Swedish national cuisine. Swedish cuisine. Crispbread

The national cuisine of Sweden was formed under the influence of Scandinavian culinary traditions, in which proximity to the sea and the harsh cold climate play a key role. Swedish dishes, as a rule, are without any special frills, easy to prepare, filling and tasty. Since ancient times, Sweden has used products that can be stored for a long time during the winter. Therefore, all kinds of marinades, pickles, smoking, canning, drying, and fermentation have become widespread. In local cuisine you will not find restaurant delights, exotic dishes, or complex combinations of ingredients. Rather, it is rustic and home-style cuisine.

Basics of Swedish cuisine , consist of fish and seafood dishes. Herring comes first. The Swedes have herring salted, in mustard, with onions, flavored, in wine, grilled, baked, fried, smoked, with white sauce, with lemon, in a special marinade... A special delicacy is considered “surströmming” - fermented pickled herring (though not everyone will like the smell of this dish). Also, try:

“grav” - salmon in a special marinade;
“lutfisk” - boiled sea pike;
« zilbular honey corintzes» — herring steak with sauce;
» fish in spring» — mackerel with mayonnaise sauce, cream and herbs;
"fish cutlets";
“potato casserole with sprats”.

Dishes from crabs, crayfish, squid, mussels and other inhabitants of coastal waters.

Meat dishes in the national cuisine of Sweden are prepared from game, pork, venison, and poultry. Of interest are dishes such as:

"Easterband" - pork sausages with a spicy taste;
“renstek” - chopped venison;
"flaskrulader" - pork roll;
“leverpate” - meat pate;
“unstect alg” - fried elk meat;
"kottbullar" - large Swedish dumplings;
“game meatballs”;
“chicken baked in clay”;
"meat balls" ;
« Swedish meatballs» from ground beef;
“cutlets” made from beef, potatoes, beets and onions;
"fried pork and beans".

If you are used to starting your lunch with the first course, then in this case, the local cuisine will delight you with various hot soups:

“pea soup”, with pork, onions and spices;
“Yolebrod” - beer soup;
« nasselsuppa-lead-egg» - oyster soup;
“Tokmag” - noodle soup;
"bean soup";
"soup with oatmeal";
“mushroom soup with chicken broth”;
“original soup with cognac or liqueur”.
Dumplings are often added to many soups.

Among side dishes, potatoes (boiled, baked, fried) take first place. Often, mushrooms are an addition to meat; they are especially tasty when fried with cream and onions. Although, often fried mushrooms are a separate dish. Also, on the buffet you can see pasta and rice, which came here from neighboring countries.

The national cuisine of Sweden will delight those with a sweet tooth. For dessert, Swedes prefer:

« rice pudding with almonds"
"gooseberry soufflé"
"Apple Swedish Cinnamon Cake"
"pancakes with jam or preserves"
“waffles with ice cream or various confitures”,
"chocolate cakes"
"pudding with saffron and whipped cream"
"Blueberry pie",
"rhubarb pie"

Swedes' favorite drink is coffee. Sweden ranks second in the world, after Finland, in per capita coffee consumption. In addition, mineral water, lemonade, lingonberry drink, fruit juices, and light beer are popular. Strong drinks include vodka, various liqueurs, whiskey, tinctures of local herbs and berries, punch and grog.
Welcome to hospitable Sweden and bon appetit everyone!

Along with ketchup and mustard, lingonberry jam is served with some hot dishes in Sweden: cutlets and pancakes, porridge and blood sausage (blodpudding). At the same time, despite its sweetness, it is rarely spread on bread. True connoisseurs of wild nature, many Swedes have been accustomed since childhood to picking lingonberries and making jam from these tart red berries.

2. Pickled herring is a regular at the buffet

3. Crispbread - what do you need?

In addition to soft bread and butter, bread rolls (knäckebröd) are an invariable ingredient of any lunch or dinner. Baking them began in Sweden more than 500 years ago, and initially the bread was considered the food of the poor. When stored properly, crispbread retains its flavor for at least a year and remains one of the most versatile foods. Different in shape, thickness, composition, consistency and taste, breads occupy entire shelves in supermarkets. The variations of crispbread sandwiches are endless: with sliced boiled eggs and caviar from a tube for breakfast, with ham, cheese and cucumber slices for lunch or with butter for dinner. Yes, and with lingonberry jam, of course!

