Food Envy – Swedish Edition

Food Envy is something that I always get when I see photos of the amazing foods my friends are eating when they travel. However, that envy is inspiration in itself! So, today I’m sharing with you some of my favorite foods I ate in Sweden and showing a glimpse of the the fun places I had them:

Not being a HUGE breakfast eater at home, I was surprised to find that the first meal of the day ended up being something I looked forward to very much. Mari-Anne and Anders were amazing and had breakfast ready for us every morning! Each morning started with one of them yelling, “Frukost!” up the stairs. When I got downstairs there was always coffee, bread, cheese, ham, yogurt, granola and often berries. The dairy products here are unreal. It tastes real, fresh and unprocessed. I still long for Swedish yogurt with Mari-Anne’s homemade granola. 

*all but bottom right by Lina

Swedish candy (godis), oh my goodness, how can I adequately describe the amazing-ness that is Swedish Candy? As I’m writing this I am munching on the quickly-dwindling stash that I brought back with me thinking about how I’m going to have to ask someone to ship me some sugarbites soon. Ha! From the very first time I met Lina in January, she’s been telling me that she misses Swedish candy, she’s tried to describe it to me and told me about the experience of buying it… So, our very first day there, after breakfast, a shower and a nap buying candy was the thing to do.  We walked to their corner store and even in the smallest of stores there’s an impressive selection of candies.  I was hooked instantly.  I got a small bag of lots of different goodies to choose from and I never looked back. Candy was a bi-weekly purchase from then on. From the white cube-shaped sugarbites, to the melt-in-your-mouth chocolates to the cute car-shaped bilar. I became an addict.  Mmm- I just ate my last sugarbite.

Abborreberg is a cute little hostel/restaurant/venue in the archipelago town of Lindö, just outside of Norrköping. Lina’s sister got married here, so on the day of the rehearsal and of the wedding.  Lina had the pancakes which come with a scoop of ice-cream and jam! YUM! I had the most amazing curry chicken salad in a baked potato. It was seriously tasty. The day of the wedding I splurged on a pastry and I had the most amazing cake. It tastes like a brownie that wasn’t completely cooked all the way. It is solid, but moist and gooey. Amazing! If you’re in Norrköping I would recommend that you take the drive up to this cozy cafe and have lunch on the terrace while looking out at the water.

Swedish Cheesecake isn’t what you’re thinking… Cheesecake as Americans know it does exist, but this cake () directly translates to cheese-cake. One of our last nights in Norrköping Mari-Anne and Anders made us this cheese cake. I was leery about trying this when Lina didn’t even want any, but we all had at least a bite. The cake has in interesting texture, almost a bit eggy, and it’s served with homemade whipped cream (also, isn’t the same as it is in the States- little/no sugar added) and jam.  Traditionally it’s the jam pictured above, which I tasted, but opted for strawberry jam instead.

*bottom right by Liz

We went out a couple of times for cocktails… but my absolute favorite place to get a drink was Enjoy in Norrköping. On our second night we stopped here for Lina’s sister’s bachelorette party, and I had been daydreaming about having a specific cocktail for weeks: the Cute-cumber. So, we went back one night with friends and had cute-cumbers, brambles, wine and of course an amazing time! This is a place that I would highly recommend, and if you need something to munch on, go for the french fries. 

*middle and bottom photos by Liz

This isn’t so much about the food we ate- although, it was AMAZING! (Thanks, Jonas and Magda for cooking such a phenomenal dinner!) This was more about the way we ate. Our last evening in Uppsala friends and family came together bringing food and drink to enjoy the Swedish summer. We sat in the park for hours, grilling dinner, sharing potato salad, roasting marshmallows to make the American-Swedish version of s’mores, laughed and thoroughly enjoyed being together and soaking up the sunshine.

While this pizza isn’t out-of-this-world different (but it is out-of-this-world tasty), the pizza experience is very unique.  Most pizzerias are owned by mediterranean or middle-eastern families and also serve kebabs, gyros, etc. Also, there is a “pizza salad” that’s a bit like cole slaw here in the states. We went for a traditional margherita pizza, but Anders and Mari-Anne opted for the banana-shrimp pizza! Plus, my favorite part of this experience was Liz cutting the pizza with scissors! hehe

We have been doing waffles all wrong in the US because this is the way to do it: Jam. Ice cream. Amazing. I don’t know why we’re not doing this. This was such a fun meal, and it’s totally how I’m going to eat my waffles at home from now on.

*photo by Liz

Although I know this isn’t an exclusively Swedish thing, this was my first time having rhubarb pie, and it looks a bit different than the rhubarb pies that I’ve seen in the South. I had this tasty treat at Skeppsgården and loved it! It was served with a sweet, vanilla cream to balance out the tartness of the rhubarb. Needless to say, I’m a big fan.

Lina had been telling me all about how Swedes love strawberries, and to be honest it was always one of my favorite deserts.  Sometimes served with whipped cream (unsweetened), sometimes served with ice cream, sometimes with meringue, and sometimes with all three. It was always delicious, fresh and summery.

I have already written a post on the concept of fika, but I wanted to specifically give a shoutout to this cozy little cafe in Norrköping called Fika. It has different levels and has almost a vintage tea room style of decoration. It was really reasonably priced, and very tasty. 

On our way to Gothenburg we stopped at IKEA for lunch. I had never been to IKEA, so it was pretty cool that my first experience was while in Sweden. I had had Swedish meatballs in the states, and loved them, but they don’t even come close to the heaven in a meatball that I ate here. (Although, I hear that the IKEAs in the states taste the same.) I cleared my plate in a matter of moments! I even ate a meatball off of Liz’s plate. Yum! 

I wrote a post on our day trip to Söderköping and how we ate ice cream for lunch at Smultronstället. This was my selection. It was filled with raspberries, peach halves, a sugar cookie, cheesecake ice-cream, apricot sorbet, and white chocolate shavings. This was a serious sundae.  

There were so many amazing meals, and at camp I had so many, but was in such a relaxation mode (and I was so busy eating all the time) that I forgot to photograph them. I loved the food in Sweden! The only things I didn’t like were radishes and a fish taco casserole, but, by golly, I tried them. It was a great place for eating. Nothing was outrageously different or “out there”. It was basically the same ingredients fixed different ways, and I think it’s easy to see how I gained a little under 8 pounds on this trip! Ha!

I truly had such an amazing experience in Sweden and I wouldn’t have had a visit like this if it weren’t for Liz & Lina inviting me opening all of these opportunities for me, Lina’s family and friends for being so inviting and my own parents for being so supportive of me. I know traveling & blogging isn’t the most conventional thing to do and I’ve had a crazy year traveling 100+ days, but they’re always behind me! I love all of these people and they will never fully know what their support means to me!

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