How to buy Swedish food abroad Posted by jennie on Sep 1, 2011 in Culture
As a Swede living abroad, the monthly trip to IKEA is big treat. Not so much for the flat packs and the tea candles, but more so for the mouth watering food department. Lingonberry jam, pickled herring, knäckebröd, Daim cake… Well, you probably all know what it’s like. Or, what it WAS like, I should say. Because over the past years, IKEA have slowly but steadily changed the stock from familiar Swedish meatballs-sausages-cookies-herring-bread-coffee-brands to IKEA’s own brand IKEA Food. Pretty much all food you buy in IKEA nowadays are IKEA Food labelled or will be in the near future, and this makes the expat in me quite sad. A bit pathetic, I know. But there was something quite fulfilling about seeing the familiar brands of meatballs-sausagge-cookies-herring-bread-coffee on our kitchen shelves. Not to mention, the quality of it the ‘proper’ stuff. It’s of course rather obvious why IKEA is doing this and understandable as well, I suppose. But it doesn’t change the fact that I still want my Leksand’s Knäckebröd and my Pågen’s Hönökaka.
One good thing being a Swede living in the UK is Totally Swedish. It’s a Swedish shop based in London which has become so popular it is now a chain (read more here!). The deliver all over the UK for a reasonable price and it’s like Christmas Eve all over when the delivery guys knock on the door. I have a few friends in USA who use Sweden’s Best for their Swedish food fix and someone once recommended Sverige Online for deliveries worldwide.
Where do you people turn when you need a dose of Sweden? And what are your absolute favourites that you would happily pay loads for in your local supermarket?
My top 5 Swedish foods are the following tasty five:
*Almond Cake made from the chocolate brand Daim. Cake heaven.
*Falukorv, my favourite a sausage that you must and should eat with…
*…Snabbmakaroner, the pasta of all pastas – and they are ready in only three minutes!
*Hönökaka, a sweet bread from the west coast of Sweden.
*Leksands knäckebröd, read Katjas post about this deliscios type of bread here!
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Comments:
Nikki:
Oh my god, that almond cake is AMAZING. I actually have Ikea’s Swedish cookbook and they have a recipe for almond cake in it which I now have a massive urge to make!
I find their knäckebröd overpriced though, so I just buy Ryvita or Finn Crisp (which is actually the better of the two).
Diane R. Johnson:
Living in Chicago, I just go to the Swedish deli or the Swedish bakery in Andersonville on Clark Street.
There used to be 2 delis, but the larger one closed upon the owner’s retirement. At the remaining deli you can still get fresh potatascorv, Gothenborgscorv, pickled herring, bondost, etc. At the bakery, you can get Limpa and other things.
Some people go to Ann Sather’s for a Swedish restaurant meal of say, meatballs, but I don’t find it very authentic. There are also Svea, and Tre Kronor restaurants.
Helen:
I just looked in to the Sweden’s Best site, and wow, some of the items are so overpriced, compared to the same items at my local Ikea store. It is sad that the Ikea stores are not only changing to their own brand, but getting rid of item after item. I wish I could find a place were I can buy Falukorv.
Jerry Nelson:
Olsen’s in Ballard (Seattle) Washington was great but now sadly closed I am looking for a new source in the states! Some things I can make myself (potatis korv) but the rest I have to buy!
Judy:
Does Ikea still have Kalles Kaviar? I did not see it on the website, and I haven’t been to the store in ages. Kalles really reminded me of Sweden more than anything at Ikea!
Linda Bliss | The Swedish Smorgasbord:
As a Swede living in London I love ‘Totally Swedish’ and recently visited their new store in Barnes to get some herrgårdsost. I also like to go to Swedish restaurants for a quick Swedish food fix – in London I recommend the Harcourt Arms pub, try any Swedish dish with Kopparberg’s cider! 🙂
Anne Grubb:
In London, there’s also the Scandinavian Kitchen that sells Swedish and other Scandinavian food stuff. They also deliver to the whole of the UK. www. scandikitchen.co.uk And there’s a Scandinavian restaurant in South Ken as well.
susan:
Does anyone know where to get Swedish food in Canada? My husband is devastated that he can’t find Kalle’s at IKEA any more!
Jessica:
In Australia we have Swedish Goodies. They have a store in Surfers Paradise plus you can order online for $10 flat shipping Australia Wide. 🙂
anita Suffredini:
Iwould like to buy Leksands Knackebrod.
Esteban:
Thanks a lot for the info. It´s an old entry though, so I hope I still can (somehow) get some swedish food. I´m from Chile, and went to Sverige for 6 months. Since I left, what I have missed the most (believe it or not) is the hårdbröd, specially Leksands.
I’ll see if I can get it sent from somewhere.