Tag: Sweden

Advent Calendar – Dec 11: Nubbe

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

Window 11. Today’s word is ‘Nubbe‘ which is the colloquial word for an alcoholic shot known as snaps.

Nubbe, or snaps, is a really popular drink that Swedes enjoy at Christmas time. At its base, it is a strong spirit (30-38% alcohol content) called ‘brännvin’ which is distilled from potatoes or grain.

It can be plain and colourless, or flavoured with herbs and spices. Sometimes it can be sweet and infused with, for example blackcurrant, elderflower or raspberry. Others can be so bitter they make your toes curl – flavoured with for example aniseed, wort or wormwood. If it includes caraway or dill, it can according to EU patent protection be called akvavit.

A mouthful-size of ‘brännvin’ is called a snaps or a nubbe and it is drunk out of small glasses. Usually it is consumed when eating traditional food, and may also be accompanied by a ‘snapsvisa’ – a drinking song.

One popular drinking song at Christmas is called ‘Hej Tomtegubbar‘ which translates roughly as:

‘Hello goblins, fill your glasses and let’s be jolly together.

Hello goblins, fill your glasses and let’s be jolly together.

Our time is brief upon the earth, with many troubles and little mirth

Hello goblins, fill your glasses and let’s be jolly together.‘

After a few snapses, the party atmosphere usually begins – with more singing and speeches. For Swedes, snaps is such an important tradition that it is drunk not only at Christmas but at most festive times – such as Easter, Midsummer and autumn’s crayfish party.

According to The Swedish alcohol monopoly, Swedes have been flavouring their ‘brännvin’ since the 1500’s and the word ‘Nubbe’ as a slang word for snaps turned up first in 1892.

Advent Calendar – Dec 10: Nobeldagen

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

Window number 10. Today’s word is ‘Nobeldagen‘ which translates as ‘Nobel Day’.

Nobel Day is not actually anything to do with Christmas. However, it is a traditional part of the lead up to Christmas. Every year on 10 December, since 1901, the Nobel Prizes are awarded. The date commemorates the death of Alfred Nobel in 1896.

Nobel prizes are awarded in the 6 categories of Literature, Chemistry, Physics, Medicine or Physiology, Economics and Peace. All prizes are awarded in Stockholm, except the peace prize which is awarded in Oslo. Laureates receive a gold medal, a diploma and 10 million Swedish crowns.

Most laureates are happy to accept their prize and the accolade. However, Jean Paul Satre famously declined the Literature Prize in 1964, claiming he did not want to be institutionalized.

In 1974 he was joined by Le Duc Tbo who refused to accept the Peace Prize for his work to end the Vietnam War, saying ‘peace has not yet been established.’

In 1935, German journalist Carl von Ossietzky – a vocal critic of Hitler- won the Peace Prize. This led Hitler to bar all Germans from accepting a Nobel Prize. Three German laureates were subsequently forced to decline their awards. However, they later were presented with their diplomas and medals.

With celebratory lectures, conversations, ceremonies and concerts, Nobel Day culminates with a banquet in the Stockholm City Hall. The banquet lasts about 3 and a half hours and is televised. It is an extremely grand and formal occasion. Everything from the porcelain to the floral arrangements to the dresses, the entertainment and the menu are under scrutiny for the tv viewers.

The guests include not only the Nobel laureates and their families, but also Swedish royals and aristocrats, politicians, ministers, celebrities and other notable people. Even though there are 1300 guests, is virtually impossible for ordinary folk to get an invitation to the banquet. We have to enjoy it from afar, via the screens in our living rooms.

However exclusive the whole thing might be, it is still a welcome splash of glamour in the dark approach to Christmas. Stockholmers are also treated to the light festival called Nobel Lights, which takes place around the city. For a guide to where the various light installations are, check this out: https://nobelweeklights.se/

Advent Calendar – Dec 7: Julskinka

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

Window 7: Today’s word is ‘Julskinka‘ which translates as ‘Christmas ham’ and is pronounced yule-hwinka (ish).

In the UK, I grew up eating roast turkey at Christmas. But in Sweden, it’s all about the ham!

Swedes have been eating Christmas ham during the festive season since the 1600’s and many people consider it an obligatory part of the Christmas meal.

Originally it was a dish eaten only by the upper classes and rich farmers, but somewhere in the 1800’s in made it onto the tables of the broader population.

The tradition of eating ham is thought to have evolved from the pagan ritual of sacrificing a wild boar known as a sonargöltr to Frey, the Norse god of fertility, during the harvest festival. This was later adapted by the Christians and aligned with St Stephen’s Day which falls on December 26th.

Traditionally the cured ham is oven baked or boiled before it is coated in mustard and breadcrumbs and grill roasted. Here is a recipe.

The ham is mostly eaten with mustard and apple sauce. And the cold leftovers are eaten for days afterwards, often on crisp bread.

The Christmas ham is traditional in many other Northern European countries such as Finland, Estonia and Poland and even some parts of the USA and Australia.

Many people these days don’t eat meat, and therefore reject ham. However, to mimic the Christmas tradition, there are plenty of veggie options available including roasts made of cauliflower, soya, Quorn and other plant-based ingredients. As a non meat-eater myself, I usually make a festive mushroom and chestnut Wellington as my centerpiece on the Christmas table.

