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Cuisine

 

Have you ever heard about köttbullar, raggmunk, janssons frestelse, strömminglåda? No? Not to worry, you’re no exception. A Swede living in Ljubljana or in New York becomes homesick at the sound of these words, he immediately starts yearning to go back to his family and friends, to a simply decorated table and to his native language.

 

These, still today most popular traditional dishes, speak about the times of general poverty and scarcity, about the life of the predominantly peasant population which made a living on what their land, forests, lakes and the sea were giving them. Simple and tasty. The nation subsisted on potatoes, fish, mealy concoctions, and on festive occasions also on meat.

 

In Sweden, as in all Nordic countries, the culinary tradition is based on storing agricultural produce and dishes. The resourceful natives could survive short summers and long dark winters by preserving, baking, smoking and cooking dishes with a long period of usage. Freshly prepared dishes, cooked and grilled fish, fresh vegetables, milk and forest fruit were taken by people as god’s gift to them and a special treat in their lives. Out of all this tradition arose the classical Swedish cooking, filled with culinary surprises, excellent creativity, exquisite tastes and a subtle Nordic serving. The combination of simpleness and delicacy of taste, as if an echo of Scandinavian forests, lakes and long sea shores, are appreciated in many Western cultures that are open to new culinary experience. 

 

Let’s have a look at a few dishes from the treasury of the Swedish cuisine:

 

  • Köttbullar – meat balls with a brown sauce, cooked potatoes and cranberries;

  • Raggmunk – a potato omelette with rosted pork and cranberries;

  • Kroppkakor – potato dumplings, filled with pork and onions and served with cranberries;

  • Biff a´la Lindström – a hamburger with capers and potatoes;

  • Silltalrik – a plate with pickled herring, cooked potatoes and hard bread;

  • Gravad lax – marinated salmon with sweet mustard and potatoes;

  • Janssons frestelse – sliced potatoes with onions and cream, baked in the oven;

  • Kall inkokt lax - cooked salmon with young potatoes with dill and pickled cucumbers.

 

Well, bon appetit!

Kulinarika

 

Ste že slišali: köttbullar, raggmunk, janssons frestelse, strömminglåda? Ne? Nič čudnega, niste nobena izjema! Šved v Ljubljani ali v New Yorku pa ob teh nerazumljivih besedah dobi domotožje, hoče domov k družini in prijateljem, k preprosto pogrnjeni mizi in svojemu domačemu jeziku.

 

Te, še vedno najljubše tradicionalne jedi, govorijo o časih splošne revščine in pomanjkanja, o življenju večinskega kmečkega prebivalstva, ki se je preživljalo od tega, kar je dala njihova zemlja, gozdovi, jezera in morje. Preprosto in okusno. Narod se je hranil s krompirjem, ribami, močnatimi pripravki, ob posebnih praznikih tudi z mesom.

 

V nordijskih deželah je kulinarična tradicija, tako tudi na Švedskem, shranjevanje pridelkov in jedi. Kratko poletje in dolgo temno zimo so iznajdljivi ljudje prebijali tako, da so vlagali, pekli, dimili in kuhali jedi z dolgim rokom uporabe. Sveže pripravljene jedi, kuhane in pečene ribe, svežo zelenjavo, mleko in gozdne sadeže so ljudje razumeli kot božji dar in poslastico v življenju. Iz tega se je rodila švedska tradicionalna kuhinja, polna kulinaričnih presenečenj, odlične kreativnosti, okusov in subtilne nordijske postrežbe. Povezavo preprostosti in delikatesnih okusov, kot nekakšen odmev skandinavskih gozdov, jezer in dolgih morskih obal cenijo v mnogih zahodnih kulturah odprtih za nove kulinarične izkušnje.

 

Poglejmo le nekaj jedi iz zakladnice švedske kuhinje:

 

  • Köttbullar - mesne kroglice z rjavo omako, kuhanim krompirjem in brusnicami.

  • Raggmunk - krompirjeva omleta s pečeno svinjino in brusnicami.

  • Kroppkakor - krompirjevi cmoki, polnjeni s svinjino in čebulo in postreženi z brusnicami.

  • Biff a´la Lindström - hamburger s kaprami in krompirjem.

  • Silltalrik - krožnik z vloženim slaniki, kuhanim krompirjem in trdim kruhom.

  • Gravad lax - mariniran losos s sladko gorčico in krompirjem.

  • Janssons frestelse - narezan krompir s čebulo in smetano, pečen v pečici.

  • Kall inkokt lax: - kuhan losos z mladim krompirjem v kopru in vloženimi kumarami.

 

Pa dober tek!

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