Boston
Boston
Christmas in Sweden is a special time of year. The weather might be cold and gloomy with not much daylight, but the Swedes remain in good cheer by beginning celebrations with the start of Advent, four Sundays before Christmas. One candle is lit every Sunday to mark the coming holiday.
On December 1 every window is lit by either a star or a Christmas candelabra and small gnomelike Santas, angels and flowers like poinsettia decorates the homes. December is used to bake all the Christmas cookies you can think of, most common being gingerbread (pepparkakor) and saffron buns (lussebullar).
The kids count down to Christmas with their advent calendar. It has 24 openings and is usually filled with either candy or a small toy. There is also an advent calendar on tv every year counting down the days until December 24.
Another way to celebrate during December is by attending a Lucia procession on December 13.
Lucia is the celebration that takes place in Sweden on the year’s darkest day, December 13, the shortest day according to the old calendar, i.e. before 1753.
Lucia, the Queen of Light, wears a white dress with a red sash and a crown of candles on her head. She leads a procession called “Luciatåg” where she is accompanied by several young attendants, also dressed in white with candles in their hands. They perform seasonal songs and bring coffee, ginger breads and saffron buns. But most importantly, they bring light amid the long and dark winter.
Early in the morning on the 13th you can watch the procession on tv. Here’s Lucia 2019
If you want to celebrate you own Lucia, HERE is a recipe for saffron buns and ginger bread and HERE is the lyrics to the traditional Lucia song.
To many, the highlight of Swedish Yuletide is the traditional Lucia procession. The children of Svenska Skolan (the Swedish School of Boston) participate together with Swedish students and au pairs under the direction of Jenny Bonham Carter.
The Swedish Christmas food, julbord, is eaten on December 24. It’s usually a huge array of different hot and cold dishes. For many it’s important to eat in a special order, no mixing!
You start with the pickled herring, the more variations the better. This is accompanied by different smoked fish, egg halves and gravlax. Then it’s time for Julskinka (the Christmas ham), cold meats and patés.
After this it’s finally time for the warm food. Meatballs, prinskorv (small sausages), Janssons frestelse (potato and fish gratin), ribs, dopp i grytan (dip in the pot) and lye fish.
Of course, after this you might feel a bit full but now it’s time for the cheese platter, desserts like Ris á la Malta (cold rice pudding) and the candy table.
To this you start with glögg (mulled wine) and the move on to snaps and beer or julmust.
Every family has their own mix of dishes and traditions. The most important part though is that the food, gifts and family time don’t interrupt the 3 pm showing of Kalle Ankas jul, english title is From All of Us to All of You.
We at Swedish Yuletide offer a selection of popular Swedish dishes. You can find lunch such as meatballs with mashed potatoes, hot dogs, waffles with jam and whipped cream and open faced sandwiched as well as a selection of our favorite desserts and sweets. We also have an array of take home goodies, breads and more.
For more information about the food and links to recipes, visit Swedishfood.com
If you want to buy a Christmas ham, prinskorv, herrings and a lot of the other traditional Swedish food, visit our friends at Karl’s Sausage
