Today is the last day of summer where days after today were chilly and windy. Today, the sun was out and it was 18 degrees. It is a rare summer day as I thought autumn would have set in already.
I was invited to a crayfish party for the weekend in Vadstena. Here is the definition of crayfish party according to Wikipedia.
A crayfish party is a traditional summertime eating and drinking celebration in the Nordic countries. The tradition originated in Sweden, where a crayfish party is called a kräftskiva. Crayfish parties are generally held during August, a tradition that began because the crayfish harvest in Sweden was, for most of the 20th century, legally limited to the late summer. Nowadays, the kräftpremiär date in early August has no legal significance. Customary party accessories are novelty paper hats, paper tablecloths, paper lanterns (often depicting the Man in the Moon), and bibs.
Akvavit and other kinds of snaps are served, as well as beer, and traditional drinking songs (snapsvisa) may be sung. The crayfish are boiled in salt water and seasoned with fresh dill – preferably "crown dill" harvested after the plant has flowered – then served cold and eaten with the fingers. Bread, mushroom pies, strong Västerbotten cheese, salads and other dishes are served buffet-style.
We arrived on Friday evening and had chicken paella for dinner. It was cooked on a grill. The place that we were in is a summer cottage and did not have a wide stove or huge pots. It was very convenient to cook on the huge grill. The summer cottage is also strategically located opposite the sea. So, one can just take a dip in the waters and get back inside the cottage within 25 steps.
Chicken paella for dinner! Really so good!
The next day which is a Saturday, we sat ourselves outdoor to enjoy the sun. We had warm hotdog for lunch. It was my first time eating such a hotdog. I took a liking to it!
After lunch, we prepared Västerbotten pie outdoors. The cheese bears the mark of Västerbotten. It is a place located in Sweden. It is great how everything can be cooked and baked outdoors just because one wants to bask in the sun!
Ta-da, how the cheese pies look like after they have been baked!
That evening, we prepared the table for the crayfish party. There was no chance to eat outdoors because it was so windy! I thought the crayfish were so cute because they were so tiny.
We had the cheese pie first as appetizer. It was very filling. Stir-fried mushrooms were sprinkled on top of the cheese pies.
This was then followed by the main dish, crayfish. There is not much flesh in a crayfish. The only flesh one can eat from is the claws and the abdomen (which is not long). I ate a lot that I lost count of how many crayfish. I just know that my fingers were wrinkled from holding too many wet crayfish. In between the crayfish session, we drank liquor and sang songs meant for a crayfish party.
As I am not a Swede, I get to eat the last crayfish. Swedes have a weird tradition of not eating the last piece of food on the table.
For dessert, we had apple pie with the best vanilla sauce!
What a fantastic weekend experiencing my first crayfish party!
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