This is part III on my Swedish Candy Series. Be sure to check out parts I and II.
Plockgodis – Be an Expert at Picking from the Candy Bins
An Introduction to Swedish Candy

Swedes love licorice, as they love candy. There is no group of people more obsessed by this root, say for the Finns, than the Swedes. Sweet, salty, neutral are ingrained in Swedish candy culture.

Americans on the other hand, find licorice to be downright bizarre. Even though the US produced two of the oldest licorice candies, Good & Plenty and Crows, you will see few Americans indulging in a licorice root.

And so I went on a quest for understanding why Swedes love licorice and where that love stems from.

A table full of candy from Beriksson’s Import at Lakritsfestivalen

The answers, from various licorice confectioners, writers, and a herbalist was surprising.

Annica Tryberg, coauthor of the book Lakrits, said, “Licorice falls into the Swedish palette: salty and sweet. Many Swedish dishes like gravad lax and types of sill are salty. Salty licorice brings out comforting, homely flavors that we love.”

Pelle Petterson who works with importing Icelandic licorice said, “Icelanders love strong, salty licorice, it matches our taste for food very well. They were also the first to commercially produce chocolate with licorice, Freyja’s Draumur, which could be loved by everyone.”

Many people said licorice candy is popular because of the love for salty foods. Sweden, and the rest of the Nordic region, had to rely on salted meats and fish to last through the long winters. That love of salt did not dissipate when licorice was introduced at the apoteket as a medicinal product in the 1800s.

I think that since licorice gives an adrenaline boast, it can improve people’s spirits during the long winters and combat SAD (seasonal affected disorder).

In the 1800s the apotek {pharmacy} sold licorice roots as a medicinal product. Lisan Sundgren, a herbalist and cofounder of Queen of Licorice, a natural beauty company using licorice, said, “To aid with digestion, psoriasis, dandruff, the dry cough, all common ailments in in Sweden, licorice was and still is a natural remedy. It’s cheap and safe for the body.”

Sweet licorice in the form of licorice paste could also be found at the apotek to satisfy a sweet craving. Liquorice’s sweet tasting component is the glycyrrhizin acid, a compound 30-50 times stronger than sucrose (natural sugar).

In the 1930s Malmö Lakrits Compani (later Malaco) formed and began selling Sweden’s first licorice candy.

While several licorice candies were on the market by that point, Swedish licorice differed in flavor from its Anglo counterparts. Swedish lakrits was stronger and salter. Part of it was the licorice paste (the extract) and part was the usage ammonium chloride to give licorice a strong, pungent flavor known as salmiak.

Today, licorice is enjoying rock star status as the next big thing in the culinary world. While children may still eat Panda lakrits and licorice ropes, adults are experimenting with licorice powder, paste, and syrups.

Cupcake STHLM licorice cupcakes

Still, the best answer to why Swedes are in love with licorice could be answer by Martin at Cupcake STHLM.

“Swedes and licorice have similar personalities: it takes time to become friends and break down a Swede’s barrier. In the same way, it takes time to learn and love the taste of licorice.”

I agree. Even though I may not allow the lakrits plockgodis to fraternize with the chocolate pieces, I feel in love with licorice today. It took me thirty years.

Pea soup gave me nightmares for years.

soup + dessert = epic swedish win?

And it still does, but a couple weeks ago AB and I ventured to Blooms Café at Mariatorget and took the plunge for the traditional pea soup with pancakes lunch; a cornerstone of Swedish cuisine. The girl at the register was convincing.

trying my soup…

AB is suspicious of the greenness

The soup was delicious. Blooms used fresh green peas, instead of the typical yellow peas for the Swedish version, and blended it with some cream and spice. I think the soup could have had more cream but it was filling and perfect for a rainy day.

We then ate our pancakes, I finished all mine since I left a little soup in the bowl; maximizing real estate in my tummy is paramount when dessert is involved. They served traditional Swedish style pancakes, closely resembling French crêpes, with whipped cream and raspberry jam.

My husband, like any Swede who’s attended school, or even military training and prison, will know that on Thursdays pea soup is served as the meal of the dal. Even today at his office cafetaria, they serve peasoup with pancakes.

