Swedish Recipes??!
Answers: Does anybody know of any recipes that are traditional in Sweden on Easter day?? And if anybody has some facts about what happens on Easter day in Sweden, that would be very helpful!! (I'm doing a report on it.)
Swedish easter.
On the Thursday (sk?rtorsdag) kids (and some adults) dress up as "p?skk?rringar" - easter witches. (You could say that it's the Swedish Halloween, but less scary.) They go from house to house and get candy, fruit and money. Unfortunately the tradition is dying, probably because the American Halloween tradition has started to come to Sweden for the last couple of years.
The Friday (l?ngfredag) used to be a quiet and boring day, but that has changed too.
On the Sunday morning the easter bunny (p?skharen) leaves presents for the kids. That's also a tradition that is dying.
We decorate our houses with yellow table cloths, some even change their window curtains into yellow or eatertheamed curtains. Figurines of chickens, hens, roosters, eggs and easter witches are put out. Those that doesn't have allergies pick birch twigs and put them in water. The twigs are still bare from the winter, but once they get into the house and get water they start to show leaves. (mouse ears) The twigs are taken into the house days in advance so that the twigs have time to form the leaves. The twigs are decorated with feathers in many colours, painted eggs (or fake egg decorations) and easter witches.
Marzipan candy shaped as bunnies, eggs, chickens and so on are common, most of them dipped in chocolate. Chocolate shaped as bunnies and eggs are also common. There is also a candy called "p?sk?gg" - easter eggs, but I don't know how to describe them. I think they are mostly made from sugar, some sort of flavor and color. (I don't like them, my grandmother on the other hand insists on buying them every year.)
The easter dinner is traditionally a buffet (sm?rg?sbord). The most important things are "inlaggdsill" - pickled herring and eggs. Often the eggs are cut in half and decorated with red caviar or shrimps and mayonnaise. If there is children in the household, or if there is an adult that is still a child at heart the eggs will be painted after they were cooked (if they are served with the shells still on). (Most often with water colors, I've eaten many eggs that was tainted from the watercolors since it rubs off on the egg as you peel it.) Since the easter focuses much on chickens and eggs, you will find omelets and chicken dishes too on the buffet. Another dish is "sol?ga" -sun eye, it's made with a raw egg yolk in the middle then in circles around it you put chopped boiled eggs, chopped beetroot, chopped onion, capers and ansjovis (not to be confused with anchovies). The guests puts on the salt and pepper themselves after taste. Cold salads, the kinds with mayonnaise and cream.
There are also cheese, bread, butter of course. "Tunnbr?d" is a thin crisp flat bread that is popular.
The cold dishes on the buffet are most often made up by several different kinds of pickled herrings, gravlax, and other dished made from fish and seafood. Next you have cold meat and paté, sliced ham and other kinds of meat that can be served cold, liver paté and "presssylta". I can't find a translation for "presssylta" right now, it's different kinds of meat that is cooked, put in a tin to cool. The gelatin from the meat surrounds the meat. You cut slices of the meat and the gelatin to eat. The same kind of salted cooked ham that we eat on Christmas is also a common dish.
Warm dishes would be chicken, small sausages (prinskorv), omelet, prime ribs, and of course meatballs. The meatballs are mostly for the children and out of tradition, meatballs are common food and not so festive.
Not much happens on easter day, we have dinner with our family and that's it.
Recipes:
I've seen all kinds of recipes for Swedish meatballs here on Yahoo and I most often don't recognize them as Swedish meatballs at all. Swedish meatballs are simple and not spicy. They are made of grounded meat usually a blend between beef/veal and pork. If the meat has been frozen it needs an egg, otherwise people add the egg out of habit (I think). Bred crumbs from white bread or a boiled and mashed potato. Onions finely chopped, either raw or fried, then milk or broth and then salt and pepper, either black or white. Heat butter in a frying pan and fry them on the stove. The smaller the meatballs the “finer” they are considered to be.
In Sweden we do not serve the meatballs with a white sauce, at least not that any of the persons that I know have heard of. (Many of us works or have worked in restaurant kitchens and not even the finest or the odd restaurants would dream of serving white sauce.) The sauce is brown and nothing else. Lingonberry jam is most often served with the meatballs, depending on what is served with the meatballs. If it's pasta then you are more likely to get ketchup.
