Tour of Europe: Sweden's meal (updated)

Our first meal from Europe is from Sweden.  Having a partial Norwegian ancestry, I was interested to learn that Sweden’s foods are quite similar to the foods from Norway that I have heard about my whole life.   Our family is interested in trying new foods and combinations of flavors that we aren’t used to … on the other hand, we agree that some foods are better left to locals.  An example for Sweden would be lutfisk (lutefisk in Norway,) which is white fish that has been soaked alternately in cold water and lye for several days, rendering the proteins into a gelatinous texture.  I’ve read that is has a rather distinct aroma that is unappealing to those who have never tried it.  So for our culinary adventure through the countries of Europe, we are limiting ourselves to cuts and preparations of meat and seafood that we are more used to.  This means that we won’t be sampling haggis or kidney pie, and so forth. 

 

Many traditional Swedish dishes employ simple, contrasting flavors, such as the traditional dish of meatballs and brown gravy and boiled potatoes with tart, pungent lingonberry jam.  Lingonberry jam may be the most traditional and typical Swedish way to add freshness to sometimes rather heavy food, such as steaks and stews.  A lack of distinct spices makes everyday food rather bland by today's standards.  This tradition is still present in today’s Swedish dishes, which are still rather sparingly spiced. 

 

Famous preparations include pancakes; lutfisk; and the smörgåsbord, or lavish buffet. Akvavit is a popular alcoholic distilled beverage, and the drinking of snaps (flavored liqueurs) is of cultural importance. The traditional flat and dry crispbread has developed into several contemporary variants.

 

Allemansrätten – the right of public access – gives everyone the right to enjoy Sweden’s outdoors. It allows the public to roam freely, even on private land, to camp overnight and to pick mushrooms and berries. The right also brings responsibilities – to treat flora and fauna and other people’s property with care. It can be summed up in the phrase ‘don’t disturb, don’t destroy.’

 

Menu: 

Breakfast: yogurt topped with granola and berries, served with Kanelbullar (cinnamon buns)

Appetizer:  smörgås (open faced sandwiches):   crispbread spread with butter and topped with thinly sliced cucumber and tomatoes, sprinkled with parsley
Main dish:  Kottbullar (Swedish Meatballs) with cream gravy, served with boiled potatoes topped with sour cream and chives, with lingonberry jam on the side.
Dessert:  Pepparkakor (very thin ginger snap cookies) -- sold at World Market in the Nyaker’s brand and at Wal-Mart in the Anna’s brand and Swedish Fish candies!

Swedish yummies!

 

Outcome:   We really liked the smörgås.  The crisp bread (Wasa brand) was sturdier than a cracker, but not as heavy as bread.  I think I’ll keep those around -- I think any kind of hot or cold dip would be good with the crispbread.  The meatballs came out very dry and bland.  I’m not sure if that’s the way they are supposed to be, but remembering the line from the introduction above, it does mention:  “A lack of distinct spices makes everyday food rather bland by today's standards.”  I think the star of the meal was the lingonberry jam, which proved to brighten up every bite.   It was even good with the plain boiled potatoes!  The tartness of the berries really did the trick.

 

The following morning we had the yogurt topped with granola and berries -- I drizzled a little honey over mine as well.  We baked up some refrigerated cinnamon buns (shortcuts are sometimes a necessity, especially when you’ve got to get a young lady to a soccer game!)

 

Next up:  Bill’s turn!  He chose Latvia!

Kottbullar and smörgås from Sweden

 

Kottbullar = Swedish meatballs

 

Ingredients

•  1½ lb. each of ground beef and ground pork
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 2 Tbsp. dried onion
• 3 potatoes
• 3⁄4 cup plain breadcrumbs
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 dash allspice

 Cream Sauce

•  1 1⁄2 cups half-and-half
• 3 cups low sodium beef broth
• 3⁄4 tsp. soy sauce
• 3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp. butter
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

 

For Meatballs:

1.  Boil, then cool and mash the potatoes.
2. Mix all the ingredients until combined in a large bowl -- best method is with your hands .
3. Season with salt, white pepper and allspice to taste
4. Shape the mixture into relatively large, round balls and transfer to a cookie sheet or roasting pan.
5. Bake at 350 F for 20-25 minutes until browned. 

   

   Just before baking
   
   

For Cream Sauce:

1.  Melt butter in pan and add flour, whisk till golden brown.
2. Add beef stock and cream until desired thickness.
3. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Serve the meatballs with the sauce, freshly boiled potatoes topped with sour cream, butter, and chives, and lingonberry jam.

 

Makes about 45-50 meatballs, depending on size.

 

Note:  I got 53 out of this batch, following the above amounts. 

Smörgås ingredients with lingonberries

Kannelbullar for breakfast