A Swedish Christmas.

[CatPoet]

I thought I would do a topic about  Swedish  Christmas, since  they  are different to an Anglo-Saxon Christmas.  Also  after speaking to 5 Americans and 3 Brits and an Austrian lass last weekend  I realised there is much people dont know about  Swedish  holidays and traditions, so people feel free to ask, no question is too stupid.

 

I will also  post pictures of my  progress on my  cooking and baking and on the 24:th  I will show the  whole  Christmas spread.

 

So what is the different. well we still use the Norse word  Jul  ( Yule)  which has nothing to do with Christ  and  when I was little  Santa wasn't  red,  he was a bearded little grey man with a red  pointy hat.  Yes he was the  gnome who takes cares of the house  and this   tradition  I will keep. How ever since I live  in an apartment  I wont  give the poor bloke his payment for the year service, which is a bowl of steamy porridge.  Yeah talk about minimum wages. 

 

And also we celebrate at the 24 and not the 25  and  Christmas ends  13 January.  we have one celebration before Christmas  which is  Lucia  13 of Dec which is an important part of Christmas for us.

 

I know you are dying to know the menu for Christmas so here it comes.

 

Mustard coated ham

Meatballs

Pork Brawn

Prins korv ( like a small cocktail sausage)

Ribs

Liver pate

Broth

3x cold cut sausage

pork sausage for boiling

3x  cheese

mustard herring

3x bread

3x mustard

Red coleslaw

beetroot salad

Vegetable pate

 

Traditional  Christmas drink  julmust

 

Candy

Gingerbread

Saffron rolls.

 

 

Time for pictures! 

 

I made liver paté  last night.

 

 

I missed the eggs, otherwise  everything is here.   Lard,  lamb lever, spices, sardines, cream and flour.

 

 

Now  liver and lard is cooked and everything is  just  waiting to  be mixed.

 

 

Now it is mixed, strained twice and  waiting for baking with no water bath.     And I then fell  a sleep when it was in the oven, hubby took it out and then   didnt take any picture  and put them in the freezer.   You will get to see it at Christmas.   

[haresfur]

What, no lutefisk? 

 

I spent Christmas in Sweden when I was 7 years old and it was a magical time.  I was too young to remember much about the food, though.  Maybe we had reindeer. So I'm very excited to see this. Maybe if you give the Swedish words for things it will spark my memory.

 

That reminds me I need to get my julbock out. 

[Lisa Shock]

I would be interested in your recipe for red coleslaw. I really like most slaws and like trying new types.

[CatPoet]

My julbock has been eaten by mice, so he met a fiery death.  

Yes, NO lutfisk  ( Swedish doesn't have the e as  Norwegians do), it has always been served on boxing day in my family and in the area my family comes from.  How ever  I refuse to eat it, my daughter's  tummy cant handle it and my husband asked to be  put down  after eating a little,  so no lutfisk for us.   We might get smoked salmon, it depends on  which fish cart is in the day before Christmas, one does this amazing  warm smoked salmon and the other one does a kind that taste like wet wood.

 

My parents will have reindeer for Christmas but they live in the north so it easy to get hold of, I think dad said they would have smoked heart and reindeer sausage at their table.

 

The red coleslaw is simple,  just slice  half a head of  red cabbage  thinly , add  sour cream and a little mustard, salt and pepper, pour in a bowl and serve.  Yes it turns purple and perfect to balance all the  heaviness of the meats. 

 

Normally  people have  braised red cabbage or Brunkål, a  treacle boiled  white cabbage ( or is that green in English)  and some have stewed kale or kale salad., how ever  none of us like the braised or boiled cabbage and well kale is out due to my brothers heart meds.

 Janssons frestelse,  (Jansons temptation), it potato stick baked with cream and European  anchovy  is also a common dish on the Christmas table, yet again this doesnt work with my daughter's tummy.   Thank God she can have  fish in liver pate.

 

Sweden has a bit of confusing thing, I am never sure if I am using sardines  or anchovy according to English dictionary and it doesn't help if you turn the  tin, if it has English it either or.

 

Yes  even Brussels sprouts are out this year due to the heart meds, so very little green stuff on our table.

[suzilightning]

Saffron buns for St.Lucia's?

Didn't recognize brawn but it's what my mother-in-law called souse.

Looking forward to this indeed!

[CatPoet]

The souse has  vinegar in it while brawn is just really good  broth that becomes jelly with meat in it.  My husband calls it  Pig Jell-O.

 

Of course there will be saffron buns for Lucia,  traditional   cats and also my favourite  with almond paste and lots of gingerbreads .

[Smithy]

The souse has  vinegar in it while brawn is just really good  broth that becomes jelly with meat in it.  My husband calls it  Pig Jell-O.

 

Of course there will be saffron buns for Lucia,  traditional   cats and also my favourite  with almond paste and lots of gingerbreads .

 

I'm glad the 'brawn' question has been answered before I asked it.  Next question: "traditional cats"?