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Pickled herring:
(For 4 persons)
4 (about 420 gram or 14.8 ounces) fillets of salted herring. (Brined herring? I'm not sure of the translation.)
1 Red onion, sliced.
2 Carrots, sliced.
10 Whole Allspice Peppercorns
3,38 oz (1 decilitre) White vinegar 12%
6,76 oz (2 decilitres) Water
10,14 oz (3 decilitres) Granulated sugar
Wash the salted herring with cold water and then place it in cold water over night or for a day. (The amount of salt varies and you need to find what you think tastes the best. Shorter amount of time = more salt)
Cut the fish fillets into slices. (One slice should be small enough to be eaten as it is, or be eaten when cut in two.)
Mix white vinegar, water and sugar and boil it for 5 minutes. Wait for it to cool and then pour it over the herring, onions, carrots and allspice. Let it sit in the fridge for at least two days before eating it.
Other kinds of fish can be used, common whitefish works well too.
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Gravlax
2,20 pounds of bone free salmon filets
4 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons salt
1 teaspoon white peppercorns
3,5 ounces cut dill (with the stalk)
Crush the white peppercorns in a mortar. Mix the pepper with sugar and salt.
Spread half of the mix on a dish and spread half of the dill on top. Put the salmon with the skin side down on top of it all. Spread the rest of the mix over it and rubb it in with the remaining dill.
Put plastic wrap over it and putit in the fridge for at least two days. Turn the salmon a couple of times during that time.
Cut it into thin slices and serve.
Remember that there is a parasite that lives in some kinds of fish and that the salmon must have been frozen for at least 5 days before the preparation.
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Hovm?stars?s (sauce for the gravlax)
2-3 tablespoons Swedish mustard (Swedish mustard is mild and sweet.)
1-2 tablespoons sugar
1-2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3,38 oz oil
2-3 tablespoons chopped dill
Salt
Black pepper
Mix mustard, sugar and red wine vinegar carefully add the oil. Season it with dill, salt and black pepper. Serve it cold.
This sauce works well with gravlax, but also other kinds of seafood and fish.
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There is a little more information about the fish in my blog if you are interested (it also explains the difference between ansjovis and anchovies):
http://my-sweden.blogspot.com/2007/08/fi...
If you ask the Swedes what the most traditional dish in Sweden is most of them will NOT tell you that it is meatballs. The most common and traditional food is the different kinds of pickled herring that is served on almost ever holiday or festive occasion. There is a lot of different kinds of pickled herrings, I've been to a buffet (sm?rg?sbord) that served 32 different kinds once. Some of the flavors that comes to mind right now are, red onion, tomato, lemon, mustard and garlic.
Edit
I almost forgot... one important thing (for those that drink alcohol) is "nubben" that goes with the pickled herring. "Nubben" is simply schnapps.
Coffee is served after the dinner, some serve it together with the dessert others eat the dessert first and then they have coffee. If the coffee is served after the dessert then it is often accompanied by a glass of cognac or liqueur.
Edit
I've been talking to my mother and she reminded me of the lamb. I totally forgot about it. Lamb is of course also served on the buffet either cold or warm. "F?rfiol" - "sheep fiddle" is the leg of a lamb that is salted (cured?) and done in the oven, the meat can be served both cold and warm.
My mother also pointed out that much of the food that you find on the easter buffet is the same as the food that you find on the Christmas buffet with a few exceptions.
Also, the Wednesday before easter is knows as "dymmelonsdag". A "dymmel" is the part inside the church bell that moves back and forth making the sound. I couldn't find a translation for the word. In the past the "dymmel" was coated with a cloth so that it would make less sound. The first days of the easter is about grief and it was thought unsuitable to make large happy sounds. We don't know if it still is a tradition though.
