Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
all washed down with ample amounts of
snaps
(a distilled alcoholic beverage, such as
vodka or aquavit).
Surströmming
may be an acquired taste, but it has a legion of hardcore
fans, mostly in northern Sweden. It even boasts its own festival in the village of Alfta.
Cans of it make excellent souvenirs, as long as you wrap them well to avoid the truly
nightmarish possibility of a leak into your suitcase. (And check with your airline first -
flying with
surströmming
is not always allowed.)
The prevalence of preserved grub harks back to a time when Swedes had little choice
but to store their spring and summer harvests for the long, icy winter. The landscape simil-
arly influences menus in various parts of the country; you'll find regional specialities
wherever you travel, from Västerbotten pie to saffron pancakes (both delicious!).
Wild game features strongly in Swedish cuisine, particularly in the northern part of the
country. Traditional Sami cooking relies heavily on reindeer, whether cured, dried, roasted
or preserved as sausage or jerky. Elk (moose) are also fairly common. Particularly in Sami
cooking, game is often served with rich sauces that incorporate wild berries.
Other northern specialities include
ripa
(ptarmigan) and Arctic char, a cousin of salmon
and trout. (The mild-flavoured char makes a seasonal appearance on menus all over
Sweden in summer, and is absolutely worth a try, especially for the various inventive
methods of preparing it. A chefs' favourite, the sturdy fish is a blank canvas that can
handle all kinds of interesting treatments.)
Speaking of berries, another uniquely Scandinavian taste is that of the
hjortron
(cloud-
berry). These grow in the marshes of Norrland and look a bit like pale raspberries, but
their flavour is almost otherworldly, and Swedes consider them a delicacy. They're often
served as a warm sauce over ice cream. If they strike your fancy, you'll find any number of
places selling jars of cloudberry jam to take home. (There's also a sweet
hjortron
liqueur.)
Other traditional foods worth trying include
toast skagen
(toast with bleak roe, crème
fraiche and chopped red onion), the classic
köttbullar och potatis
(meatballs and potatoes,
usually served with lingonberry jam, known as
lingonsylt
), and
nässelsoppa
(nettle soup,
traditionally served with hard-boiled eggs). Pea soup and pancakes are traditionally served
on Thursday. Seafood staples include caviar, gravad or rimmad lax (cured salmon), and the
ubiquitous
sill
(herring), eaten smoked, fried or pickled and often accompanied by Scandi
trimmings like capers, mustard and onion. Tucking into a plate of fresh-fried Baltic herring
with new potatoes and lingonberry sauce, at an outdoor table overlooking the sea, is a
quintessential - and easily achieved - Swedish experience.
