Around 12,000 BC Sweden was home to reindeer hunters, bands of hunter-gatherers and, of course, fishermen mainly because the climate had become a little warmer and the ice had started to melt a little in the region.  By 4,000 BC the local farmers had not only flourished but they had learnt how to make flint axes, decorated their pottery and their wives were able to pour milk from funnel beakers. The diet was simple and healthy.  At the beginning of 200 AD, the Swedes divided their agricultural lands in order to mark the divisions between the planted fields and the grazing lands. They (known as the Suiones by the

Romans) were a powerful people of great warriors, strong men and beautiful women who were wealthy in fleets and who had mastered the art of building a longship. No written record of the kings exist for which reason we have to rely on their rich mythology. They were not illiterate and the term ‘barbarian’ does not befit these people – in fact, they invented the runic script but few examples remain probably  because, I believe, the Romans held it in disdain. They spoke the same ancestral language as the northern Germanics – proto-norse. By 600 AD the country had divided itself into two, the Suehans who were great horsemen and were responsible for keeping the Romans in black fox skins and the Suetidi who were aligned to the Danes and were known for being very tall. And then the Vikings came. Their era lasted 400 years and they made very sure that history would never forget them. They were an extremely powerful nation of fearless warriors who were, history tells us, beautiful men and it is from amongst them that Theophilos the Greek built his varangian guard and it also from them that the powerful Rus

were born. Christianity came to Sweden in 829 as did the Christian holidays and need for festive eating – the diet was still simple and healthy  – the country was poor and the economy mainly agrarian and when the bubonic plague hit them in the 14^th century it was a disaster!  In 1319 Sweden, Norway and Denmark united (Kalmar Union) pretty much because they had to and that remained until Christian II of Denmark ordered the Stockholm Blood Bath that whipped the Swedes into action at last and they elected Gustav Vasa their king and modern Sweden was effectively born.  From this point on the Swedish history makes for fascinating reading as it moves from superpower to less powerful but the effect on its food is phenomenal. The cuisine was influenced by the Russians, the French, the Germans – in fact Sweden was so wealthy at one time that the cuisine consisted of the best of everything that Europe had to offer and to this day the Swedish diet is modern, fresh and very cosmopolitan even though there is an inclination to concentrate on whatever is locally available, organic and doesn’t interfere with the environment. They are an example to all of us.

ED BAINES’ MINI SWEDISH MEATBALLS

Ingredients

For the meatballs

• 500g pork mince
• 1 Spanish onion, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• ½ tsp dried oregano
• ¼ tsp celery salt
• ¼ tsp ground cumin
• 1 free-range egg yolk
• 1 tbsp plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 1 tsp mustard
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the tomato sauce

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 clove fresh garlic, crushed to a paste in a pestle and mortar
• 250ml  passata (pressed and seived tomatoes)
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

To serve

• hard cheese (like gruyère, emmental or cheddar), grated

Method

• For the meatballs, place one tablespoon of the oil into a pan over a medium heat, add the onions and fry for 2-3 minutes until soft.
• Add the oregano, celery salt and cumin and stir well, remove from the heat and allow to cool.
• Place the mince into a large bowl. add the cooked spiced onions, egg yolk, flour and mustard and mix together well with floured hands – season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
• Dust a chopping board with flour and roll the mince mixture into small walnut-sized balls.
• Heat another tablespoon of oil in a large pan, add the meatballs and fry over a moderate heat for five minutes, turning over to brown evenly.
• Carefully cut open one meatball to check they are cooked through – the meat should be brown, not pink, all the way to the middle.
• Remove the meatballs from the pan, place onto a serving dish and keep warm.
• To make the tomato sauce, heat the olive oil in a saucepan over a low heat.
• Add the crushed garlic and fry for 1 minute to soften.
• Add the passata into the saucepan, increase the heat and bring to boil.
• Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
• To serve, spoon the sauce over the meatballs and finish with grated cheese of your choice.

