Sverige on my Mind

I am back up in Sverige again everybody. Going on three weeks now, and with that, perhaps at least 5 kilos?

Over these past couple of weeks I have made a drastic change in my eating habits, and I can’t help but assume that it has something to do with my change in countries.

In France I have been living off of fresh veggies from the market, rice and lentils. Oh and red wine, of course (I know that France has a lot of “dangerous” foods to offer as well, but I have been very proud of myself for abstaining from my hankerings for chocolate and baguettes).

Since arriving in Sweden, however, it has been an overload of meat, potatoes, dairy products galore, and oh yeah, why not throw some carbs in there too!

I’m not quite sure what it is, but every time I arrive in Sweden I am hungry, and with that, more than ready to satisfy my urge to eat.

That is now. Three years after my first trip to Sweden.

To be honest, from the start I wasn’t too thrilled with Swedish cuisine.

Filmjölk? What the heck is that? Expired yogurt?? And hushållsost? How can anything called “household cheese” be good?

Well you will all be very proud to know that Filmjölk is now a part of my breakfast here every morning (though I still can’t completely drown my cereals in it as the boyfriend does. I still need equal parts filmjölk and cereals to subdue the taste).  And I am learning how to work my way around hushållsost.

There are still some things though that I am taking more time to warm up to.

Sill is a whole other story. Now, I am a big fan of sushi, so this slimy fish thing wasn’t something totally foreign to me, but you better believe I had to pile that on profuse amounts of knäckebröd in order to get it down. Recently I dined at Kometen in Göteborg, and while the Wallenbergare was of the upmost tenderness and mouth-watering-ness, it took a little time, and a lot of aquavit, for me to wash down the S.O.S entre of sill. If one is not used to strong, and rather awkward tastes, or slimy textures, Swedish cuisine can definitely throw you through a loop.

Honestly, out of all the countries I have been to, Sweden has challenged me the most in the food arena.

Traditional Swedish food is an acquired taste. It is the food of the Vikings, right? It must take one tough individual to keep all that down.

As always though, with my frustrations come submission, and after that, appreciation and eventually, as far as food goes, cravings.

I now have my list of Swedish food must-haves every time I am here:

1. That korv shop near Vasaplatsen in Göteborg. Hot Dog and mashed potatoes wrapped in a warm tortilla-like bread with salad and pickles. YUM!
2. Max! Need I saw more?
3. And how about all the candy? Candy tubs are everywhere with hundreds upon hundreds of choices of gummies and sours and lollipops and chocolates (I’m still working on that salty stuff though. Salt and licorice?? Come on).
4. And the baked goods.  Not quite like the pastries the Frenchies put out, but still good, if you know what to expect. Can I say semla anyone? Now those are to die for.

Ironically the majority of my time in Sweden has been spent here in the winter (and I’m still loving it, can you believe it??), so perhaps my eating habits are linked to my instinct of hibernation? I’m a California girl, so you better believe I am freezing! And there is a snow storm outside, so what else am I supposed to do but eat and stay warm for the winter?

I love coming back to Sweden, tucking away inside and getting cozy with a yummy kanelbulle, or perhaps a little Risifrutti, if I’m trying to stay “lite.”

It usually takes my body a little time to adapt up here, however, if you tough it out, Swedish gastronomy will eventually grow on you, and I must say, the end of a Swedish meal gives the most filling feel of satisfaction. They sure know how to stuff you up here—that extra layer is an essential for winter in the North!

Anyone have any other suggestions (or dares) of Swedish cuisine I should try? What is your favorite? Or arch enemy for that matter.

Another challenge I face up her with food is cooking in general. I can never seem to find the right ingredients and my homemade mac and cheese, my lasagna and even my gourmet croque monsieurs always seem to turn out far worse than I hope them to be. Any suggestions of great places to get the goods in Sweden?

Tack everyone for reading!

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Tags: food, France, Goteborg, Sweden, swedish gastronomy, Swedish Winter

This entry was posted on Monday, March 1st, 2010 at 9:30 am and is filed under Sweden. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.