Swedish Dinner

A few weeks ago I was invited to go to a dinner with a guy I met in my Swedish classes. His name is Matt, and he is originally from Portland, Oregon. He lived in Copenhagen for a couple of years and met is wife there. She is from Lund, and they both live here now. She did all of her schooling here in Lund, and several of her classmates also still live in Lund. They all have stayed in touch and get together often for dinner and things.

The guys in the group try and get together once a week on Tuesdays and have a "Guys Dinner." They always have a theme for the dinners. The theme for this particular week was "budget." This meant that the host had to prepare a three course meal (appetizer, entree, and dessert) all for 40 SEK (Swedish money) per person. This meant the budget for each person was just under $6. I was really excited to do this and so was the host. Since I was joining the group that meant there was going to be two Americans so the host wanted to do a traditional Swedish dinner for us. Now I was even more excited!

The first course was Whiskey Pickled Herring. It was served on a thinly sliced dark bread, maybe pumpernickel, then topped with sliced hard boiled eggs, whiskey pickled herring, and crème fraîche. It was surprisingly good. I won't be rushing out to buy any pickled herring, but if I was served it again I would be OK with it. 

The entree was Pea Soup with Braised Pork. This is very Swedish and was usually served on Thursdays. It was a meal served often during times of war since it was hearty and cheap. And yes Sweden does have a military, Switzerland is the neutral country. Anyway, it was really good! The soup had good flavor and the pork fell apart in the bowl when you touched it with your spoon. One thing I found odd was that they added mustard to the soup, not when its cooking, but after its been served in the bowl. I thought it was strange but of course I had to try it. It wasn't bad. It was a brown mustard which I like much better than a yellow mustard. I would definitely eat this again. Oh, and the host was quick to apologize that it wasn't Thursday. LOL 

For dessert he made Swedish Pancakes and Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream. A Swedish Pancake is very much like a thick crepe, at least that's what I think. Traditionally you would serve Swedish pancakes with whipped cream and fresh strawberries. The ice cream was delicious and was fine by me! The Swedish love the ice cream. You would be surprised to see how many people we see standing in line to by ice cream when it's 50 degrees outside. Something else that is different, the Swedish word for ice cream is glass. Could you imagine telling someone in the states that you just enjoyed a bowl of glass with whipped cream and a cherry on top? It's the little things. Anyway, dessert awesome! We also had coffee and the host broke out two bottles of Scotch. 

   

I had a great time! There was a total of 6 of us. Matt and I were the two Americans and the rest were native Swedes. I look forward to the next dinner and can't wait to host one at my house and do a Southern American dinner for the Swedes.