Well, during Easter I don't know anything else than chocolate easter eggs, but the most traditional Swedish thing ever is spaghetti and meatballs! :D
Swedish Meatballs
Meat: (the main ingredient)
2 pounds ground lean meat: use beef, pork or veal
(may use some textured vegetable protein ground beef substitute)
Filler: (to give the meatballs the right consistency)
2 eggs
1 cup milk, cream, meat broth or water
1/2 cup all-purpose flour OR 1/2 cup fine bread crumbs OR 1 cup torn bread OR 1 cup mashed potatoes
Salt and Pepper:
Salt to taste (1 1/2 teaspoons suggested)
Pepper to taste (white or black pepper - 1/2 teaspoon suggested)
More Flavor:
Option 1:
1 minced onion
1/4 tsp dry mustard or 1/4 teaspoon allspice
Option 2:
1/4 tsp dry mustard
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
By hand or on medium speed with an electric mixture, thoroughly blend the ground meat, filler, salt and pepper, and other flavorings. Beat until very well mixed. Form into balls about 3/4"-1 1/2" in diameter: do this by hand, or use a tablespoon-sized cookie scoop, or a melon baller. Makes 30-150 meatballs depending on how large they are. Serves 6-8, more on the sm?rg?sbord.
Cooking methods:
Pan-fried: Heat a skillet with 2-3 tablespooons of cooking oil to medium-high heat. Fill the skillet about half full with the meatballs, and fry them for about 10 minutes. Shake the skillet gently during cooking to keep the meatballs turning and to cook them evenly, about 10-15 minutes depending on size. You may need a spatula to encourage some of the more stubborn meatballs to turn over properly. As soon as meatballs are browned, take them out of the pan, let them cool and drain a bit, and keep them warm (try using an oven-proof dish in a barely-warm oven) until ready to add sauce and serve.
Oven-fried: Use ungreased baking sheets -- the kind with rims on all four sides. Separate the meatballs slightly, bake at 450F for 10-15 minutes. Remove carefully from the baking sheets..
For most sauces, you'll stir the meatballs into the sauce then transfer them to the serving dish. Meatballs can be prepared ahead, and refrigerated in a covered container for 2-3 days or frozen in airtight containers for several months. You can freeze cooled meatballs spread out on a clean, cool baking sheet, then transfer them to airtight containers, if you want to be able to make a large quantity of meatballs and remove just enough at one time. Thawed or refrigerated meatballs should be heated in a single layer on an ungreased rimmed baking sheet for 10-15 minutes at 375F.
Brown sauce or red wine sauce or sherry sauce:
2 tablespoons pan fat
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup beef broth (may be made from bouillon) or 1 can condensed beef broth
1/2 - 3/4 cup water (to taste)
3 tablespoons red wine or sherry (optional)
Add the flour to the pan fat in a saucepan, mix thoroughly. Discard the rest of the fat from the cooking pan, then rinse the pan in some of the broth to loosen the bits of meat from the pan. Add the broth to the fat/flour base in the saucepan. (Tip: at this point, mixing the flour/fat mixture and the broth mixture in the blender removes all lumps thoroughly.) Heating this mixture, slowly add the water to taste. Bring to a boil. (Add red wine or sherry if desired at this point.)
Sour cream sauce or Gjetost sauce:
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup shredded gjetost
Transfer the meatballs to the serving dish. Discard the fat from the cooking pan, stir the sour cream into the pan to pick up the rest of the pan drippings and the bits of meat. Heat slightly, do not boil. Stir in the shredded cheese if desired. Pour hot mixture over the meat.
White sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cup half and half or cream
1/2 cup water or chicken broth (may be made from bouillon)
Fresh dill leaves or parsley leaves (optional)
Add the flour to the butter in a saucepan, mix thoroughly, turn on heat to low heat. Discard the fat from the cooking pan, then rinse the pan in the water or broth to loosen the bits of meat from the pan. Add the water or broth to the butter/flour base in the saucepan and mix thoroughly. (Tip: at this point, mixing the flour/fat mixture and the broth mixture in the blender removes all lumps thoroughly.) Turn up the heat and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to low, and add the half and half or cream slowly. Simmer until a good consistency. Add dill or parsley if desired. Stir the meatballs into the sauce until heated through. Transfer to the serving dish and serve immediately.
Enjoy experimenting with your meatballs!