semiswede

The first Christmas we were dating, my husband spent the holidays with my family and made Janssons frestelse as his contribution to the Christmas Eve meal. Translated at Jansson’s Temptation, the casserole of julienned potatoes, onions, pickled sprats, and cream is standard fare for the Swedish julbord (Christmas table). The idea of fish layered with potatoes […]

Early fall has arrived in Sweden. The nights are cool, and the days struggle to reach 70°F (21°C). A sure sign of the change in seasons is the appearance of lingon (LING-ohn) at local markets, and even supermarkets. Lingonberries, as they are most commonly known in English, are native to Scandinavia and have a long-standing history […]

Now here is a riveting post……baked potatoes in Sweden. What could possibly be so different? Well, for someone who grew up in northern Utah bordering Idaho Russet potato country, the answer is….a lot. I miss fluffy Russet baked potatoes so much that they are always on my list of “must eat” when I travel back home. […]

Sweden was one of the last countries to adopt a national day. Nationaldagen is the 6th of June and only became a red day (a day off from work) in 2005. There aren’t a lot of food associations with this particular holiday and many people in Sweden are surprised to learn there is actually a […]

I hadn’t heard of anything edible being made from prickly, stinging nettles until my first spring in Sweden. My mother-in-law served nettle soup for lunch one day and I loved it. Now I look forward to it every spring and this year I asked her to show me how to make it so I could […]

March 25th is Waffle Day in Sweden and it coincides with Marie bebådelsedag, or the day of The Annunciation. Why? Largely because of variations in the Swedish dialect.

A friend of mine once described the post-semlor feeling as “pleasantly nauseous.” That’s pretty spot on. These monsters are the exception to the typically reasonably sized Swedish pastries. Tied to the fasting tradition of Lent, these cardamom-scented-cream-and-almond-paste-filled-buns-of-excess are most commonly available from the official end of the Christmas season (tjugondag Knut on January 13th) and […]

There are beet-lovers, and beet-haters. If you are the latter, I’m not going to pretend this is the recipe to win you over to the beet camp. You are better off with baby steps and the Swedish classic Biff à la Lindström. This recipe is a decidedly beet-lovers moment and even for that crowd adjusting to […]

As much as I appreciate the crust on a beautifully pan-fried meatball, I just don’t have the time or the patience to stand over the stove and fry up all of those little darlings. My Swedish grandmother (born in the U.S. to Swedish parents) used to make her meatballs a “shortcut” way by broiling and baking […]

Ostkaka, literally cheese cake in Swedish, is a specialty of the Småland region. Historically its earliest mention is in the 1520s in a list of foods served on New Year’s Day in the household of Bishop Hans Brask in Linköping. Today you can buy it ready-made in any supermarket making it an easy and popular […]