The tradition stems from needing a hearty meal before Friday fasting in the Catholic faith. Sweden was Catholic for a short couple hundred years following the Danish influence of dismantling the old Gods in favor of one God. In the 1500s Sweden dropped Catholism and became a Protestant, Luthern, country.

Plus the Swedish King was evidently poisoned through his pea soup. Forensic evidence done recently however has not been able confirm if he would have been able to die the residual arsenic found in the soup.

The tradition of pea soup before fasting remains ingrained in the culture today. From schools and prisons serving it, you can find the ready made yellow pea soup at the groceries in the funny sausage style tubes.

I have not had yellow pea soup but I have had dalh, Indian lentil soup, from yellow split peas. Delicious because of the garam masala, onions, and ginger. The Swedish version I hear is not as exciting.

Instead, I recommend the fresh green pea soup for your Thursday Swedish meal. It is like spring with a dash of cream. If you want the yellow pea soup, perhaps go Indian style and be sacrilegious.

The best reward of finishing pea soup means enjoy pancakes with jam and grädde. Mumms!

Seriously, it is.

Wikipedia says so.   It has to be true! Actually, it is true…the kålrot is called a swede in the commonwealth countries.

If you want to know what a Swede, the person is, well, I found an interesting blog post from an old blog called Living in Sweden by Ngala.   The text of his post, “What or Who is a Swede,” was found in computer lab in Umeå.

”
A Swede is tall, blond, blue-eyed, and wears a woolly hat in the winter.   By nature he is shy, reserved, serious, industrious, and finds it hard to laugh at himself.   He is also a creature of habit and every morning gets up at 5.30 to give himself enough time to read the morning newspaper before going to work.   Since work does not usually start until 8 o’clock, this can only imply that a Swede is also a slow reader.

Apart from himself, his chief interests are money, his job, his home, ice-hockey, and his family (in that order). He also loves animals – especially dogs – and spends hours cycling through the town dragging a huge and ferocious German Shepherd behind him on a leash.

A Swede is usually punctual, honest, reliable, clean, has his own teeth, and is law-abiding. Evidence of the latter is particularly noticeable at pedestrian crossings.    No matter what the weather is like, a Swede would rather get soaked to the skin than cross an empty street when a red light is showing.   Similarly, he always wears a seat belt, never drinks and drives, always has a television licence, usually hands in his tax-return on time, invariably has a plastic bag in his pocket when he walks his dog, and never has a bath after 10 o’clock.
”
{This article goes on quite a bit but as I’m not the copyright holder and have already gotten in trouble by my big-brother-eyeing-advertising network, I’ve taken down the text. Make sure to visit Living in Sweden to read the rest of the article.}

What do you think?

It is called – The Battle of Wearing Shoes Indoors!

I for one, do not allow shoes in the house. I never have. I never will.

Here’s why:

• I am Indian, and like all other Asians, our home is our sanctuary.   To not takes shoes off is a sign of disrespect to the owners of the house.
• I am a Hindi and a Jain, and as such, our home is also a place of worship.   God doesn’t like people schleeping in with shoes and shit on them.
• I live in Sweden and not wearing shoes indoors is the biggest Swedish cultural win ever. Most of the year it rains or snows in Sweden. Why on earth would you drag stone, snow, mud filled shoes into a home? And Swedes pride themselves on keeping fastidiously clean homes (Americans, for all your cleaning supplies, the Swedes are better at keeping a home tidy). Plus, Swedes find it rude to walk around in a home with shoes you wear for the outside world.
• Shoes indoors are gross.  No matter how many times I hear the, “ohhh, but it can make people uncomfortable to take their shoes off.   What if they have smelly feet or bunions or holey socks?” Seriously?  If someone gives me that dumbass rhetorical question, my answer is “maybe you should see a doctor and buy a pair of socks without holes.”
• I am lazy and do not want to wipe scuff marks or water marks from your shoes in my home.
• Your home is your home.   You have the right to ask, request, and in standoffs, demand people to remove their shoes.   Just as a guest does not have the right to eat food not served to them or throw their coats on the floor or eat before the host (in a formal dinner), a guest can certainly take their shoes off.
• Wearing shoes all the time is stifling for my feet.  Who wants their feet to be smushed all day long in a pair of sneakers or heels?

