Taste of Stockholm

During the last two decades Stockholm has seen an ever increasing number of new high standard eating places. Today Stockholm can offer an impressive amount of high quality restaurants, cafes, pubs and bars. In addition to the well established restaurants that serve traditional Swedish dishes, a variety of ethnic restaurants have sprung up during the last two decades. Fish has a prominent place in the modern Swedish cuisine, do not leave town without tasting it. Not only is Stockholm a beautiful city to look at, it is also clean, really organized, funky and stylish. The people are gorgeous and really know how to enjoy life. With its great food markets, fairs, shops, restaurants and waterfront you'll never be short of things to do there. The city is made up of fourteen main islands, so there are bridges and waterways everywhere, which is why it is often called 'the Venice of the North'. The old town, Gamla Stan, is one of the most beautiful medieval cities around.

 

Although modern day Swedish cuisine is in large parts highly internationalized, many "typical" Swedish attributes, traditions and dishes remain, some of which are many hundreds of years old, others perhaps a century or less. Anyway, authentic Swedish food is not so common nowadays. Internationally, the most renowned Swedish meal is Köttbullar, Swedish meatballs generally made from a combination of pork and beef. They are usually served with mashed potato and a sweet jam. Wine, liquor and beer prices are high in Sweden because of heavy taxation. Beside restaurants and bars, liquor and strong beer can only be purchased in state-owned shops (Systembolaget), during business hours on weekdays. Two lively areas for eating and drinking for both locals and tourists are Sodermalm and Kungsholmen island, but forget about eating cheaply in Stockholm with the exception of good-value set menus for lunch, and Chinese food or pizzas for dinner.

 

"Taste of Stockholm", Stockholm's major annual event, is a food lover’s dream with countless free events. During the six-day June event, Sweden visitors can participate in food-related activities and enjoy Swedish entertainment until everyone had their fill. Every year's Taste of Stockholm begins in the first week of June. Hundreds of delectable treats are on offer in the Kungstradgarden park in the center of Stockholm. Along with good eats, visitors also enjoy live music, entertainment and sports events. Many of the city’s restaurants even cook up special festival menus for this major annual event. Some of the things you must try while in Stockholm are Ulla Winbladh, Konstnärsbaren, Tranan, Rolfs kök, Tennstopet and Magnus Ladulås.

 

Breakfast (frukost) is a fairly big and healthy meal consisting of eggs (scrambled or hard-boiled) with Kavring bread or knäckebröd, ham, cheese, sausages and yoghurt. Most hotels have impressive breakfast buffets. Breakfast is normally included in room rate. Lunch (lunch) is usually a lighter meal. Visitors can also enjoy big buffet tables (smorgasbord) where one can sample a variety of Sweden’s culinary specialties all at once. Dinner (middag) is normally eaten sometime between 6 pm to 10 pm. However, in Stockholm, you will find that dinners are served as late as midnight at a range of establishments especially during the summertime.

 

Some traditional dishes

Pickled herrings are another one of the most famous traditional Swedish dishes, but in Stockholm, you will find herring prepared in a number of styles. Other classic dishes you will find in Stockholm are:
Janssons frestelse ("Jansson's temptation"), a traditional Swedish casserole made of potatoes, onion, pickled sprats and cream.
Kräftskivor (Boiled crayfish), small lobsters primarily consumed during the fishing season in August. The boil is typically flavoured with salt, sugar, ale, and large quantities of the flowers of the dill plant.
Ärtsoppa (Pea soup), basically consisting of yellow peas, a little onion and often pieces of pork. It is often served with a little mustard and followed by thin pancakes.
Gravlax, Scandinavian dish consisting of raw salmon cured in salt, sugar, and dill. It is usually served as an appetizer, sliced thinly and accompanied by hovmästarsås (also known as gravlaxsås), a dill and mustard sauce, either on bread of some kind, or with boiled potatoes. Falukorv, a traditional Swedish sausage which uses a mixture of pork and beef or veal. The meat is then smoked and salted. It can be served boiled or grilled.
Pyttipanna ("leftovers in pan"), is a hodge-potch of food similar to hash. Traditionally consisting of potatoes, onions, and sausage or ham, diced and then pan fried, it is often served with a fried egg, pickled diced beets, sour pickled gherkin, and capers.

