Window 16. 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 of various sorts
- 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
- Ägghalvor – halved boiled eggs topped with shrimp or caviar
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.
You have to be careful not to overindulge, if possible because afterwards comes coffee and dessert. A traditional dessert is called Ris a la Malta, which is fluffy rice in whipped cream and tangerines. At Christmas tables organised in restaurants, they normally have a ‘gottebord’ which is another smörgåsbord consisting solely of sweets and desserts. Common contents are toffee, fudge, gingerbread biscuits, marzipan, ‘lussekatter’, dried fruits, cheese, and chocolates.
Watching the Swedes 