They are practical chefs and prepare healthy sustaining food with the regional differences between the north and the south respected and embraced. Reindeer meat and game are popular in the north and fresh vegetables are more popular in the south. Food is not complex and traditional dishes like tasty meatballs in gravies with lingonberry jam, blueberry soup,  are well loved by all. In a nutshell, Swedish food is created from cultured dairy products, meats like beef and pork, seafood, shellfish and fish (pickled fish is a favourite), crunchy and soft breads, (and pickled vegetables), vegetables (most important basic vegetables are potatoes, kale and cabbage) and berries and stone fruits. Potatoes are often served as a side dish, most often boiled with a sauce as Americans would serve bread.  The Swedes have a massive variety of breads of different shapes and sizes that are made from rye, wheat, oats and from white, dark, sour-dough or are whole grain. Let’s not forget the many soft flatbreads and plethora of crispbreads. The bread itself may be sweetened or spices may be added to enhance the flavour of the type of flour used.

LINGONBERRY AND APPLE JAM

Ingredients

• 1 kg lingonberries
• 1 kg Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into chunks
• 1 large lemon, grated zest only
• 200 ml water
• 600-700 grams sugar

Method

• Make sure that the berries are very clean.
• Bring water to the boil in a large pot, add the lingonberries and simmer for 7 minutes, stirring, until softened.
• Peel and core the apple and cut in chunks, add it to the lingonberries and cook this for another  10 minutes, stirring frequently.
• Add the sugar and simmer for yet another 10 minutes.
• Pour into hot sterilised jars and close immediately.

Lingonberry jam is a popular accompaniment to a large variety of meat dishes like steaks, game and then, of course, the famous meatballs with lingonberry jam because it adds a fresh touch to something that could, at times, be a little heavy.  Swedish fruit soups are thickish and blueberry soup and rosehip soup can be served warm or cold – blueberrysoup (blåbärssoppa) is a classic and anyone travelling to Sweden has to try it. Because of the importance of dairy products in the cuisine, butter is important but lately many Italian imports are very popular with the result that olive oil, pasta, pizza and wine is found on the modern Swedish table in most homes and restaurants.  The Swedes are marvellous bakers and yeasten cakes and buns, cookies, biscuits and cakes are of outstanding quality and less sweet than the average American version – more in line with European sugar usage. Coffee breaks are popular here as everywhere else in the world and accompanied with a delicious pastry (fika) is sheer bliss. This recipe was sent in by a Swedish reader and although not typical, is delicious and easy to make so do try it.

SWEDISH GRAVADLAX AND POTATO DISH

Ingredients

• 800g potatoes (not floury)
• 200g gravadlax
• 2 onions
• 284ml carton double cream
• 150g milk
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• Butter for greasing

Method

• Preheat oven to 190C
• Peel the potatoes and cut into very thin matchstick type chips – use a mandolin for quick work and put the chips in a bowl and cover with cold salted water.
• Cut the gravadlax into wide strips and chop the onions very finely.
• Melt a large lump of butter in a pan, add the onion and fry until soft and translucent.
• Butter the inside of a shallow ovenproof dish generously.
• Drain potatoes and spread one third of them over the bottom of the dish.
• Season them well with salt and pepper.
• Scatter half the gravadlax and onion on top and then cover with another third of the potatoes, scattering over the rest of the  gravadlax and onions.
• Cover this with the remaining potatoes and season well.
• Warm the cream and milk to simmering point and  pour over the potatoes.
• Dot the top with butter and bake for and hour until the potatoes are tender and the crust golden.
• Cool for about 5 minutes before serving.

Fish has been vital for Swedish trade throughout history and in order to preserve it, the fish was salted and cured. Salt (insert)was a vital trade item at the beginning of the Scandinavian Medieval period around 1000 AD. Winters were long and an important source of vitamin C was the preserved cabbage known as sauerkraut as well as a variety of preserved apples and berries. Nowadays sauerkraut is usually only found in Germany. Because the winters are long, fresh vegetables are in short supply and for this reason many of the traditional recipes are a little thin in vegetables. Before spices arrived in Sweden in the 17^th and 18^th centuries, the food may have been a little bland even though many local herbs and plants had been used since ancient times for flavouring – to this day these herbs are used and loved but spices are certainly becoming increasingly popular.

Husmanskost (traditional Swedish dishes made with local ingredients) has thankfully become very popular again and local ingredients (as far as possible) like pork, fish, cereals, dairy products, potatoes, root vegetables, cabbages, onions, apples, berries etc. are turned into glorious and extremely tasty foods. Beef and lamb are used less often but it is farmed in Sweden and is available on small scale. The most traditional fruits have got to be berries and after that apples that are eaten either fresh or in apple pies, apple sauces, apple cakes or apple muffins. When cooking traditionally, the methods used are also old-fashioned and the cooking periods are longer and spices very rarely used.