[suzilightning]

The souse has  vinegar in it while brawn is just really good  broth that becomes jelly with meat in it.  My husband calls it  Pig Jell-O.

 

Of course there will be saffron buns for Lucia,  traditional   cats and also my favourite  with almond paste and lots of gingerbreads .

[GlorifiedRice]

What about dillled crayfish?

[CatPoet]

Suz:  Well that is was   my cookery lexicon and  the net says is the main difference between souse and brawn. And it is the meat  that is marinated in vinegar before cooking , that is what my German friend says and he is a chef, so I guess he  knows.

 

Smithy: The  saffron buns are  S shaped with  two  small raisin push in , into the curls and these are called Lucia cats, Lussekatter.

 

Gloria: that is for August and crayfish festival, not for Christmas.

Edited December 5, 2014 by CatPoet (log)

[CatPoet]

Today's stars  are :

 

 

Ground pork/ beef it is a mix of 20% pork and 80 % beef.  Rinsed potatoes, fried caramelized onion puréed with cream,  egg, cream, allspice, black pepper and salt.

So what I am I making?

 

 

A nice soft batter or what do you call  meat goo?  

 

 

Rolling rolling rolling , such a mind numbing chore  but here they are  my Christmas  meatballs  ( julköttbullar).

This is where my back,  right leg and hip gave up and I had to call for my husband to fry them.

 

 

 

But before  I gave up,  I grabbed my trusty  washable measuring tape and laid it inch side up.   The first meatball is buffet size, second  Christmas and the last dinner.

We don't do them big at all.   Why are my cutting boards odd colour?  Well black food dye and saffron leaves its mark, but  after Christmas I am getting new ones.

 

 

Look what my hubby did, he fried them all and now they are cooling down and then going in the  freezer  waiting for Christmas dinner.

 

Now I have nothing I can  cook or bake until   next week when there will be  gingerbread and saffron buns and maybe some pork sausage.

[Smithy]

I agree that rolling meatballs is mind-numbing and time-consuming! The last time I did it was for my father-in-law (rest his soul) and I realized what a labor of love it was.

Thanks for the explanation about cats. I look forward to seeing more!

[CatPoet]

Smithy;  I am making half the amount I used to make for Christmas, I dont have that many to feed anymore.  I used to  listen  to music but today it wasn't possible.  Oh and I have worked  rolling meatballs,   one day we did 1000, yeah that was mind numbing and hard for the hands .

 

Cats will be made on Friday and  gingerbread dough will be made on   Wednesday and  baked on Thursday.

 

I need to plan what I do and when I do it so I have  the energy for it, I have a muscle desease and it isnt my friend some days  but the only hard part left to do is the sausage.  When it comes to the gingerbread, well the kid and friends do the funny shapes and I have a cookie roller so I just make masses of hearts, stars and flowers.

Edited December 5, 2014 by CatPoet (log)

[GlorifiedRice]

CatPoet? I just remember seeing the Crayfish kit at IKEA once a year...

 

Anyway is there a Swedish Meatball that has crushed gingersnaps in it or not?

[CatPoet]

Gloria:  Every family has their own idea what  Christmas meatballs are,  some have ginger in them, some have anchovy and  I even  tasted with orange zest . We have all that little extra that makes them special.

 

I never met  with crushed gingerbreads  but I have seen with ginger bread spice.

[CatPoet]

Crayfish festival is in August, some might have crayfish at  New year but most eat them in August, while wearing silly hats and getting drunk.

[SylviaLovegren]

Do Swedes still eat potato sausage?  A large boiling sausage made with pork, beef and ground potato.   My family, who left Sweden in the 1880s, always had it but when I talked to modern Swedes at the Swedish festival here in Toronto, none of them had heard of it. 

[CatPoet]

Sylvia:  that is similar to  the pork sausage I make, we call that type with beef and  pork  for  Köttkorv  ( meat sausage)  and the type I make has only pork  and yes it still eaten.   So I guess because the name has changed people don't recognize it  and also people tend to buy it not make it, so they don't know what goes into it.

 

Oh I also found out that it can be Värmlandskorv   because the old name for that is potatis körv, which would be  potato sausage and that is still eaten.  I been asked to make 5 meters of that but I turned it down, my body wouldn't able to handle that and pork sausage.

Edited December 6, 2014 by CatPoet (log)

[SylviaLovegren]

Sylvia:  that is similar to  the pork sausage I make, we call that type with beef and  pork  for  Köttkorv  ( meat sausage)  and the type I make has only pork  and yes it still eaten.   So I guess because the name has changed people don't recognize it  and also people tend to buy it not make it, so they don't know what goes into it.

 

Oh I also found out that it can be Värmlandskorv   because the old name for that is potatis körv, which would be  potato sausage and that is still eaten.  I been asked to make 5 meters of that but I turned it down, my body wouldn't able to handle that and pork sausage.

 

Thank you!  And my family came from Varmland so that really makes sense. 

