Swedish Christmas pairings

WINE TALK
21

Janssons Frestelse (Jansson’s Temptation) is almost always done wrong due to a very basic translation recipe mistake: Swedish Anchovies are not anchovies at all - they’re brined sprats. So if we put Italian style anchovies in this dish, it’s a completely different thing. You need the Swedish salted sprats and the brine they come in, or it’s simply not Janssons. Here’s the brand you want:

50018-1.jpg

As a Swede, I love Swedish xmas food, of course. I just picked up my de-boned raw ham from the butcher and am brining it as we speak. Normally it takes about a week, but 5 days will have to do (I was late). My meatballs are always very popular (I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t love meatballs, lingonberry jam, gravy and potatoes), but every family has their own recipe, so no point in forcing it upon people. Only tip I can give is that for the Xmas meatballs, it’s a good idea to add a little bit of ground cloves to the batter - gives them that christmas vibe.

22

Grandma made this very clear to us haha, but thanks for the tip Adam!

23

[cheers.gif] [highfive.gif]

24

Actually, I didn’t even realize that Lindquist was a Swedish name, since I’ve seen the name written around Sweden and Finland as “Lindqvist”, making me think that Lindquists is an Americanized form of the name. After all, all the Lindquists I’ve seen have been American people. But apparently it’s just a variation of the same name - only a quite rare one in Sweden and Finland. Live and learn!

Nevertheless, like I’ve said earlier, this is the first I heard of using akvavit with glögg, even though I live in a country where glögg is quite a big thing for almost a quarter of a year. To my understanding, most of akvavit consumption in Finland and Sweden happens during summer in crayfish parties, whereas in Norway and Denmark akvavit / snaps seems to be a more common spirit year-round, which is why I think the combination sounds more like Norwegian / Danish to me. I also went through all the glöggs in the Swedish monopoly and while some exotic ones were spiced with stuff like vanilla, cocoa, chili, Cognac and rum, I couldn’t see a single glögg that mentioned akvavit either in the name or in its description.

I also did some googling and virtually all the results on glögg and akvavit (or aquavit) were recipes from American sites. I tried googling for pages in Swedish and Finnish for glögg and akvavit, but couldn’t find really anything.

So while I’m not saying that akvavit wouldn’t suit a glögg, I find it weird hearing that I “forgot” it from my recipe, since it really doesn’t seem to be an integral part of Swedish/Finnish glögg. Especially a blend of a bottle of red wine + a bottle of akvavit sounds REALLY boozy. Where does it clock at - 28-30%? Doesn’t really sound like the glögg I know.

And while we’re on the subject of forgetting, you seemed to have forgotten cloves from your list of spices! If one single spice is necessary to make a glögg taste like glögg, it’s clove.

25

Sherry?

26

While dry Sherry might work like a charm with the fish, it would easily overwhelm most of the other dishes in a Finnish xmas table, since most of the flavors in traditional xmas dishes aren’t that strong. Can’t say how different the Swedish dishes will be, but I doubt this kind of precision weapon would be that successful when taking the other dishes into account.

But who knows, maybe I’ll grab a Manzanilla just for myself to our next xmas table, for the sake of science!

27

Thanks for the suggestion Richard, also makes sense, may help me overcome my fear of sherry as well.

28

Same situation here, my fiancé can’t see family in Sweden, and she loves to bake.

Swedish Spice Cake (Mjuk Pepparkaka) goes well with a Cru Beaujolais, and also a well aged Highland Scotch.

God Jul! :slight_smile:

29

God Jul Alex!

30

The SO family recipe for glugg here is crazy way more complicated, and is made in such quantities that it lasts all winter & spring. Maybe a cup or two at the end of a ski day is ok, but there is something about all the other stuff that is added to it that gives me some kind of headache.

If you can find that strange goat cheese getost that comes in red cubes, I think that is awesome with German rieslings.

31

+1 for the Riesling suggestion, the wine that goes with most dishes on the table.

If an itch for red wine(s) then you could consider adding a another (Swedish) classic or two to the dinner - ribs and/or tongue for example.

32

Champagne will work with the entire menu.

33

Born and raised Swede (in the US) chiming in here, although many good suggestions have been shared already:

Beer/Aquavit combo is really the best way to go. Especially if you do the meal the traditional way, stretching it out for pretty much all day, with little breaks for digestion (walks/games/sledding or iceskating/socializing) in between. For the early parts of the meal (herring, smoked eel, beet root “salad” etc) which rely on some combination of sweet/salt/acetic acid) beer - usually a dark, higher alcohol type , like a stout or porter, although I prefer alternating with a fresher German/Czech-style hoppy lager/pilsner just to keep it fresh. Shots of Aquavit was used to break up all that fat and aid digestion.

Assuming you’re in the US, the best aquavits with any kind of distribution are O.P. Andersen or Linie. Both are fine. The latter is Norwegian, but is really one of the best in the whole category. The American “aquavits” aren’t very subtle, try to find the real deal.

Wine is notoriously hard to match with things like vinegar, and even worse with acetic acid (distilled vinegar) with is key to many of these recipes, along with salt and sugar.

I second the suggestions for sherry, which is the only wine to be able to “match” with acetic acid. I prefer lighter, moderately oxidized, still refreshing ones like a Manzanilla Pasadas or Fino Amontillados. For regular wine, Riesling is OK, ideally something with a little sugar, a lot of acidity and a little age. Go for something like a Lauer or Weiser-Kunstler Kabinett, or if you can find it, a traditional, not too sweet Spätlese with age (JJ Prüm, Christoffel, Merkelbach or a number of others).

If you want to drink red, especially towards the later parts of the meal, this really is where something soft and juicy but refreshing works. Sierra de Gredos Garnacha, fresh Zin (a la Bedrock), good US Pinot etc works well. Many non-wine nerds Swedes opt for something just big and “sweet” - Ripasso/Amarone is the local fav.

I hate to make it sound like it’s a really sweet meal. By American standards, it’s not. But traditionally this is really a feast of fat, sugar and alcohol to brave you for days of eating porridge and whatever tubers survive the winter.

Also: lutfisk isn’t exactly disgusting (like surströmming), but there’s no real reason to eat it either. Portuguese/Italian style bacalao is a better substitute.

I too would agree that aquavit ins’t commonly used in Glögg. Maybe in the past. Unflavored vodka, yes. Rum was/is also common, as well as Port, Madeira and Marsala. Today, many recipes use a vodka/glögg combo to fortify a base of strong red/ruby port.

34

Thanks for all that Arvid, great info!

35

be sure to pair the meal with this, it was a tradition in our household :slight_smile:
xmasinsweden_jelving312.jpg

36

Totally agree on Linie - it’s simply the best snaps. I don’t bother with OP Anderson anymore as this one is king.

God jul!

IMG_0065.JPG

37

Recently enjoyed lussekatter dipped into cream followed by Sauternes…was told this is a modern flavor combo!

38

Interesting!

Pepparkakor (hard ones) are great as replacement of crackers with lots of cheeses, in addition to just being great cookies.

39

Fully concur. A pepparkaka (gingerbread) with blue cheese is a postmodern classic!

40

Yup, just had a bunch with Fourme d’Ambert last weekend [cheers.gif]