When I grew up, half the homes I would visit would take their shoes off and half would not. Even when I lived in New York and the temperature was -30C and blizzard conditions, I saw some friends keep their shoes on.

At my birthday parties, which occurred in December, my mom would always run around and ensure kids took those shoes off. I’m glad she did; no wants to clean up snow blizzard crap on the carpet. Plus, it was a to teach the kids, and adults, that we do ask for respect when you come into our home.

There were always some kids who would cry when they had to take their shoes off. They probably turned into the same adults who “can never take their shoes off because I’ve been doing it for 15 years.” Gross, don’t you want your feet to get some air? No wonder athlete’s foot is a huge problem in the United States.

But after doing some reading, the shoes on indoors turns out to be Anglo-Saxon tradition. Britain, northern Germany, the United States, the Netherlands, and some South American countries.

The Daily Mail had a hilarious article about wearing shoes indoors.

“Is asking guests to remove their shoes before they cross your ­threshold good housekeeping or horribly naff? After all, the suggestion is that your friends’ shoes are so grubby that they are bound to be treading something unspeakable over your carpets.”

Insinuating that your friends shoes are “so grubby” is misleading; shoes ARE dirty. What “unspeakables” would someone tread? Dirt, leaves, mud, water, snow, stones, dog shit, cigarette butts, snus, gum. No unspeakables here, shoes tread dirt.

“One poster wondered whether it was OK to ask guests to remove their footwear at the housewarming party she was hosting. ‘No,’ was the overwhelming response.
‘I’m picturing a Barratt home, twigs in a vase covered in fairylights and that Ikea picture of pebbles,’ sniped one woman on the forum.”

Remind me to never invite the nay-sayers into my home.

“Podiatrist Kate Millns says: ‘Asking people to remove their shoes is giving your guests unnecessary stress, as most people like to keep their feet hidden. It’s more hygienic to make them keep their shoes on, especially if they are not wearing socks or tights.”

By far the most bizarre of all, how does keeping one shoes on be more hygienic than taking them off? Honestly, if your feet smell a lot, you should be seeing a doctor, and possibly not wearing shoes every second of every day.

What to do in a Nordic household:

• Please do take your shoes off being being asked to do-so.   The whole “Opps, I’m American, I didn’t realize it” is a lame and disrespectful excuse to a homeowner.
• If you are attending a dinner party and do want to wear a pair of heels, ask the host if it is okay to bring the heels in a bag. Clean the soles with soap and water and wrap them up in a nice bag to take to the party.
• I sometimes take a pair of my flat jutas to a party. I have cold feet and these shoes are meant for indoors only. They’re also very cute and stylish.
• Some hosts will have a strict no shoes policy. That is especially true with people who have soft wooden floors. My friend had an inflytningsfest (housewarming party) and made the mistake of allowing people to wear clean heels in the house. Only two of the thirty or so guests did. And one of them left divits across a brand new floor. We tracked her “footprints” from the living room to the entrance to the bathroom and around. The cost to steam and fix the imprints will be 3000-6000SEK.
• When in Sweden, embrace some new traditions. This is an instance of a great tradition.
• Buy a shoe rack and a chair to help make it easier for guests to arrange their shoes and sit comfortably when taking them off.
• Last, think about how much money you can save when not needing to buy shoes in Sweden for every new outfit! I call that winning!

From the forum, Imamother.com:
“Yes its YOUR home but wouldnt you want people to be comfortable in your home? Lets say they put on their worst pair of socks with holes in the front, not knowing that you had such a “policy”. Would you like to take the risk of embarrasing the visitor by them having to wear “holey socks” or putting them in the position of not wanting to take them off?”

If my friends had a pair of holey socks, it is not my problem.  It’s also NOT for me to make fun of them and make it an issue.

One of these days, I will stitch a sign to say “Inga Skor.” And if someone questions me, I will say “we’re Swedes, take off your damn shoes!”

UPDATE: Temporary Stockholmer found a doormat sold at Home Sweet Home.

There are some Swedish things I cannot live without. Perhaps I have truly lost my mind.

Kalle Anka önskar God Jul

Finally, a country that loves Donald Duck more than Mickey Mouse. Plus, you have to be drinking glögg and eating pepparkakor.