4. The shrimp sandwich is the ancestor of the plate.

The Swedish sandwich tradition dates back to the 15th century, when thick slices of bread were used as plates. In Sweden, a shrimp sandwich (räksmörgås) is still a dish fit for a king. Consisting of a mixture of finely chopped boiled eggs, lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers, this seafood appetizer is often topped with caviar sauce (romsås) - sour cream mixed with dill sprigs and caviar. The shrimp sandwich is an integral part of Swedish culture, giving rise to the popular expression: “glida in på en räkmacka” (literally “to slide on a shrimp sandwich”), which means to gain an advantage or achieve something without much effort.

5. Pea soup and pancakes - attributes of Thursday

For many Swedes, pea soup and pancakes (ärtsoppa och pannkakor) on Thursdays are important childhood memories. There are differing opinions about the origins of the gastronomic ritual: according to one version, Catholics (and until the 16th century Sweden was a Catholic country) do not eat meat on Fridays, and therefore ate hearty pea soup on Thursdays; according to another, pea soup was an easy-to-prepare dish for servants , working half a day on Thursdays. Regardless of its origin, this culinary feature is firmly established, and most traditional restaurants serve pea soup and pancakes with lingonberry jam or any other type of jam (sylt) for lunch on Thursdays.

6. Princess cake - a royal weakness

No self-respecting confectionery store's display window would be complete without soft green Princess cake, crowned with a scarlet sugar rose. Several layers of sponge cake, coated with jam and vanilla cream, are covered with whipped cream and topped with a thin layer of sweet green marzipan. The cake debuted in 1920 with the help of Jenny Åkerström. She was the teacher of the daughters of Prince Carl Bernadotte, brother of King Gustav V, Princesses Margaretha, Martha and Astrid, who loved this cake so much that over time it began to be named after them. Although the official princess cake week is the third week of September, this popular treat is widely used to celebrate special occasions. Today it is prepared in different colors - from the classic green to yellow for, red for Halloween, and white for Halloween.

7. Sweet holiday - red date

A Swede will always find a reason to enjoy something sweet – there are even special days for sweets in the calendar. Day cinnamon rolls(Kanelbullens dag) is celebrated on October 4th. filled with cream and almond paste (semlor) are traditionally eaten on Fat Tuesday (fettisdagen) - the day before the start of Lent. Freshly baked waffles (våfflor) are eaten on March 25, and a creamy sponge cake decorated with a chocolate or marzipan silhouette of King Gustav Adolfs-bakelse is eaten on November 6 in memory of the Swedish monarch, who was killed on this day in 1632 at the Battle of Lutzen.

8. Cancer is the head of everything

(kräftskivor) in Sweden is a symbol of August. Freshwater and saltwater crayfish are eaten on warm summer evenings in gardens and balconies across the country. In the 16th century, when this tradition began to take shape, only the upper class and aristocracy could afford crayfish. Over time, they became a national delicacy for everyone. Crayfish began not only to be caught in Sweden, but also to be imported from other countries - and their price dropped significantly.

9. Pickled herring – it doesn’t smell like roses

Every national cuisine (at least the Swedes think so) has a dish that horrifies both the natives and guests. In Sweden it plays this role - it appears on store shelves in the second half of August. The tradition is this: swollen cans of herring are opened in the fresh air because of the unbearable stench. The bouquet of smells combines notes of rotten eggs and sewage. Pickled herring is actually eaten. Nothing human is alien to the Swedes: sometimes you really want fresh fish.

10. Sweets - on Saturdays

The family of two adults and two children eats 1.2kg of candy a week - most of it on Saturday, the official candy day. This tradition is associated with a dubious medical experiment. In the 1940s and 50s, in a psychiatric hospital in Lund, patients in a study were fed large amounts of candy to deliberately cause tooth decay. Based on the results of an experiment that established a direct link between eating sweets and tooth decay, the National Medical Council recommended that Swedes limit eating sweets to once a week. Many families adhere to this unwritten rule to this day.