Examples of Swedish husmanskost are:

• pea soup (ärtsoppa),
• boiled and mashed carrots,
• potato and rutabaga served with pork (rotmos med fläsk),
• boiled salmon (inkokt lax),
• fish meatballs (fiskbullar),
• meatballs (köttbullar),
• potato dumplings with meat or other ingredients (palt),
• potato pancake (raggmunk),
• porridge (nävgröt),
• a fried mix of bits of small potato and meat (pytt i panna),
• meat stew with onion (kalops),
• and potato-dumplings with a filling of onions and pork (kroppkakor).

VODKA

In the past 50 years the Swedes have started to drink and love wine which has led to a decrease in the consumption of beer and spirits. There are 2 kinds of spirits (both with about 40% alcohol) – the Akvavit (Aqua vitae) and the Scandinavian vodkas or schnapps (snaps).  Absolut Vodka, one of the world’s best known liquor brands is extremely trendy and drunk, especially, by the younger generations.  Since the 1880s, the state-owned Systembolaget has the monopoly on the sale of all spirits containing more than 3.5% alcohol in order to limit consumption. Hembränt (moonshine) is still made in rural Sweden but decreasingly so because it’s easier to import alcohol nowadays. Swedish beer is typically lager and is bright and bitter,

THE DREADED FAST FOOD

A local version of the hot dog sausage served in a bun or wrapped in flatbread is the typical Swedish fast food but today pizza joins the party and has been popular since the early ‘60’s. Kebab and falafel are also not unknown anymore and many smaller fast food eateries specialise in them.

The most famous Swedish culinary tradition is, without a shadow of doubt,  the smörgåsbord that is eaten on high days and holidays and, of course,  at Christmas, the julbord where  dishes like gravalax and meatballs hold pride of place.

POTATOES

Potatoes are enjoyed throughout the year and there are several different kinds of potatoes with the new potato at the top of the list. It is always eaten at the mid-summer  feast , a potato which ripens in early summer, and is enjoyed at the traditional mid-summer (midsommar) feast that,  in Sweden, is one of the most important holidays of the year. Here they are served with pickled herrings, chives and sour cream. For dessert the first strawberries of the year are traditionally served. About a month later, in August the kräftskiva (the  crayfish party) is also served with boiled potatoes and dill. Mushrooms are highly regarded in Sweden with the chanterelle probably most highly regarded, followed closely by the porcini, known as the karljohansvamp – named for Charles XIV who introduced it to his subjects.

Here’s a list of traditional Swedish dishes that we found online, so if one or two are not tradition, please let us know.

• Falukorv (Falu sausage)
• Janssons frestelse (Potato casserole)
• Swedish pancakes
• Ärtsoppa (pea soup)
• Blodpudding (black pudding) eaten with lingonberry jam, potatoes and grated carrots.
• Blodkorv (blood sausage also containing pork and raisins)
• Falukorv ( a big, thick sausage originating in Falun)*
• Fiskbullar (white fish meat fishballs)
• Gravad lax (salmon cured with salt and sugar with herbs.
• Inkokt lax (boiled salmon)
• Isterband (fermented sausage made with pork, barley and potatoes)
• Janssons frestelse (potato casserole made of grated potatoes, sprats, onions and cream)
• Julskinka (the Christmas ham).
• Kalops (braised meat, onions and vegetables)
• Kåldolmar (cabbage rolls)
• Köttsoppa (beef and root vegetable soup)
• Kroppkakor (boiled potato-dumplings, filled with pork.
• Lutfisk (lye fish made from stockfish).
• Palt (dumplings filled with pork)
• Pitepalt (palt from Piteå)
• Blodpalt (palt made with blood)
• Leverpalt (palt  made with liver)
• Blåbärspalt (palt with blueberries)
• Pannkakor and Plättar (pancakes) – image above
• Inlagd sill (pickled herring)
• Pölsa (similar to hash)
• Raggmunk (rotato pancakes)
• Rotmos med fläsk (mashed potatoes, carrots and swedes served with pork)
• Stekt fläsk och bruna bönor (pork with stewed brown beans)
• Fläskkorv (pork sausages)
• Pyttipanna are mixture of chopped and fried meat, onions, pre-boiled potatoes and often sausages, bacon and various herbs. Sometimes salmon is used instead of meat. Smörgåstårta is a sandwich cake that looks like a rather large multi-layer sandwich with many different fillings and toppings.
• Grisfötter (pigs trotters, served with rödbetor)

