A Taste of Sweden

How to explain Swedish food? This is a difficult one. There's a lot to cover. It's a big subject.

If I ventured to sum up Swedish food, I would say it is practical, simple, low-key, and made with common ingredients. There's nothing flashy or over the top about Swedish food. It simply does the job. You need food to live and you'll get food made with everyday ingredients with a touch of flavor that will get you the energy you need.

Some people, like Bill Bryson in his book "Neither Here Nor There" are of the opinion that Swedish food is bland, but I believe he approached it from the wrong angle. It's not meant to be in-your-face spicy. It's fresh, good-quality food that isn't frilly.

There is a lot to enjoy about Swedish food. It's true that there isn't much extra kick to it if you compare it with other countries, but it is enjoyable because it is simple. It has worked for generations of people and families in Sweden. Husmanskost (home cooked everyday food) is popular because it has been around and has stood the test of time. It's not shockingly different and I think that's why people like it. It's wholesome and filling food. You know what you're getting. It's what works.

Swedes have also been quick to add and incorporate new types of food from other cultures into the mix, so when you go, you won't just find typical Swedish fare, but also food from all around the world. Take a quick stroll down a street in Gothenburg and the street will be dotted with Swedish, American, Japanese, Thai, Iranian, Italian, Mexican, and Chinese restaurants. Swedes aren't shy when it comes to trying new dishes.

Typical everyday foods include bread, cheese, seafood, meat, fruit, and veggies. It really isn't so different from everywhere else in the world.

You'll find several grocery stores in the bigger cities. They seem to be on every other block. You won't find too many supremely large supermarkets in the country, although a few do exist. Most stores are smaller shops that sell food to people in the immediate area.

There are a few unusual grocery store features, at least for Americans. One is the interlocking shopping carts that require you to insert a coin into them before you can release it from the other carts. The coin stays in the cart until you're ready to finish shopping. Once you're done, you just bring the cart back to the front, re-lock it back to the other carts in the area and you get your money back. I think this is ingenious and really wonder why American stores don't give it a try.

Another feature that throws off a lot of Americans is paying for a plastic bag and bagging up your own groceries. It's not commonly done in the US and it comes as a surprise for many who visit Sweden. It doesn't take anyone long to figure it out though.

On this most recent trip to Sweden, we spent most of our time getting food at the supermarkets. It's easier when you're on the go and much cheaper than eating out. And it makes me feel less like a tourist.

When I started the paperwork to become an exchange student in Sweden back in 1997, I had an odd recurring daydream - I wanted to walk the aisles of a Swedish supermarket.

I know, I know. It sounds strange, but there was just something so exotic, yet so normal about it. It was this paradox that made me wonder what it would be like. Would the shopping carts look the same? Would the foods be recognizable? Would I know and understand what I was looking at? Would I know how to prepare the foods I came across? Would Swedish milk be packaged like American milk? Does Coca-Cola taste the same in both countries? Would they also have beaming fluorescent lights in the ceiling? I had too many questions and I couldn't wait to have them answered.

I had my chance in August 1998. My first temporary host family was living outside of Töreboda (in between Gothenburg and Stockholm) and they took me shopping with them one day.

I was fascinated. I could have spent two hours in that store. I'm sure my host family thought I was crazy and they had good reason to think so. It was like walking into Willy Wonka's factory - familiar, yet new and strange. It was a place I understood, yet it was somehow so utterly foreign at the same time.

There was the cart that wouldn't unlock until you put money in it AND held your coin hostage until you brought it back to the front. Cheese in a toothpaste tube. Beans in a clear, plastic round roll. Milk in a small square paper box you cut open with scissors. Huge chunks of cheese with names I couldn't pronounce. Coca-Cola Light in long slender plastic bottles. A pink tube labeled "Amerikansk Dressing". And Cheeze Doodles, "the Cheezier Snack". This is also where I first found out how cheap and abundant Swedish candy really is. My life has never been the same.

I understood enough to get the general idea, yet not enough to fully access this new world of food. My host family had to help me understand what I was seeing during the trip and I must have asked them several questions they considered silly. I was slightly disappointed I didn't have more time to look around on that first trip but I knew I would have many chances to traverse the supermarket aisle in Sweden. Plus I found a copy of Flowers for sale on the front counter. That wasn't part of my original daydream, but I was quite ok with it. I bought that copy and took it home. It was my first purchase in a Swedish supermarket. Ironic.