 

Östermalm Food Hall

Östermalms Saluhall (also called Östermalmshallen) is a beautiful marketplace food hall, in a magnificent building from 1888. Situated right on the corner of Östermalms Torg and Nybrogatan, it is in the heart of the old Östermalm area of Stockholm. It's a permanent indoor food market that's been around for over a century and is a place that really puts a lot of value and importance on good ingredients and responsible sourcing.The market, situated inside the 3000m2 big hall, was eremoniously inaugurated in 1888 with the presence of King Oscar II. Impressively, the building was raised in only 6 months. Gorgeous food hall with counters and shelves are packed with the best of the finest. There are also numerous restaurants and cafés where you can enjoy traditional Swedish delicacies, with an emphasis on seafood and the classic Swedish fare we call ’husmanskost’. Open lunch and afternoons only. If you're new to Swedish food then it should absolutely be one of your first stops in Stockholm. A great place to people-watch. It's a brilliant way of diving into the food culture and seeing, smelling, and tasting what it's really all about.

 

Swedish Fast Food

You'll find korvkiosker (hot dog stands) all over the city. Try one! A Swedish specialty is a "tunnbrödrulle" which is a soft wrap bread (sort of like a tortilla) with a hot dog and mashed potatoes. It's often topped with shrimp salad. It's as weird as it sounds, but people really do eat it. And if you're there in the summer, go to Slussen subway station, get to the plaza on top and find Strömmingsvagnen for fried herring sandwiches. Not a coffee drinker? Longing for an excellent cup of tea? Go to Chaikhana or Esters The & Kaffehandel.

 

For the Sweet Tooth

You'll find tons of bakeries and pastry shops ("konditorier") all over the city and most of them are very good. Things you definitely want to try include cinnamon buns, Princess cake, chokladbollar, chokladbiskvier and dammsugare. A very good place to go, is Vetekatten. It's very old-fashioned and very quaint. A similar place is Sturekatten on Riddargatan 4 - also very nice. Don't forget to try Lussekatter if you're there in December, or Semlor if you're there between January-March. You'll find excellent home made ice cream at 18 smaker. Stikki Nikki is also great, and serve gelato. And when nothing else will do, there *is* always Ben & Jerry's - in several locations.

 

Coffee

Swedish consumption of coffee (kaffe) is among the highest in the world. Drinking coffee at home or in a café, an act called fika, is a common Swedish social ritual, used for planning activities, dating, exchanging gossip or simply spending time and money. Swedish coffee is slightly stronger than American one. Italian varieties (espresso, cappuccino, caffe latte) are available at most city cafés. One coffee will cost you around 25 SEK ($3,5/€2,8).

 

Alcoholic beverages

The most famous Swedish alcoholic beverage is Absolut Vodka, one of the world's most famous vodkas. There are several brands of distilled, and usually seasoned, liquor, called brännvin or akvavit. When served in a shot glass with a meal it is called snaps (not to confuse with the German "Schnapps"). It is part of custom to drink snaps at midsummers eve and at Christmas. Sweden does produce some outstanding beers, and have in the recent years seen a rise in the numbers of microbreweries. If you are looking for great local beer keep an eye out for breweries like "Slottskällans", "Nils Oscar", "Närke kulturbryggeri", "Jämtlands ångbryggeri" and "Dugges Ale- & Porterbryggeri". You may have some trouble finding them, unless you go to a bar specialized in providing uncommon beer, or one of the well stocked "Systembolag", but you will find a few of them in every major city. Despite this the most common beer is the rather plain "international lager". The beer you get in normal food shops is called folköl and has 2.8 or 3.5% alcohol. You are able to find a variety of different brands of beers in food stores, Swedish, English and even Czech beer. Sweden has a seasonal beer for Christmas, julöl. It is sweeter than normal beer and usually seasoned with Christmas spices, mostly it is of the beer type ale. All Swedish breweries make at least one type of julöl. Wine is popular, but the Swedish production is very modest.