Today is Christmas eve! On this day, the Swedes celebrate Christmas.
We prepared the food that is mostly found on a Christmas buffet - Christmas ham (I have no idea why is it called Christmas ham when it is just normal ham), limpa bread (made from sourdough), anchovies gratin (also known as Janssons frestelse), kale soup, brussel sprouts, meatballs, prince sausages (short sausages of 5-7cm in length), cheese, boiled potatoes, hard boiled eggs topped with shrimp salad, pickled herrings (we got 2 free jars from a local food store), cured salmon, beetroot salad and fruit cake.
I baked fruit cake and limpa bread because they are associated with Christmas. Limpa bread is made with wort beer and 3 types of ground spices that are ginger, zest from bitter orange, and clove.
Christmas ham was baked in the oven for 5 hours with a temperature of 125 degrees. Then, the fat is removed from the ham. The ham was left to cool down. After that, a layer of mustard, egg yolk and bread crumbs were brushed on top of the ham and baked in the oven again for 15 minutes. Christmas ham is usually eaten with dried bread - the Christmas version that has anis and clove spices.
Janssons frestelse (temptation) or anchovies gratin. The main ingredient is anchovy. I have no idea why do they name it as temptation. I am not tempted by it.
And of course, the morning on Christmas eve starts with porridge cooked in milk and eaten with cinammon. The porridge I grew up with is cooked in water and eaten with dishes such as vegetables, meat or egg and eaten when one is sick. But the porridge here uses a different type of rice i.e. round grained rice.
Food is so good! I am so proud of ourselves that we managed to cook a lovely Swedish Christmas meal.
No comments:
Post a Comment