National cuisine of Sweden

In ancient times, when the family had one pot, they prepared classic and typically Swedish dishes - salted pork with turnip puree, lamb with cabbage, pea soup with pork (artsoppa). In this cauldron it was necessary to cook meat, vegetables, and root vegetables. Fried food could only be enjoyed in high strata of society.
In the mid-19th century, Swedish cuisine underwent a revolution when the open hearth was replaced by an iron stove fired with wood.
Then new home-cooked dishes appeared - fried meatballs, fried salted herring, pork in onion sauce and cabbage rolls. Stuffed cabbage rolls were adopted from Turkish cuisine about 300 years ago, during the reign of King Charles XII, who was in Turkey for several years, where he became acquainted with this dish made from minced meat and wrapped in grape leaves.
A culinary borrowing is the world-famous smörgosburd (sandwich table) - a buffet consisting of a variety of different dishes. A typically Swedish form of treat.
The national dish is also a holiday dish - salmon in grav marinade (gavlax). "Grav" means "pit" in Swedish. The name of the dish is due to the fact that previously, at the beginning of the summer season, so many salmon were caught in the rivers that it was not possible to preserve all the catch. Salt was very expensive, so they dug a deep hole and put the fish in it, sprinkling it with salt in such an amount that the salmon did not spoil, but only turned sour and began to ferment. In this form, salmon could be stored for a long time.
In the 16th century, chefs serving on wealthy estates discovered that treating salmon with salt, sugar and spices resulted in a process that prevented it from spoiling and even eliminated the taste of the “raw” fish. This dish inherited the old peasant name “fish with a smell”, but it no longer had a specific unpleasant odor.
Salmon in grav marinade is one of those few Swedish dishes that are now popular in other countries.
Swedish cuisine traditionally uses little fresh ingredients and is noticeably heavy.
People here like to cook with butter and eat a lot of sugar. Sugar is even included in recipes for pickled herring and plain bread. In the 19th century, sakha was expensive, so sweetened dishes had a high status. When the common people had the means to sweeten their food, sugar began to be used unreasonably a lot, and this habit took root for a long time.
The Swedish national dish is pea soup with pork. This soup is made from dried yellow peas. Pea soup is served only on Thursdays, in memory of the medieval past, when Friday was a fast day and the day before it was necessary to eat a hearty meal.
After the Reformation, the direct religious connection between pea soup and Thursday was completely lost, but Swedes still eat this soup on Thursdays, washed down with hot toddy, which is also an ancient Swedish drink.
The sweet punch made from arrack is Sweden's unique contribution to Western European spirits culture and is a reminder of the Swedes' 18th-century trade with China and Indonesia. Large quantities of arak were brought from the island of Java by ship, which became popular in Sweden.
At that time, the Swedes produced vodka as their own alcoholic drink. However, until the 70s of the 19th century, vodka had an unpleasant aftertaste of fusel oil. Swedish punch was invented thanks to inexpensive arrack and the use of Anglo-Saxon experience in making rum-based punch.
But the most famous of the various Swedish drinks is vodka, made from grain.
In ancient times, Sweden was divided into three geographical regions, each with its own type of bread baking.
In the north, bread was baked in flat, thin cakes from barley flour and this bread was called “thin” because the climate of the area did not allow the cultivation of other types of grains, and the dough from barley flour could not be kneaded with yeast.
To the south, the classic version of the Swedish “crispy” bread, knackebrod, is popular. The rivers powering the millstones were covered with ice. The lack of wind did not allow the use of windmills, so it was impossible to grind grain. Therefore, thin crispbreads were prepared in advance from flour.
In the southernmost part of Sweden, which once belonged to Denmark, windmills were built already in the Middle Ages. There they could grind grain almost all year round and bake soft bread, without worrying about preserving it for future use.
It was nothing less than the need to preserve large stocks of perishable foods so that they could last for a whole year that largely determined the foundations of Swedish food culture, that is, the foundations of modern home cooking. This concerned not only agricultural products, livestock breeding, hunting and fishing, but also milk. Milk in northern Sweden was only available in the summer, when the cows were taken out to graze on the meadows. Then butter was churned from cream, and cheese was made from milk.
To ensure that nothing was wasted, in Northern Scandinavia a special type of cheese was made from whey - mesost. This cheese and its soft variant called Messmer are still produced today.
In the 19th century, a new form of Swedish table socializing was born, when guests were invited to “coffee” (kafferep).
Over time, coffee significantly replaced homemade vodka, which was produced until the middle of the last century.
Nowadays, this tradition of inviting people for coffee has been preserved primarily in rural areas, and also as a form of treat at birthdays or name days.
According to statistics, Sweden is firmly ranked second in the world in per capita coffee consumption. It is often drunk at breakfast, during work breaks in production, or at the end of lunch or dinner.
Sweden's national liquor is vodka, which is made from potatoes. It is very strong and drinks chilled.
On ordinary days, Swedes avoid drinking alcoholic beverages, preferring milk, water, lingonberry drink - lingondricka, and light beer.

