A sign outside a local bakery announces that semlor are finally here.
Sweden celebrates Fat Tuesday – Fettisdagen – with semlor. Traditionally, this was the only day you should eat a semla – a wheat bun spiced with cardamon that has its top cut off and insides scooped out so as to better be filled with a mound of whipped cream and almond paste. To me, it looks look a cream-filled version of a hamburger. And I have to admit that I have never liked the combination of wheat bun, cream and cardamon.
One of the aspects of living in Sweden that I find most annoying and charming all at once is that there are rules for how things should be done. And the rule regarding semlor is that they should be eaten today. As semlor have been in the stores for about two weeks now, that rule seems to have been relaxed a bit, but there are still purists out there. There was an interview in one of the papers yesterday asking people on the street if they had eaten a semla yet: three had and one had not. The one that had not replied that he only eats one semla a year and that is on Fettisdagen.
Whether you have already had one or not, you have to eat one today. All the newspapers have done their taste tests and offer their advice on which bakeries make the best semlor, so you don’t have to buy one uninformed. Who knows, I may even break down and buy one myself. It’s good to do like the natives, you know.
{ 1 trackback }
{ 5 comments }
I can taste a semlor now..yum, yum!! Something only to indulge in Sweden though.
Hi Maria, No, I think semlor are not exportable beyond Scandinavia!
I read about them last week. They look so tasty and so unhealthy. I guess it’s lagom only to have them on one day a year.
When I moved to Sweden 30 years ago, semlor were only available for a limited time, a few weeks before Fat Tuesday, on Tuesdays. Then it was increased to Tuesdays and Thursdays and eventually to all the days of the week. The number of weeks began increasing too. I don’t remember when it all happened, but suddenly semlor could be found at Christmas!
And the reason why they are supposed to be eaten on Fat Tuesday, is, of course, because Lent (called Fasten in Swedish, which means “to fast”) starts the day after and this was the last goody to be eaten before Easter.
My family all ate their first semlor yesterday – complete with warm milk! Yum!
That’s great Sharon. I love the blasts from the past that you are so wonderful to share.
The other day, a very old-school Swedish friend of Robert’s scolded him for having a semla before Fat Tuesday!
Comments on this entry are closed.