Swedish Food
Strawberries
Classic summer dessert: strawberries with whipped cream/milk/ice cream/sugar or a combination of the alternatives. Mash at least a few of the berries to give the milk the right colour and taste, strawberry milk is the essence of summer for a lot of people.
Crayfish
Probably the most tradition-heavy food of all, must be handled properly. Ketchup is heresy! Crayfish are cooked with a lot of salt and dill and eaten cold with hard bread and assorted alcoholic beverages. Singing, stupid hats and lamps are more optional, but they do add to the mood of a crayfish party. Oh, and eat in the autumn only to, Crayfish fishing premiere is on August 8, so dark autumn evenings outside are a natural component too. For eating instructions, take a look at the 16/8 1999 diary entry.
Semla
The king of buns, or perhaps more of a small cake. A semla begins with a humble wheat bun. Cut the top off and dig out some of the insides. Mix those with almond paste and put back inside. Top with a good deal of whipped cream. Finally put the "lid" back on and decorate with vanillin sugar. Some eat it like this, others like to put it on a plate, let it bathe in some warm milk and spice up with some cinnamon. Either way, a semla is a pretty filling thing to eat.
Meatballs
Nothing special about these, fried balls of minced meat (some spices and so too of course). Lingonberry jam, brown sauce and cooked potatoes are the "classic" way of eating them, but nowadays we tend to go for frying up deep frozen ones and eat with macaroni and ketchup. Very quick stomach filler. My grandmother, on dad's side, makes the best meatballs, just so you know ...