What associations usually arise when you mention Sweden? That's right, Swedish match, Swedish family, buffet and, of course, Swedish cuisine. Gourmets who have at least once tasted some of the culinary masterpieces of this wonderful country bring home their favorite recipes, and then certainly cook something at home for family and friends. And, sitting in some cozy restaurant in any other country, they will definitely choose from the menu kötbular or leberwust, zilbular honey corintzes or surströmming, grav, metvusht or elebrod and so on... It is unlikely that these, like many other, sophisticated names mean anything - then they will tell an inexperienced person. But those who have at least once tried the signature dishes of this nation - herring steak with currant sauce, meatballs, blood sausages, pork sausages, etc. - will have a wild appetite at just this name!

A little history

Here, at first glance, everything is very simple, but clear. You can even fit it into one line - to prepare dishes that will satisfy and warm, the long subarctic winters and the proximity of the harsh sea forced the people. But behind such a meager formulation there is a centuries-old tradition! Indeed, the population had to adapt to the local influences of natural conditions, that is, to frosty weather. Taking into account this harsh reality and their way of life, the people gradually created, albeit simple in the peasant style, but a wonderful table, which is noticeably and advantageously different from those existing in the world.

Of course, the modern tradition is so strikingly different. Thus, the past was characterized by its own approaches, consisting mainly of methods based on long-term storage of products. This is where local smoked meats, pickles and picklings originate, from which Swedish dishes are also prepared.

It should also be said about regional differences. In the north, states prefer to eat the meat of reindeer and other wild animals. The south of Sweden is traditionally not so exotic, even Europeanized, because here they eat vegetable and dairy dishes, and choose domestic animals from meat.

Having experienced the influence of English, Italian and German cuisine, Swedish remained simple and unambiguous, at the same time hearty, homemade, but not bland and boring, as before. In addition to the previously used turnips, the Swedes' diet is enriched with vegetables. Traveling frequently, local chefs tirelessly expand the gastronomic tastes of their nation. Globalization also helped this.

What is typical for Swedish cuisine?

Yes, there are enough chips in this tradition. And this is, first of all, a buffet. A local invention (the buffet) that has captivated the world. In a nutshell, it consists of sequential tasting of dishes. By the way, this is what we call this tradition, and even in several countries where the etiquette laid down by the Swedes in this procedure is not fully observed. And the secret is to taste the offered dishes from clean plates each, observing a certain order of the buffet display - fish appetizers, more fish appetizers, cold salads, hot dishes and dessert. Lord forbid, this order should be violated! They will consider you ignorant and laugh at you. Whereas in our modern “carts” and other buffet formats this is not the case. From long tables laden with dishes, you can take any snacks, eating them endlessly and without observing a strict sequence.

Fish can safely be called a national product. Herring, cod, salmon, which are inexpensive! Oysters, shrimp, crayfish - no frills, but always tasty and satisfying. Therefore, Swedish cuisine, whose recipes have always surprised us with their simplicity, lack of sophistication and satiety, is often included in the menu of people who dream of losing weight, or those for whom a healthy lifestyle and balanced nutrition are a priority.