(I would find myself back at that same supermarket checkout line eleven years later. I stood there in July 2009 reading the newspaper headlines as I waited to checkout. One headline was about Michael Jackson and the other was about Ace of Base. Weird, huh?)

This slideshow is from a grocery store in Gothenburg. I'm pretty sure most of you have never daydreamed about being in a Swedish supermarket, but if you're curious about what it looks like, take a peek:

If you go to Sweden, you'll find you have to ask questions about the food. You might even have to watch other people eat before you figure out how you're supposed to approach a certain type of food. I'll give you one example from my exchange student days. My host family decided to cook spaghetti on one of the first nights. I thought it was simple. I could deal with that. The spaghetti didn't have any sauce on it. "Interesting", I thought, "maybe they add it later". Then I saw someone pick up a bottle of ketchup. And they... put it on the spaghetti. My eyes must have come unglued from my head as I was witnessing this because they stopped their ketchup mid-squeeze and asked me if we do the same in America. "Well, uh, no, we don't." I decided to try it myself and found out it actually tasted good. Now I eat my spaghetti that way and I get the same reaction when I find myself in the company of someone who has never seen me do it before. "Ketchup?? Seriously?!?", they ask. "Ketchup. Seriously.", I answer.

I tried a lot of Swedish food while I lived there and the vast majority was very, very good. I really enjoyed trying and eating new foods. I even picked up a love for potatoes from living there. They're my fave veggie. I also eat a lot more fruit and seafood now. And I always have cravings for Swedish food. For me, IKEA is a grocery store, not a furniture store. The only craving I haven't been able to satisfy for many years is my need for a semla. Ok, If I had my choice, I'd take semlor. That's the plural form. Many, many semlor.

The taste of semlor are little difficult to explain but they are awesome. It's a pastry bread with a touch of cardamom, a hollowed out center filled with almond paste and bread crumbs, all topped off with whipped cream and powdered sugar. It is heavenly and it's usually only available just before Easter, during the Lenten season. Like I said, it's heavenly.

I've only been to Sweden once during that time period and that was in 1999. I was able to track one down out of season in 2004, which means I haven't been able to get one for six years now. Six long years.

I've tried making them myself but it never works out right. It just isn't the same. If you're in Sweden during that time and you overnight me one in the mail, I will name my first child after you. It's just that good. Try one!

Semlor: It doesn't get any better than this.

I have always enjoyed trying new food and new dishes, because frankly, I have a stomach of steel. I can eat anything. There are only two exceptions to this rule. Number one: Kalles Kaviar. What on God's green earth IS this stuff? Ah, where do I start? It's pungent. It's pink. It's putrid. Stay away. Far, faaaar away.

And number two, which I discussed with Jenny and she must've found it humorous because she referenced it in the hello from Karlstad video: Lakrits. The salty variety. I don't know any Swede who doesn't eat this stuff. They fawn over it. They croon about it. Probably write poetry about it. I'm surprised it's not mentioned in the Swedish national anthem.

But for someone who hasn't grown up with the taste, it's nearly impossible to consume. How do I explain the taste? Ah, I know. Take a pair of bowling shoes and sweat in them every day for about a year. Once summer arrives, set those shoes out in your backyard. Let them bake in the heat. Afterwards, cut up the shoes and place them on the BBQ grill. Once they are thoroughly cooked on each side, slice each shoe up into several small pieces and serve with an overdose of salt. It's just that vile, my friends.

The taste is so utterly repulsive, I have inflicted it on several Americans with, I have to admit, a slightly devious squeal of glee. I always preface it with, "This is the worst candy you will ever taste! Taste it!" and guess what? They take a piece! Every single time.

That's when the show starts. I watch as they pop a piece in their mouth, do a little shake-shake dance until their eyes water, and bolt out of the room to find a trash bin to get rid of the offending piece of leather (uh, candy). Then it's customary that they search out the biggest drink they can find to get the chemical taste out of their mouth.

If you ever go to Sweden, I strongly recommend you try it. And Jenny does too. She said it. On the video. And you know, she always gives good advice.

I hope you've enjoyed this slightly off-kilter look at Swedish food. If you go, be sure to try everything you find. Yes, even the salty licorice and the Kalles Kaviar. Who knows? Maybe you'll like it. You never know until you try.

A sign hanging up near the spice rack at the hostel. A little self-deprecating humor from the Swedes.

Swedish food may not be spicy, but if you get into a conversation about Swedish food, you can always be sure the conversation will be a spicy one!

Happy eats.