Inga Skor
No shoes in the house. Seriously, why would you wear shoes in the house? After steeping on concrete, rain, asphalt, shit, used papers, grass, stones, Americans will go home happily and put those nasty shoes on the couch. And you look at Europeans for double-dipping the salsa with disgust.

Fika
A special time, and it doesn’t matter what time, for coffee and sweets.

Allemansrätten
Known as “everyman’s right,” allemansrätten provides Swedes the ability to experience nature and the outdoors without restrictions. The main covenant of allemansrätten is “do not disturb, do not destroy.”

This allows you to camp on public and private lands (not restricted lands) for up to two nights without permission. When you leave, there should be no evidence that you stayed.

You also have the right to pick berries, mushrooms (not black truffles, they grow underground), and flowers for yourself.

It’s a wonderful right that promotes being neighborly, respecting the outdoors, and learning about nature.

Semlor
A soft bread bun filled with soft almond paste and delicious whipped cream. Who wouldn’t like it?

Matches

Gustaf Erik Pasch used a non-toxic red phosphorus in 1844 compared to the existing yellow phosphorus used to light the match. No idea why Solsticken’s baby logo looks just like the Water Babies’ sunblock baby.

No wonder Swedes love candles!

25 Days of Vacation
As a full time employee, 25 days is the minimum under Swedish law. Swedish law also states you have the right to take 4 weeks off in July. I never have, but I split 2-3 vacations throughout the year.

This makes me want to be a more productive employee – relaxed, refreshed, and happy to not fight for vacation days.

Systembolaget
I hate you, but I still need you.

Osthyvel

The most amazing thing since sliced bread, sliceable cheese!

photo by Rauenstein, Creative Commons Some Rights Reserved.

Skatteverket DIY Taxes
Doing taxes has never been easier and in a way, more fun! Skatteverket, the Swedish Tax Authority, sends you a massive yellow colored, 4-paged glued tax document with your earnings and taxes and then tells you if you need to pay or if you get taxes.

If you have deductibles, they’re so easy to fill out, you’ll beg the IRS to do the same.

Oh, and you can snail max, text message, phone call, or online submit your taxes. Winning!

Wafflar, Kanelbullar, Lussekatter
Basically all sweets are delicious in Sweden. Even those super marzipan, sugary tartlets. The exceptions to the rule are licorice ice cream and salty licorice. But then again, there are days I have licorice ice cream.

I am sure I will come up with more…

I put together a comprehensive guide to having a Christmas in Sweden and abroad. Even if you don’t have access to thousands of tomtar, you can still incorporate Swedish traditions into your own traditions.

There’s so much food and decor to enjoy during the holidays, but it is all about family and giving back to the community.

Swedish Christmas Decorations

If you are in Stockholm, then I highly suggest shopping at Stockholms Stadsmission to get secondhand Christmas ornaments. You can see from the photo there is plenty of pretty decorations at a good cost, and doing the Earth a favor by recycling.

Julstjärnor – Christmas Stars

The stars represent the town of Bethlehem.

Julbocke – Christmas goat

The Christmas goat is said to check on families that Christmas decorations were done properly. Some folklore tales say the Yule Goat scared the children and demanded gifts.

In Nordic mythology, Thor rode on his chariot with two goats, Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr. In the Prose Edda, he kills the goats and provides his guests and the gods food. With his hammer, Mjölnir, he resurrects the goats the next day; creating a cycle of sustenance and nourishment.

Lights

Ornaments

Of course you need ornaments for your tree!

Candles

From Design House Stockholm and you can buy them in the US. It’s dark, it’s dark, it’s dark, candles are a must; any size, any style.

Julgran – Christmas Tree

The Christmas tree is put up on the third Advent and stays up until Knutsdag (twentieth day yule) on January 13th.

Kalendarljus – Calendar candle

Jultomte – Santa Claus

Julgris – Christmas pig



Reindeer

Who doesn’t love reindeer?!

Swedish Food

Julskinka

A recipe from ICA.


Julsenap

Lussebullar

Yummy saffron buns! Recipe to come soon!

Glögg

You can buy several different flavor from Systembolaget or make your own using wine, vodka or rum.

Pepparkakor

I’ll be posting a recipe quite soon!

Aquavit – Snaps

Julmust

Swedish Christmas Holidays

Christmas Calendar