Posts Tagged ‘Swedish midsummer’
How to Celebrate Swedish Midsummer (A Free Zine)
This coming weekend marks the celebration of Swedish midsommar. In honor, I made a zine that you can download, print, and fold at home. It even includes a recipe for a strawberry and cardamom cake. If you need help on how to cut and fold this zine, you can find instructions for that here (as well as a zine about another favorite Swedish custom of mine: fika).
Want more inspiration for celebrating Swedish midsummer? Here are a few ideas for planning a Swedish Midsummer dinner, which includes some additional links to recipes.
To download the zine click here. It is designed to be printed on a 8.5×11″ piece of paper.
This zine is free to download and print, but in exchange, I would like to ask you to consider making a donation to the Black Food Sovereignty Coalition, or any local organization in your community that’s focused on the intersection of race and food. I have always loved celebrating midsommar because it’s very much a celebration of seasonal food, and given the ongoing inequities in access to food and access to land for BIPOC communities, I think that this is a great time to highlight that food justice is racial justice.
Silltårta // Pickled Herring Cake
I was in Sweden celebrating midsummer a few years ago, and someone brought a pickled herring cake to the dinner. Beautifully decorated and pairing all of my favorite midsummer flavors in one dish, it was an instant favorite. Ever since, I’ve been making my own to add to the midsummer dinner spread.
If you’re a little weirded out by the idea of a herring cake, think of it more like a glorified open-faced sandwich. The bottom is a layer of sweet, dense rye bread which is then topped with herring, chives and eggs. Traditionally, the herring is mixed together with sour cream and cream cheese or quark, and then gelatin is used to firm it up. I never have any of the above on hand in my kitchen, so my twist is to use yogurt, straining it first to thicken it and make a kind of labneh, that is then mixed in with the herring.
Glad Midsommar!
Today is the celebration of Swedish midsummer, my personal favorite holiday of the year.
Swedish Midsommar 101
It’s summer solstice this week, which means it’s high time for Swedish midsommar, the best of holidays. Why? Because it’s a classic Swedish tradition that celebrates the longest day of the year, with food and drink at the center. In other words, an event to celebrate the sun. Put good food, a few glasses of aquavit and a table of friends together and you have yourself a party. Read the rest of this entry »
Friday Photo: Glad Midsommar!
It’s Sweden’s official celebration of midsommar this weekend, which is of course leading to major withdrawal symptoms for me. Pickled herring, potatoes and plenty of Aquavit are key players in celebrating the return of the sun during this ultimate of traditions. And of course the never-setting sun. So it’s off to listen to Monica Zetterlund and dream of sitting around a table in the Swedish countryside singing “helan går.”
