Local Dishes

1. husmanskost

   Traditional Swedish home cooking

   Usage

   The heading you will see most often on a Swedish menu. It covers the traditional home dishes — köttbullar, ärtsoppa, pyttipanna, raggmunk — and the fixed-price weekday lunch ("dagens rätt") is usually one of them

   Grammar Note

   Common gender (en husmanskost); the definite form is "husmanskosten". A compound of "husmans" (a householder's) + "kost" (fare, diet)

2. köttbullar

   Swedish meatballs

   Usage

   The best-known Swedish dish abroad. The standard accompaniments are potatis (potatoes), gräddsås (cream sauce), pressgurka (pickled cucumber) and lingon (lingonberry jam) — all four together

   Grammar Note

   A plural: the singular is "en köttbulle" and the definite plural is "köttbullarna" — Swedish attaches the definite article to the end of the noun. Menus always use the plural

3. Janssons frestelse

   Potato and sprat gratin

   Usage

   Layers of potatis (potato), lök (onion), ansjovis and grädde (cream), baked. A fixture of the julbord. Note that Swedish "ansjovis" is not the Mediterranean anchovy but small spice-cured sprat, so it tastes milder than the name suggests

   Grammar Note

   Literally "Jansson's temptation". "Janssons" is the genitive of a surname; "frestelse" is common gender (en frestelse), definite "frestelsen"

4. gravad lax

   Cured salmon

   Usage

   Salmon pressed for several days in a mix of salt and sugar, flavoured with dill — not raw, but not cooked either. The sauce that goes with it is "hovmästarsås", a sweet mustard-and-dill sauce. Different from "rökt lax", which is smoked

   Grammar Note

   Normally written as two words; "gravlax" also occurs. "Lax" is common gender (en lax), definite "laxen". "Gravad" is the common-gender past participle of "grava"; with a neuter noun it would be "gravat"

5. inlagd sill

   Pickled herring

   Usage

   Herring in a brine of salt, ättika (vinegar) and spices. It appears at Christmas, Easter and Midsummer without fail. The flavourings give it different names: matjessill (sweet-cured), senapssill (mustard), löksill (onion), glasmästarsill (whole, heavily spiced). Eat it with crispbread and boiled potatoes

   Grammar Note

   "Sill" is common gender (en sill), definite "sillen". "Inlagd" is the common-gender past participle of "lägga in" (to pickle)

6. surströmming

   Fermented Baltic herring

   Usage

   Baltic herring fermented in brine and tinned — routinely called the world's most pungent food. Tradition holds it is not sold before "surströmmingspremiären", the third Thursday in August, and it comes from the Norrland coast, centred on the Höga kusten. It is eaten as a "klämma": flatbread wrapped round the fish with boiled potato, onion and sour cream. Open the tin outdoors, ideally under water

   Grammar Note

   "Sur" (sour, fermented) + "strömming" (Baltic herring). Common gender (en strömming), definite "surströmmingen"

7. strömming

   Baltic herring

   Usage

   Sill and strömming are the same species under two names: fish caught east of a line from Kalmar to the Polish coast are "strömming", those to the west "sill". Strömming stays small (14–16 cm) and is leaner. "Stekt strömming", fried in butter with mashed potato and lingonberry jam, is a standard lunch

8. raggmunk

   Potato pancake

   Usage

   Grated potato in a batter of flour and milk, fried like a pancake and served with "stekt fläsk" (fried pork) and lingonberry jam. It is the provincial dish of Östergötland

   Grammar Note

   Common gender (en raggmunk), definite "raggmunken", plural "raggmunkar". "Ragg" (shaggy) + "munk" (a fried pastry)

9. pyttipanna

   Diced potato, onion and meat hash

   Usage

   Diced potato fried with coarsely chopped onion and pieces of meat or sausage, topped with a fried egg or raw yolk and served with pickled beetroot. It began as a way of using leftovers, which earned it the nickname "hänt i veckan" ("what happened this week"). The Danish equivalent is called biksemad, the Norwegian one pytt i panne

