{"id":351,"date":"2010-01-21T09:48:10","date_gmt":"2010-01-21T13:48:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/?p=351"},"modified":"2016-12-13T20:53:40","modified_gmt":"2016-12-13T20:53:40","slug":"lussekatter-and-semlas-and-waffles-oh-my","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/lussekatter-and-semlas-and-waffles-oh-my\/","title":{"rendered":"Lussekatter and Semlas and Waffles! Oh, My!"},"content":{"rendered":"

The winter season in Sweden is marked by baked goods. From December to the end of March, your local konditori will be filled with some very specific treats. Of course, delicious baked goods can always be found in Sweden, but certain times of the year bring with them certain bakery items. In December, Lucia brings Lussekatter<\/a>. In February, (or March depending on the calendar) Fettisdagen (or Mardi Gras) brings semlas. And at the end of March, V\u00e5ffeldagen brings waffles.<\/p>\n

This year, Fettisdagen is February 16th and with less than a month left until the big day, the bakeries are rolling them out. Semlas are cardamom flavored buns with the top cut off and the center hollowed out. The hollow is filled with an almond paste and whipped cream. Lots of whipped cream. The semla is topped off with a little hat of cardamom bun. Perfect to use as a scoop for all of that whipped cream.<\/p>\n

While delicious, semlas are also blamed for the death of a Swedish king. On February 12, 1771, King Adolf Fredrik died, most likely from a stroke, although the amount of food consumed in his last supper is often cited as playing a roll. Including the semlas, which the king apparently loved.<\/p>\n

Swedes also celebrate waffles, despite baked goods being blamed for the murder of Swedish royalty. Of course, their celebration of waffles stems from a bit of linguistic gymnastics. March 25th is the Annunciation, nine months before Christmas and so celebrated as the day that Mary immaculately conceived Jesus. In Swedish, it is referred to as \u201cV\u00e5rfrudagen,\u201d \u201cV\u00e5rfru\u201d meaning \u201cOur Lady.\u201d The Swedish word for waffle is \u201cv\u00e5ffel.\u201d I think you see where this is going. Today, \u201cV\u00e5rfrudagen\u201d is \u201cV\u00e5ffeldagen\u201d and Swedes have chosen to celebrate waffles. Usually eaten with whipped cream and strawberry jam. Maybe some sugar if you\u2019re feeling adventurous. I\u2019ve developed a horrible sweet tooth since moving here. Just so you know.<\/p>\n

The development of cultural customs is fascinating. Especially when a linguistic twist can lead to waffles being eaten instead of a religious holiday being celebrated and a dessert is blamed for the death of a king. But with so many days dedicated to sweets, I can\u2019t help but wonder \u2013 do other countries celebrate food items like Sweden does, or is the country tormented by the same sweet tooth I have developed?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The winter season in Sweden is marked by baked goods. From December to the end of March, your local konditori will be filled with some very specific treats. Of course, delicious baked goods can always be found in Sweden, but certain times of the year bring with them certain bakery items. In December, Lucia brings…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[3286,3400,3501],"class_list":["post-351","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-culture","tag-lussekatter","tag-semlor","tag-vafflor"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=351"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7595,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351\/revisions\/7595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}