetable soup

Source: Wikipedia