Swedish Smörgåsbord

A Scandanavian meal served buffet-style with multiple dishes of various foods at the table, a smörgåsbord is part of my childhood. (My mother had a habit of proclaiming dinner a "Smörgåsbord!" every time she served a ton of leftovers to clean out all the random tupperware in the fridge.) Swedish meatballs were a Christmastime tradition for us, honoring her Swedish heritage, and for me the rich smell of that buttermilk-soaked meat evokes warm memories. My first trip to Sweden confirmed that this association with meat/dairy and Sweden was well founded, especially the dairy. I'll never forget my amazement at my first Swedish breakfast: bread and cheese so creamy it melted on your tongue, a milky Nordic version of yogurt called filmjölk, preferably strawberry flavored, the strongest coffee imaginable to me (at the time) with heavy cream, and then of course they always asked if you wanted milk with your meal. Don't get me started on the Swedish chocolate. Oh, bliss.

Of course traditional Swedish food includes an overuse of pork (and cabbages, I'm sorry) and the stereotypical reindeer meat and ligonberry jam, which is surprisingly tart and pungent, and my all-time favorite Swedish fish. Yuletide in Sweden is celebrated with gingerbread and glogg, spiced mulled wine, that warms the belly right down to the toes.

Don't get me wrong, seafood is prevalent as well. The surge in recent years in the popularity of sushi in Sweden, and all over Scandanavia now, reflects the benefits of globalization, bringing a formerly unknown Japanese cuisine to a fish-laden region. I saw double if not triple the number of sushi restaurants in Stockholm over the decade between the first and most recent times I visited. Fish is a part of the traditional Swedish cuisine as well; for example, the smörgåsbord spread was much lighter at Midsommar festival to celebrate the longest day of the year - sunlight at 11:30 at night, it's wild - and heavy on the wine, not the stomach. The fare was mostly fresh fish and grilled vegetables, taking advantage of the excellent salmon and cod of the North Sea waters. No Midsommar meal is complete without herring and fresh strawberries with cream.

Yet hands down the best meal I ever had in Sweden was the hearty dinner shown above, a Swedish version of beef bourguignon that my friend Madde made at home in Stockholm one even. It's an example of Swedish husmanskost, which denotes the classical every-day Swedish dishes using local ingredients. A köttbullar inspired by biff stroganoff, this meal exemplifies my roommate Marc's edict that "the worst-looking foods are the best tasting." Contemplate chocolate mousse for a moment. Yes, the köttbullar may look like caca (or "skit" as they say in Sweden,) but it's absolutely delicious.