[LindaK]

I'm enjoying your menu planning. My typical American mongrel heritage includes a Swedish great-grandmother, grandmother, and assorted relations, so Sweden has always been represented on our family holiday table.

 

Christmas Eve is the main event, and would not be the same without meatballs (flavored much like yours) and herring. Sometimes there's a stuffed cabbage dish that we consider Swedish, though I know nearly every food culture has its own variation. It's cooked in a brown mushroom gravy and always served with lingonberry preserves.  When my paternal grandparents were still with us, there was always an argument about whether their Polish version, cooked in a light tomato sauce, was better (and never mind what the Greek relatives thought...).

 

The star of Christmas morning is my mother's Swedish coffee bread, which is a braided loaf, the dough scented with cardamom and filled with apples.  I really need to learn how to make it, it isn't fancy but it wouldn't be Christmas without it.  

 

Another Swedish item that often pops up during the Christmas season is what we call "visitor cake" which is a light almond cake baked in a half-round loaf pan. I got one as a gift a few years ago and have made it a few times, simple but good.

 

Finally, a lot of Swedish tableware makes an annual appearance during Christmas, especially festive linen table runners decorated with horses, birds, and flowers, Candles are big too. Every year I pull out my little wooden tree fitted to hold slim candles and it takes pride of place on my sideboard.

 

 

 

 

[CatPoet]

The stuffed cabbage rolls here are called  Kåldolmar  and yes we got them from the Turks, we had a king way way back who loved Turkey so much he imported Turks here and yes that is also where we got the meatballs.  Kåldolmar are baked in the oven and then served with brown gravy OR butter  depending of part of Sweden, the only thing we do agree on is the lingon jam / preserve.

 

Swedish coffee bread, well I tell you a secret,  we have one base dough for most  sweet  coffee breads we make, yes it contains  cardamom and butter, milk, sugar and flour  and we use it for a lot of stuff  for example   toffee rolls, cinnamon rolls,  Major wreath, Butter kaka ( grumpycake), blueberry rolls,   Priest bread,  Pomona braid or Idun braid or apple braid ( they are all the same thing and has apples in it) , sunshine rolls, vanilla  and Oden rolls..   There is a few more. 

 

My wooden tree is up at my parents home so  I have  to settle for the  star of Bethlehem in my window instead. shining brightly until Christmas is over, well I turn it on at night and my husband has made my kitchen into a red light district, so many red lights in a tiny kitchen, he says it is warning lights..

[LindaK]

The stuffed cabbage rolls here are called  Kåldolmar  and yes we got them from the Turks, we had a king way way back who loved Turkey so much he imported Turks here and yes that is also where we got the meatballs.  Kåldolmar are baked in the oven and then served with brown gravy OR butter  depending of part of Sweden, the only thing we do agree on is the lingon jam / preserve.

Edited December 7, 2014 by LindaK (log)

[haresfur]

Wow. CalPoet, with this information you have solved a family mystery that has kept us guessing and laughing for decades. I had to read it a few times before I understood. Hopefully I can explain simply.

 

Since my grandmother passed 25 yrs ago, no one in my family has spoken/understood Swedish.  Some words and a few phrases, perhaps, but my parents grew up when speaking only English at home was strictly enforced.  My mother learned a few words and phrases of Swedish, but that was all.

 

So we've always been puzzled as to why the family name for mom's Swedish stuffed cabbage was "cold dolma."  On the Greek side of the family, "dolma" was any stuffed leaves (usually grape leaves) so we thought that was the root. But "cold"?  Whenever my mom brought the hot platter of stuffed cabbage to the table, we'd wonder why we called them "cold."  Now, I see that a bastardized pronunciation of Kåldolmar = cold dolma.  I'm sure that she heard the correct pronunciation growing up, and it morphed into "cold dolma" so that's what we still call it. But no one could explain why.

 

My family will enjoy this story on Christmas Eve!

 

 

edited to finish post.

 

The "å" sound is like an English hard "o".

[CatPoet]

Yes Haresfur is right about the sound of the å !  Kåldolmar  means cabbage dolmas, one  cabbage dolma is a  Kåldolme.  Do you have meat and rice in them?

[CatPoet]

So I made the  gingerbread dough today, we are going to bake it on Thursday. It needs to mature, a minimum of  10 hours, but 2 days makes it even better.

 

So lets start with pepparkakorna   , flour,  golden syrup, clove, ginger, cinnamon  brown sugar, bicarbonate soda, cream and in the bowl some butter.

 

 

Creaming butter, syrup and brown sugar.

 

 

Changing to dough hooks and adding flour.

 

 

A bag of slightly tacky dough going in to the fridge for maturing.  Important stuff, otherwise the spice flavour will be harsh but at the same time a bit dull and the clove will take over.

 

 

 

Bonus!  I made  tablets from a recipe pre  condensed milk, so it is just butter, milk, sugar  ( a lot of it), whisky and  golden syrup.