   Grammar Note

   Also written as three words, "pytt i panna". Common gender (en pyttipanna), definite "pyttipannan"

10. ärtsoppa och pannkakor

    Yellow pea soup with pancakes

    Usage

    A Thursday dish. Soup of gula ärtor (yellow peas) with pork as the main course, pancakes with jam as dessert — many canteens serve it on Thursdays only. The custom is traced to the Catholic period, when Friday was meatless so Thursday was the day for pork. Warm punsch is the traditional drink with it

    Grammar Note

    "Ärtsoppa" is common gender (en ärtsoppa), definite "ärtsoppan"; "pannkakor" is the plural of "en pannkaka". The dish is also called "ärter med fläsk"

11. falukorv

    Falu sausage

    Usage

    A thick, curved sausage, already cooked, so it is sliced and fried or boiled — remove the outer casing, which is not edible. Since 2001 it has held EU protection as a Guaranteed Traditional Speciality, the only name-protected Swedish meat product, and must be at least 45% beef, horse or pork. "Korv Stroganoff" is the everyday dish made from it

    Grammar Note

    Common gender (en falukorv), definite "falukorven". "Falu" is the combining form of Falun, the old copper-mining town

12. Toast Skagen

    Toast with shrimp in mayonnaise

    Usage

    Butter-fried white bread topped with shrimp in mayonnaise, finished with dill and löjrom. The chef Tore Wretman created it in the 1950s, and it is now a standard "förrätt" (starter)

    Grammar Note

    "Skagen" is the name of a Danish town, though the dish itself is Swedish. Order it as "En toast Skagen, tack"

13. kalops

    Swedish beef stew with allspice

    Usage

    Beef stewed with carrots and onion, defined by kryddpeppar (allspice) and bay leaf — without the allspice it is not kalops. Served with boiled potatoes and pickled beetroot.

14. blodpudding

    Blood pudding

    Usage

    Pig's blood, milk, rye flour and syrup baked in a mould. It is dark and slightly sweet — milder than it sounds. Slice it, fry it in butter and eat it with lingonberry jam; it is standard canteen and school-lunch food

    Grammar Note

    "Blod" (blood) + "pudding". "Pudding" is common gender (en pudding), definite "blodpuddingen"

15. Wallenbergare

    Veal and cream patty

    Usage

    Finely ground veal (innanlår, the topside) mixed with cream and egg yolks, crumbed and fried into a patty about a centimetre thick. Served with mashed potato, lingonberry jam, green peas and clarified butter. It is not cheap, but it is the flagship dish of a proper Swedish restaurant

    Grammar Note

    Nouns in "-are" are common gender: en Wallenbergare, definite "Wallenbergaren". Named after the Wallenberg family

16. renskav

    Sautéed shaved reindeer

    Usage

    Reindeer meat shaved thin from the frozen joint and fried with onion or mushrooms — a Sámi dish that has spread across the Nordic countries. Usually served with mashed potato and lingonberry jam, and easiest to find in Norrland. The same cut from elk or roe deer is called "viltskav"

17. löjrom

    Vendace roe

    Usage

    Roe of the siklöja (vendace) — small, orange grains, served on toast with sour cream and finely chopped raw red onion. "Kalixlöjrom" from the Bay of Bothnia was the first Swedish product to receive an EU protected designation of origin, in 2010; nothing but 4% salt may be added, and it is priced accordingly

18. västerbottenpaj

    Västerbotten cheese pie

    Usage

    A savoury pie made with Västerbottensost. That cheese is a registered trademark made at a single dairy, Norrmejerier in Burträsk, and aged at least 14 months, so nothing made elsewhere may carry the name. The pie became a fixture of the August crayfish party (kräftskiva) from the 1990s. Also spelled "västerbottensostpaj"

