Swedish Easter

Easter traditions vary quit a bit depending where in the world you come from. Team Nikolovski experienced a very nice Easter brunch at friends yesterday with a great mix of traditions, cultures and nationalities. Great tastes from South Africa, Romania, France, Japan, Czech, Macedonia & Sweden. A wild mix of many different flavors that normally wouldn't be combined and everything tasted divine. Swedish Janssons frestelser without company of sill and eggs but in new exciting company of a spring chicken stew, tuna cakes and sushi mix.  Thanks family Murer for arranging this great great Easter brunch ( your nice brunches by the way should change name as they tend to last way longer then for brunch, more like a lunch, snack and dinner all in one..) lets make it a tradition.

I like getting an insight of other traditions and it also gets me to think more about our Swedish traditions and what part I want Mila to inherit. Swedish Easter as Easter in many other countries focus less and less of Jesus and more of the commercial parts and eating huge amounts of sweets. Here comes a short introduction of Swedish Easter

Easter eggs & Sweets

Recent statistic show that average Swedish family eat 1,2 kilos of sweets every week and during Easter it increases with 1 kilo per person. Pick and mix sweets are not only super cheap these days it also has the top position in all super markets. So Swedes buy colorful Easter eggs made in paper in different sizes and fill them full of sweets. It is the Easter rabbit who comes with the eggs. Hides the eggs in the garden so the kids (and adults) can go for a treasure hunt to find them, great fun but far to much sweets.
My grandmother Maja always used to put socks in my Easter eggs, super boring but the older I get I realize that it is not a bad idea and so I guess that it is what Mila can expect in her future eggs. My mother also informed me that I am not longer entitled for Easter egg now when Mila is here and will be prioritized by the Easter rabbit ( I am not sure what I think of this... Unfair.. I love treasure hunts and Easter eggs..)

 

Påskkärringar// Easter witches

Easter witches are an old tradition in Sweden and comes from the believe that witches are flying on a broom to "Blåkulla" (Blue hill) the night between Wednesday and Thursday Easter week. This tradition is inspired by the extensive witch hunt that took place in 1660-1670 and since beginning of the 19th century kids get dressed up as Easter witches. Dressed in discarded clothing, gaily colored headscarves, red painted cheeks and lips and freckles, they walk from door to door in the neighborhood and hand out hand-made Happy Easter cards and hope for sweets in return. Great fun to get dressed up as a witch and I remember cursing the neighbors that only gave us boring oranges and not sweets.

Smörgåsbord

As all other Swedish traditions the food is a traditional Swedish smorgasbord (buffé) here you find for example: meatballs, small sausages, eggs, salmon, herring, potatoes, omelet and Jansson´s Temptations (potatoes, onions and anchovy) the dish I made for our brunch yesterday. The food is accompanied with nubbe ( schnaps) påskmust ( alcohol free Easter soda sweet like a coca cola but with a very special taste) and Easter beer.

If you want to read more I found this site about Swedish traditions