SEA FOOD

With a long coast and many lakes and rivers, fish and other seafood is an important part of the Swedish cuisine. As the Baltic Sea is sensitive to pollution, and the previously popular cod has been overfished, and hydroelectric power has disrupted salmon reproduction in some rivers, farmed salmon from Norway has become increasingly popular. Pickled herring (inlagd sill), is the most traditional Swedish appetizer. Shrimp and lobster are specialties of the Skagerrak coast. Now we get to the world famous surströmming which are fermented  Baltic herrings made from a particular species that has about 10% fat as opposed to the Atlantic herring with it’s 16%. This is due to the fact that the Baltic sea has 50% of the salt concentration of many of the other seas. Surströmming is, without doubt, an acquired taste and has a very strong smell – it may not be everybody’s cup of tea.  Stekt strömming are fried herring and are quite different – they are eaten with pickled beetroot and boiled or fried potatoes.

Swedes drink a crazy amount of coffee (almost as much as the Fins) and even more milk (again, almost as much as the Fins). Milk is purchased in milk cartons, probably because Tetra Pak, the world’s largest maker of milk cartons, is Swedish. Milk is even drunk with meals during week days by adults and children – not really the healthiest option available. For the sweet-toothed, ostkaka (a Swedish cheesecake, quite different to the American one), smulpaj and smördegspaj  (crumb and butter dough pies, Swedish apple pies, blueberry pies and rhubarb pies are available to be served with coffee. Pannkaka (pancakes) are often served for breakfast and even for dessert with sweet jam and whipped cream.  Spettekaka (a sweetish, cylindrical,  hollow, rather dry cake found only in the south of Sweden), Våfflor (waffles) lathered with jam and cream and Klappgröt (a cold oatmeal dessert made from boiled oats mixed with the juice of  red currants, lingonberries, raspberries or blackberries etc. and blended until the consistency was light and fluffy can be expected for desserts.

THE CAKE TABLE

• Lussebulle (Saffron bun)
• Kanelbulle (Cinnamon roll)
• Kaffebröd
• Wienerbröd (Danish pastry)
• Chokladboll (chocolate ball) is a round, ball shaped, oatmeal confection that’s rich in butter and made with loads of vanilla, cocoa and lightly sweetened. It’s often rolled in dessicated coconut.
• Kringla are pretzel shaped, sweet cookies that are coated with pearl sugar.
• Punschrulle are small cylindrical pastries, coated in green marzipan with the ends dipped in chocolate. The pastries are filled with crushed cookies, butter and cocoa and they do contain alcohol in the form of punsch liqueur.  These also have another name, dammsugare (vacuum cleaners) because it seems as if the baker merely collects the days cookie crumbs and uses them as fillings 0 it wouldn’t surprise me at all but who cares, the result is delicious.
• Prinsesstårta is a large sponge cake that is layered with whipped cream and custard, iced with green marzipan and dusted with icing sugar. It’s often garnished with a pink marzipan rose – the cake was dedicated to the current king, Carl Gustaf XVI.
• Budapestbakelse is a confection made from sugar, egg whites, hazelnuts, whipped cream and chopped fresh fruit — “Budapest pastry”, basically made of sugar, egg white, hazel nuts, whipped cream and chunks of fruit like apricots or mandarins – they are decorated with chocolate and icing sugar.
• Napoleonbakelse is made from pastry dough, whipped cream, custard and jam and coated with icing sugar and red currant jelly.
• Kladdkaka are delicious sticky flat cakes that are very rich in chocolate.
• Arraksboll - these are similar to the chokladboll in appearance but they taste quite different.

“The Swedish people are concerned about the environment and animal protection. Swedish farmers actively advertise their products as free from genetic engineering, cruelty against animals, un-organic chemicals and excessive transportation (with the implication that these features are common in foreign food production and that Swedish farmers actually live up to animal protection laws). The national organic farming label, KRAV, is popular, and a fair trade label was recently established. The vegetarian and straight edge movements are widespread among Swedish youths.”

*The lifts and pumps at the Kopparberg copper mine in Falun were, during the 16th and 17th centuries 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 some of the meat was turned into Falukorv sausages.

** Waffles also have their own day on March 25.