Swedes have a tradition of baking homemade bread. And, by the way, most of its varieties are sweet! Why? Because people are used to putting sugar almost everywhere (even in pates, herring marinades, etc.), and not just in baked goods! Even the blood sausage served with berry compote is sweetened...

Since people have long used well-stored products that can withstand long winters (including fats and sugar), they fry and stew here not in oil, but in lard, but without fanaticism in terms of spices and seasonings.

A rustic touch... Yes, Sweden was a poor country, because the poor soil did not provide tasty and varied food. Therefore, the Swedish tradition is root vegetables in the form of potatoes, beets, turnips and carrots. No matter how much the national cuisine has advanced, neither the Swedish family nor domestic restaurants can do without homemade food - blood sausages and pudding, potato pancakes, stews with potatoes and turnips, cutlets, meatballs, "puttipanns" (chopped potatoes with meat).

By the way, Swedish national cuisine does not particularly prefer spices. Although immigrants, having brought their cuisine here, diluted the palette of delicacies. After all, culinary Sweden is developing, supplemented and improved with the help of new seasonings and spices... But there is one constant feature - seasonal products, because seasonality remains the hallmark of Swedish gastronomy to this day. According to the old tradition, Swedes freeze a lot of food, not just groceries. They are everywhere - in large markets, and even in remote provinces.

Swedish main dishes love spicy sauces. By the way, Russian tourists are crazy about many traditional Swedish dishes, which remind them in some way of their Russian cuisine.

Typically Swedish products and dishes

The modern Swedish table is not as varied as that of some from European countries. It is fatty, like, in fact, the food of other Scandinavian powers. And the range of products that make up the diet of the Swedish population is not so wide. But there are the most important ingredients, without which these delicious home-style dishes that do not require special skills cannot be prepared:

fish,
beef,
pork,
seafood,
dairy products,
a variety of vegetables (cabbage, potatoes, legumes, etc.),
fruits,
flour,
sugar.

What national dishes especially surprises guests of the country that restaurants in other countries prefer to cook, taking recipes from this cuisine? Yes, there are such unique dishes served in authentic Swedish catering glasses. Quite a lot of analogues of the dishes listed below can be found in other cuisines of the world, and it seems that you won’t see anything super unusual in them, but one cannot help but mention among them:

smoked salmon with dill,
cream of mushroom soup,
potato balls with pork,
dried cod with smoke,
venison,
potato casserole,
honey pie,
Swedish cake,
potato pancakes,
pea soup,
meatballs,
casseroles,
salted pork with turnip puree, lamb with cabbage,
chicken baked in clay;
pork stewed in onion sauce, etc.

Can Swedish cuisine surprise?

Undoubtedly! And not only with their tricky names. Let’s take, “yelebrod”. Yes, yes, we are talking about one traditional dish of Swedish cuisine. What's unusual? The fact that beer (light and dark) is prepared with the addition of sugar, eggs, beaten with milk and flour. It's terribly delicious!

Pickled herring... How's that? - you ask. Meanwhile, “inlagt sil”, which is what the dish is called when translated into our language, is one of the most famous delicacies of Swedish gourmets and ordinary people. Stinking rotten fish is not for the nervous, but rather for those with strong stomachs. But the fact is a fact - the dish surprised the culinary world!

Or “ketbular”! This is also a dish that pleased gourmets and which was featured even in good fairy tales about Carlson. This signature dish of Swedish cuisine is ordinary meatballs, but the minced meat for them is made from minced and scraped meat.

And here is another dish - “grav”, salmon cooked in a special marinade, or boiled pike “Lutfisk”, spicy pork sausages - “Isterband”, chopped venison - “renstek”, meat pate called “leverpashte” and so on . A whole list of such goodies can be given.

Swedish cuisine

First:

It may seem that Swedish cooking does not have first courses. Wrong impression! There is a sea of hot soups in domestic cuisine. Moreover, they are prepared from all the products that are key to the tradition. This includes meat, fish, lard, vegetables, legumes, and much more. So, in addition to olebrod, the beer first course, Swedes often have soups at their meals:

from oysters called "nasselsuppa-lid-egg";
with noodles - “tokmag”;
with dumplings,
with noodles;
dark bean, seasoned with bacon;
pea, seasoned with spices;
“nasselsuppa-lid-egg” - oyster soup;
with oatmeal;
mushrooms in chicken broth;
with cognac or liqueur and other hot first courses from local chefs.