    Grammar Note

    "Paj" is common gender (en paj), definite "pajen". The cheese on its own is spelled "Västerbottensost", with the linking -s-

19. knäckebröd

    Rye crispbread

    Usage

    Hard bread of rye flour, water, yeast and salt, also called "hårt bröd". It is the standard accompaniment to pea soup and pickled herring, and in canteens it usually sits by the salad bar at no extra charge

    Grammar Note

    "Bröd" is neuter (ett bröd), so it is "ett knäckebröd", definite "knäckebrödet"

20. smörgåsbord

    Swedish buffet table

    Usage

    There is an order to it. Following the five "turer" (rounds) codified by Tore Wretman in 1961, you start with the herring, move through the cold and then the warm dishes, and finish with dessert — without going back to an earlier round. The Christmas version is the "julbord", which adds rimmad skinka (cured ham) and leverpastej (liver pâté)

    Grammar Note

    "Bord" is neuter (ett bord): "ett smörgåsbord", definite "smörgåsbordet". A compound of "smörgås" (open sandwich) + "bord" (table)

21. tunnbrödsrulle

    Flatbread wrap with sausage

    Usage

    Soft flatbread rolled round mashed potato and a sausage, with shrimp salad, onion, ketchup and mustard. Sold at "gatukök" and "korvkiosk" stands, it is one of the cheapest hot meals in Sweden

    Grammar Note

    Common gender (en tunnbrödsrulle), definite "tunnbrödsrullen". "Tunn" (thin) + "bröd" (bread) + linking -s- + "rulle" (roll)

22. semla

    Cream and almond-paste bun

    Usage

    A cardamom-scented wheat bun filled with almond paste and whipped cream, dusted with icing sugar. It belongs to "fettisdagen" (Shrove Tuesday), though bakeries now sell it from January through Lent — some 40 million are eaten a year. Served in warm milk it is called "hetvägg"

    Grammar Note

    Common gender (en semla), definite "semlan", plural "semlor". Also called "fastlagsbulle" or "fettisdagsbulle"

23. lussekatt

    Saffron bun

    Usage

    A sweet bun coloured golden with saffron, most often rolled into an S ("julgalt") with a raisin in each spiral. It belongs to Advent and to Lucia on 13 December, and bakeries sell it only in that season, alongside glögg and gingerbread

    Grammar Note

    Common gender (en lussekatt), definite "lussekatten", plural "lussekatter". "Lusse" (from Lucia) + "katt" (cat)

24. kanelbulle

    Cinnamon bun

    Usage

    The pastry you will meet most often at fika. It is less sweet than the American cinnamon roll and the dough contains kardemumma (cardamom); there is no icing, just pearl sugar on top. Also called "kanelsnäcka" or "kanelsnurra". 4 October is Kanelbullens dag, instituted by the Hembakningsrådet in 1999

    Grammar Note

    Common gender (en kanelbulle), definite "kanelbullen", plural "kanelbullar"

25. prinsesstårta

    Green marzipan layer cake

    Usage

    Sponge layered with vanilla custard and whipped cream, domed under green marzipan and dusted with icing sugar — the standard birthday and celebration cake. The original recipe contains no jam; the version with jam is a different cake called "operatårta". The name is traced either to the princesses taught by Jenny Åkerström or to "prinsessmandel", the top grade of almond around 1900

    Grammar Note

    Written as one word. Common gender (en prinsesstårta), definite "prinsesstårtan"; "prinsess-" is the combining form of "prinsessa"

26. kladdkaka

    Sticky chocolate cake

    Usage

    A chocolate cake of flour, eggs, butter, sugar and cocoa with no raising agent. The gooey, underbaked centre is the point, not a fault. Served with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream and berries — a café standard

    Grammar Note

    Common gender (en kladdkaka), definite "kladdkakan". "Kladd" (stickiness) + "kaka" (cake)

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