Welcome to the Watching the Swedes Advent Calendar. Every day, I will open a window containing a Swedish word that has something to do with Christmas and its approaching weeks.
Today’s word is ‘Julbord‘ which literally translates as Christmas table.
The word ‘smörgåsbord’ (buffet) is one of the words from the Swedish language to have the biggest international reach. The ‘julbord’ or Christmas table is the ‘smörgåsbord’ that is traditionally eaten in homes and restaurants on Christmas Eve – the day Swedes celebrate Christmas.
In the lead up to Christmas, companies often take their employees out somewhere for a ‘julbord’.
The ‘julbord’ is an interesting concept – a potpourri of dishes, hot and cold. Not all Swedes enjoy everything on the table, but the dishes still have to be present in the name of tradition.
So, what’s on the Swedish ‘julbord’? Here are some common savoury dishes:
- Julskinka – Christmas ham
- Inlagd sill – pickled herring
- Köttbullar – Swedish meatballs
- Prinskorvar – cocktail sausages
- Janssons frestelse – potato and anchovy gratin called Jansson’s temptation
- Gravad lax – cured spiced salmon
- Kallrökt lax – cold-smoked salmon
- Varmrökt lax – warm-smoked salmon
- Kalvsylta – jellied veal
- Knäckebröd och ost – crispbread and cheese
- Sillsallad – herring salad
- Lutfisk – whitefish in lye
- Dopp i grytan – ‘dip in the pot’ – bread dipped in the broth that the meat is cooked in
- Cabbage of various colours – most commonly red
- Vörtbröd – Christmas bread flavoured with wort
- Revbensspjäll – spare ribs
The ‘julbord’ is a banquet, and its history dates back hundreds of years. Around the country there are regional variants to the standard dishes. For example, in county Skåne, they often add eel, and in Bohuslän they add ‘äggost’ – egg cheese! Many regions around Sweden have brown beans and different local sausages on the their Christmas buffet.
All of this food is traditionally washed down with beer, julmust, and snaps.
Watching the Swedes 