Second:

Meat. Swedes love to hunt. That’s why their table is not complete without the meat of elk, rabbits, deer, partridges and other game. Meatballs (say, from elk), beefsteaks (for example, with chopped beets), meatballs, sausages stuffed with a wide variety of meats - this is just a small list of what is prepared from meat here. We can’t help but mention homemade Swedish sausages made from different types of meat, seasonings and spices.

Fish and seafood. Why be surprised that fish and seafood have become an important part of the nation’s diet? After all, Sweden is a maritime power, which also has a lot of rivers and lakes. Swedes will never exchange herring fried in tents (local fast food) for hot dogs!

What about surströmming? The local exotic is also the rotten herring, which is adored in the north of the country, and which has won the status of the most terrible dish on earth more than once in international culinary competitions! In a word, this, as well as shrimp salads, dishes from salmon, mackerel, halibut, flounder, eel, cod and other types of fish - boiled, baked, salted, smoked, etc., are very common in Sweden.

Dairy. Swedes love milk. When eating at home, they even wash down their food with milk! Locally produced butter is a real delicacy, and by the way, it’s salty! The nation loves fil, curdled milk, which is drunk here instead of yoghurt. They also produce famous cheeses, especially goat cheeses, which are known throughout the world (Greve, Västerbotten, etc.).

Berry and mushroom. Swedes not only prefer fatty and filling foods. They are also avid berry and mushroom pickers. Mushrooms are used for delicious soups, sauces for meat or fish, for main courses and snacks. And they use the berries in pies, desserts and jams, which they use very widely, and not only in desserts. So, meatballs here can be served with lingonberry or cranberry sauce. And the soup made from rose hips will turn out to be a superb jelly.

Sweet . Baking for sweet-toothed Swedes, who consume more than 40 kg of sugar per year, is everything! After all, they, world-famous coffee lovers, cannot do without it while drinking coffee. And therefore, as soon as they are not sophisticated in this pleasant matter...

No local cafe is complete without:

cinnamon and saffron buns or,
Viennese bread,
baked goods with cream and jam,
donuts with different fillings,
masses of variations of cookies and buns,
waffle,
pancakes,
famous almond cake and others,
air meringues,
cupcakes,
pies (apple, blueberry, rhubarb, etc.),
cakes,
cookies,
gooseberry soufflé, etc.

Here’s just one trendy touch: guests of local hotels receive waffles with whipped cream and jam for breakfast.

What do young Swedes get pampered with? Of course, chocolate! There are hot chocolate stalls scattered throughout the country. Well, what about this drink without fresh buns? Yes, yes, it turns out that they made Swedish cuisine famous throughout the world. Airy and fragrant, they conquered all the children of the country. They are also treated to delicious ice creams, desserts, sweets, drinks, etc.

Dishes for the holidays:

Although the traditional cuisine of Sweden is unprepossessing, there are holiday dishes that the nation prepares with pleasure, as national ones. This happens on Christmas Day, which the Viking country always celebrates on a grand scale. Key dishes of Swedish cuisine:

basturma (dried meat);
leberwurst (a homemade special sausage made from pork and ham, prepared only in this land);
metwurst (beef and pork dish made in the form of sausage).

Well, in addition to the main ones, let’s add other festive dishes:

blood sausage,
aspic,
ham,
pickled mackerel and a lot of other, including sweet dishes and drinks.

Beverages

Non-alcoholic. Swedes choose coffee from this category of drinks, like most Europeans. In terms of its use, the country is second in the world, second only to the Finns! The nation drinks it all the time - while discussing business or when communicating. By the way, they won’t hesitate to pay 25 crowns for a cup of coffee in a coffee shop. People here love to drink orange juice and fruit juices, cola, various fruit drinks, ciders, berry compotes, etc.