Advent Calender Dec 2 – Pepparkaka

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

Every day leading up to Christmas, I will open a window containing a Swedish word that has something to do with the festive season.

Today’s word is ‘pepparkaka‘, which translates as gingerbread.

Other than glögg, nothing else is more synonymous with the Swedish festive season than pepparkaka (gingerbread).

The Swedish version of gingerbread comes in the form of thin crispy biscuits flavoured with cinnamon, cardamon, ginger and cloves. Formed in different shapes such as hearts, trees, and stars, gingerbread is eaten plain or decorated with icing. Many people buy squeezy blue cheese in a tube and squirt it onto the biscuit before consumption. Some people build gingerbread houses as part of their Christmas decorations.

Making your own pepparkaka is a cosy a Christmas tradition – here is a typical recipe. However, most people buy their gingerbread ready-made.

Pepparkaka has been associated with Christmas in Sweden since the 1800’s but was eaten much earlier than that. The first documented record of pepparkaka in Sweden is from 1335 for a royal wedding. In a recipe from the 1400’s, gingerbread included pepper, which could be why it has the name pepparkaka. But nobody is really sure.

Ever wondered why Swedish people are so nice? Well, the answer lies in an old myth – apparently the very eating of pepparkaka is what makes you nice.

Swedish Advent

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

 

It’s the first of Advent today, which is an atmospheric and almost romantic time in Sweden.

Swedes decorate their houses, apartments and windows with lights. From ceilings, illuminated stars are hung. On window ledges, electric advent candles are placed. On tables, four candles are positioned and one is lit every Sunday up until Christmas. Small candles, often red, are dotted about the home. People eat gingerbread and drink mulled wine.

Some years, there is already deepish snow at the first of Advent. But this year in Stockholm, it is unseasonably warm, so there isn’t any. Instead, it is very dark. The collective advent decoration is a definite reprieve from this darkness as light is spread into these murky places.

The word ‘advent’ comes from the Latin ‘adventus’ which means ‘arrival’ and is traditionally the start of the period where we wait for the arrival of nativity, or Christmas. Some religions also see it as waiting for the second coming of Christ. But in this secular society that is Sweden, the waiting is probably for the snow to come, the cold to hit, the water to freeze to ice and for winter to clasp its fingers firmly around us.

Swedish saying: ’morgonstund har guld i mund’

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

A saying you might hear early risers in Sweden use is ‘morgonstund har guld i mund’ which means the same as the English ‘the early bird catches the worm’. In other words, people who get up early, get a lot acheived.

It is borrowed from the German saying with the same meaning and exists in many other languages.

There is some disagreement on what the saying actually refers to. According to various sources, it translates as ’early morning has gold in its hand’ with ‘mund’ being an old word for ‘hand’. Others say that ‘mund’ refers to ‘mouth’ – making the saying ‘early morning has gold in its mouth’.

The Swedish word for ‘mouth’ is ‘mun’ and one theory is that it was changed to ‘mund’ to simply rhyme with ‘morgonstund’.

We will probably never know the actually origin. like many sayings, the real explanation is lost in the mists of time.

Swedish cinnamon bun day

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

Today, Oct 4, is the day that Swedes up and down the country celebrate that most Swedish of foods – the cinnamon bun.

The cinnamon bun – kanelbulle- was invented in Sweden in the 1920’s and sold in bakeries. In the 1950’s, as ingredients, such as sugar and cinnamon, became more affordable, people started to bake them at home.

In 1999, Oct 4 was crowned as National Cinnamon Bun Day. At least 9,000,000 buns are consumed during the day.

Swedish cinnamon bun day

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

Today, Oct 4, is the day that Swedes up and down the country celebrate that most Swedish of foods – the cinnamon bun.

The cinnamon bun – kanelbulle- was invented in Sweden in the 1920’s and sold in bakeries. In the 1950’s, as ingredients, such as sugar and cinnamon, became more affordable, people started to bake them at home.

In 1999, Oct 4 was crowned as National Cinnamon Bun Day. At least 9,000,000 buns are consumed during the day.

‘Pingis’ in Sweden

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

Yesterday, Sweden qualified for the final in team table tennis at the Paris Olympics. This is following the unexpected silver won by Truls Möregård in table tennis singles. And table tennis fans up and down Sweden are going crazy!

Table Tennis, or Ping Pong as it is also called – a name originating from the Mandarin Ping Pang Qiu – has the nickname ‘pingis’ in Swedish. It is a very popular sport in Sweden, with the first game played in the 1890’s, and the first Swedish championship organised in 1925.

Although elite table tennis is generally dominated by the Chinese, Sweden has had some success over the years. Probably the best Swedish player through history is Jan-Ove Waldner. Known as ‘The Evergreen Tree’ in China, Waldner had an extraordinary successful and long career. He won a total of 20 Gold, 17 Silver and 9 Bronze medals in the Olympics, World and European Championships. Jörgen Persson, Kjell Johansson, Marie Svensson and Stellan Bengtsson are other successful ping pong athletes.

On a non-elite level, the game of ‘rundpingis’ is popular in Sweden. This is knock-out ping pong played in large groups where people run around the table and hit one shot each. Another popular pastime is outdoors table tennis, with many parks building tables and nets out of weather-proof iron.

So, if you feel inspired by the current Olympic successes, grab a racket and go play a round of table tennis. Who knows, maybe you’ll be the next pingis star in pingis heaven!