Sweden tourist information

Swedish cuisine tends to be hearty, practical and sustaining. There are large regional variations in the cuisine in Sweden, but most dishes are traditionally simple. In the north, some variations, including reindeer, and other game dishes, have their roots in the Sami people while in the south, historically the supply of fresh vegetables has been better and the traditions are in large parts very similar to many other European cuisines.

Swedes have traditionally been very open to foreign influences, ranging from French cuisine during the 17th and 18th century, to the sushi and cafe latte of today. Many Swedish restaurateurs mix traditional husmanskost with a modern, gourmet approach. On the fast food side, the pizza has been an integral part of swedish culture since the 1960s. Twenty years later, the same could be said about kebab and falafel, as many small restaurants specialise in such dishes.

Sweden's long winters explain the lack of fresh vegetables in many traditional recipes. Plants that would sustain the population through long winters became the cornerstones: various turnips in older times such as the native kalrot (in British English, aptly named "swede"), gradually supplanted by the potato in the 18th century. Before the influences of French cuisine during the 17th and 18th century, as well as German food traditions, both before and after that period, a lack of spices made the food rather plain, although a number of local herbs and plants have been used since ancient times.

The importance of fish has governed Swedish population and trade patterns far back in history. 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, preserved as sauerkraut, or lingonberry jam was used as a source of vitamin C during the winter. Lingonberry jam, still a favourite, also added some freshness to the often rather heavy food.

The older tradition, still common among blue collar workers, consists of breakfast in the early morning (morgonmal), a light lunch before noon (called frukost earlier, today named lunch), and a heavy dinner (middag) at around five. Since the early sixties, most 9 to 5 workers eat breakfast (frukost or morgonmal) when they wake up, a lunch around noon, and a dinner (middag) around six or seven in the evening. It is also common to have a snack, often a sandwich or fruit, in between meals (mellanmal). In all schools including high school, a 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.

Breakfasts
Breakfast usually consists of open sandwiches, possibly crisp bread (knackebrod). The sandwich is most often buttered, with toppings such as hard cheese, cold cuts, caviar, messmor (a spread made from butter and whey), ham (skinka), vegetables (gronsaker) like tomatoes (tomat) or cucumber (gurka). Swedes somtimes have sweet toppings on their breads, such as jam (like the French and Americans), or chocolate (like the Danes), although many older Swedes chose not to use these sweet toppings. 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. "Barkis" or "bergis" is a localised version of challah usually made without eggs and at first only available in Stockholm and Goteborg where Jews first settled but now available elsewhere.

Filmjolk (fermented milk), or sometimes yogurt, is also traditional breakfast food, usually served in a bowl with cereals such as corn flakes, muesli, or knackebrod, and sometimes with sugar, fruit, and/or jam. A third food that is sometimes eaten at breakfast is porridge (grot), often made of rolled oats or rice, and eaten with milk and jam 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.

Dishes
In August, Swedes traditionally eat boiled crayfish at feasts known as kraftskivor. 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.

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 artsoppa. It dates back to the old tradition of peas being associated with Thor. This is a simple meal, basically consisting of yellow peas, a little onion and often pieces of pork. It is often served with a little mustard and followed by thin pancakes (see Pannkakor). The Swedish Army still serve their conscripts pea soup and pancakes every Thursday.

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.

• Artsoppa - Pea soup.
• Blodpudding - Black pudding.
• Falukorv - Sausage originating from Falun. 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.
• Fiskbullar.
• Gravad lax - Salmon, salted, and cured.
• Inkokt lax.
• Isterband - Sausage made of coarsely ground pork, barley and potatoes.
• Janssons frestelse (Jansson's temptation) - Grated potatoes, onion, anchovy and cream - the anchovy here is not the genuine anchovy, but the sprat - quite a different species and is also spiced.
• Julbord - Christmas smorgasbord (smorgasbord).
• Julskinka - Christmas ham.
• Kaviar - Swedish caviar comes in tubes and is typically made from cod roe.
• Kalops.
• Kaldolmar - Cabbage rolls.
• Kottbullar - Swedish meatballs.
• Kottsoppa - A rustic beef and root vegetable soup.
• Kroppkakor - Boiled potato-dumplings, filled with pork.
• Lutfisk - Stockfish.
• Palt - Potato-dumplings with a filling of pork.
• Pannkakor and Plattar - Pancakes.
• Inlagd sill - Pickled herring.
• Polsa - Hash.
• Raggmunk - Potato pancakes.
• Rotmos med flask.
• Stekt flask och bruna bonor - Pork and brown beans.
• Pyttipanna - Chopped and fried meat, onions, and pre-boiled potatoes.
• Smorgasbord.
• Smorgastarta - Sandwich cake.
• Surstromming - 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 many seas.
• Vafflor (Waffles) - Often served with jam with ice cream or whipped cream. Waffles also have their own day on March 25.

Drinks
Sweden is one of the heaviest coffee drinking countries in the world, second only to Finland. Milk consumption in Sweden is the highest of any country in the world. Milk is bought in milk cartons, and it is no coincidence that Tetra Pak, the world's largest maker of milk cartons, is Swedish. Milk is considered the standard drink to have with meals during weekdays in most families, for both children and adults.

Stronger beverages are mainly of two kinds: The Akvavit, also called Aqua vitae, Scandinavian vodka or schnapps (snaps). A second popular drink is Absolut Vodka, one of the world's best known liquor brands. Both have around 40% alcohol. The production of hard liquor has a tradition dating back to the 18th century and was at a high in the 1840s. Since the 1880s, the governmental Systembolaget has a monopoly on selling spirits with more than 3.5% alcohol, limiting the access. Hembrant (moonshine) has been made in rural Sweden, but it has lessened in later years due to more liberal rules for the import of alcohol as well as increased smuggling.