Fastened. Swedish alcohol is very specific. It is sold in specialized stores and served in any establishment, although to prevent people from drinking themselves to death, the authorities have even introduced a monopoly. This is probably why the prices here are decent, but it’s worth it - the drinks here are of excellent quality. The main alcohol brand of the northern power is considered to be Absolut vodka, produced since 1879, the varieties of which have already grown, apparently and invisible, and each with its own taste - currants, pepper, citrus, etc. In addition to vodka, Swedes, celebrating holidays, relaxing with friends , love to indulge in beer, punch, grog, dry and fortified wines, moonshine, liqueur, gin and whiskey. And on Christmas Day, people prefer glögg, something like mulled wine made from blackcurrant juice, spices, orange zest and some kind of alcohol.

Swedish food culture

The nation honors its traditions. Baking bread yourself, preparing confitures, jams and other food products are some of them.
As a rule, Swedes put food on a plate themselves, and not like we do. In this country they treat cakes and pies differently - everyone cuts their own portion.
Here it is customary not to leave food on the plate.
To drink something alcoholic, they wait for the host’s first toast at a party, and then drink it at random.
Not limiting themselves only to their cuisine, the Swedes also prepare French dishes, Italian, Asian and American dishes.
Like all of us Europeans, Swedes eat three meals, starting with a light breakfast, continuing with lunch and ending the day with dinner.

Are you planning a trip to Sweden? Try both new and old dishes here! Modern Swedish cuisine is far from traditional, although it has not lost its inherent simplicity, the traditions of peasant food, satiety and the presence of a large amount of fat. After all, Swedes often choose lighter food. Having survived the influence of French, German, Italian and other cuisines of the world, Swedish cuisine, recipes with photos of which can be seen on the Internet in large quantities, now adds a large number of vegetables.

However, as has always been the case in this and many Scandinavian powers, fish dishes remain an integral part, a kind of base. Whatever the feast, it begins in Sweden with traditional appetizers of herring, which is skillfully salted or otherwise prepared by the ubiquitous culinary experts. Well, a huge variety of fish dishes, minced meat and game, incomparable pastries and desserts, tasty, satisfying and without any special frills dishes, lovingly and correctly prepared by local chefs and brightly fitting into the bright palette of world cuisine - this is a most pleasant addition for both guests power, and its entire population...

Sweden is a country with a high standard of living. That is why only high-quality products are used for food here, which subsequently has a positive effect on the health of the nation.

Even the alcoholic drinks here are of very high quality. But Swedish residents drink them in moderation. In addition, the Swedes' diet is incredibly varied. They love meat and fish very much, but they successfully combine them with vegetables, fruits or berries and complement them with soups.

Almost all ingredients for Swedish cuisine are produced in the country itself. At first glance, it may seem that Swedes eat too much fatty and sweet food. However, this is a necessary measure necessary for normal life in a rather harsh climate.

It in no way affects the health of the nation. The best proof of this is statistical data. The average life expectancy of Swedes is almost 81 years, and only 11% of the population is overweight. Over the past years, Swedish national cuisine has been called one of the healthiest. Simply because it consists mainly of dishes based on seafood and rivers.

Swedish recipes. Dishes for the holidays. National New Year's recipes.

First meal:

Engamat soup
Finnish milk soup
Salmon soup (Laxsoppa)
Swedish beer soup
Tokmach (noodle soup)
Pea soup with bacon and ham
Rose hip soup

Main dishes:

Wallenberg cutlets
Meatballs with lingonberry sauce, pickled cucumber and brown sauce
"The Temptation of Janson"
Swedish meatballs
Swedish Christmas meatballs
Swedish meatballs with Brunsås sauce
Salmon in cream sauce
Guinea fowl escabeche
Chicken with star anise and stewed onions
Homemade meatballs
Venison terrine with currant sauce
Potato casserole with horseradish
Meatballs with creamy sauce (Kottbullar)
Baked potatoes with cheese in the oven
Blood sausage in the oven
Potato dumplings with pork (Kroppkakor)
Meatballs with rice in tomato sauce
Swedish salmon with mustard sauce
Fried bacon with quince and apples
Shink-loda (potato casserole)
Stewed red cabbage with apples (Rodkal)
Beer stewed meat
Salted herring (Inlagd sill)

Salads:

Liver salad
Swedish potato salad

Snacks:

SOS: herring, cheese and snaps
Smörgostorta
Gravlax with potato salad
Skagen toast with shrimp
Gravlax
Swedish snack with bread
Pies with cheese fondue
Cheese fondue in pumpkin
Meatloaf
Baked potato hassell with dill
Salaka in Swedish

Dough dishes and desserts:

Swedish cinnamon rolls
Lussebullar
Princess Cake
Gingerbread cookies with glaze
Swedish Christmas cookies
Cinnamon bun
Swedish chocolate cake
Kalitki (Karelian pies) with filling
Chocolate fondue with fruit skewers
Shokladsnitt (Chocolate cookies)
Almond puff pastry cake
Kanelbullar (Cinnamon Buns)
Sokerkaka (Biscuit)
Colasnitt (Toffee Cookies)
Drömmar (Dream Cookies)
Brusselskekes (Brussels cookies)
Finska-pinnar (Finnish sticks)
Shakrutor (Cookie checkers)
Skurna-syltkakor (Squares with jam)

National drinks:

Glögg with almonds, raisins and spices
Rhubarb compote
Rhubarb juice

There is very little detailed information about the history of the development of modern Swedish cuisine.

And the reason for this is not only the rich past of this country, which is a series of endless wars and confrontations for territory and power. But also harsh weather conditions, which significantly narrowed the range of ingredients used in cooking. And, as a result, they forced the people of Sweden to be content with little. However, despite all these obstacles, today this state can boast of an exquisite, satisfying and original cuisine, based on nutritious and incredibly tasty dishes.

It is worth noting that Swedish culinary traditions were formed mainly under the influence of Denmark and Norway. However, later France, Germany and Turkey played a huge role in their development, thanks to which the Swedes began to pay attention not only to the taste and nutritional properties of dishes, but also to their appearance.

Initially, Swedish cuisine was not very diverse. It was based only on products subject to long-term storage. First of all, these are pickles, marinades, dried and smoked products. By the way, turnips were widely used here in the old days. Everyone's favorite potato appeared in Sweden only in the 18th century and subsequently successfully replaced it.

In addition to it, meat and fish are very popular here. Swedes have been preparing dishes from them for centuries, which is not surprising. After all, cattle breeding and fishing were the main types of fishing for them. And only over time, agriculture was added to them. The favorite type of fish in Sweden is herring. Not a single feast is complete without it. Moreover, the Swedes know a huge number of recipes for its preparation. It is salted, pickled in mustard or wine, fermented, stewed, baked in the oven or grilled, made into sandwiches and all kinds of fish dishes. Particularly noteworthy is the Swedish delicacy of fermented herring, which was once included in the list of the most terrible dishes in the world.

The preferred meats in Sweden are pork, venison and game. In addition, the Swedes also hold dairy products in high esteem, in particular milk, cheeses, butter, kefir, curdled milk or yogurt. They love grains, mushrooms, as well as vegetables, fruits and berries. But they practically do not use spices, successfully replacing them with delicious sauces.

By the way, the concept of a “buffet” actually came from Sweden. The fact is that in the old days, guests gathered for a long time for various events. Therefore, they were offered shelf-stable dishes, which were taken to a cool room and left on a long table. Thus, each new arrival could take as much food as he needed on his own, without bothering either the hosts or other guests

True Swedish cuisine differs from the cuisines of other Scandinavian countries by the presence of a bright, sweetish flavor in its dishes. After all, the Swedes love to add sugar everywhere and are sincerely proud of it. Meanwhile, this is far from the only peculiarity of Sweden. After all, only in this kingdom they prepare not just exquisite gourmet dishes, but truly unique or even exotic ones. Like, for example, chicken baked in clay. It is worth noting that before cooking it is not plucked, but simply gutted, washed and coated with clay. And then they bake it on stones so that they can later enjoy the unique taste of the most tender roast. In this case, all unplucked feathers remain on the clay. This recipe has been known since Viking times.

Among the drinks, Swedes, like many Europeans, choose coffee, and among fortified drinks - vodka, whiskey, and beer. The Swedes are second only to the Finns in coffee consumption - they are the second largest coffee drinking country in the world.