Swedish reindeer & avoiding Rudolph

September 22, 2011

in Eating out in Stockholm,Stockholm,Stockholm restaurants,Stockholm's food,Sweden,Swedish food

reindeer

A reindeer somewhere north of the Artic Circle.

I was accused of having a reindeer fetish the other day. It was all because I’d answered the travel survey question “have you ever been stopped at immigration” and I admitted I’d had reindeer sausage confiscated and a reindeer skin checked out at La Guardia by customs sniffer dogs. So yes, I have to admit that given this little bit of information I might look a bit “suspicious.” But they were both presents for my Dad. Really.

Before I moved to Sweden, I had never, ever seen a reindeer out in the wild. Now I have many times in northern Sweden and Norway. (Around the Arctic Circle, they will saunter ever so casually down the highway, oblivious to the traffic around them.) And I’d never, ever eaten reindeer either. Nor did I even want to try it. But in the last several years, I’ve had it many times: as carpaccio, sausage, stew, steak. We live in Scandinavia, after all. We’re just hanging with the locals.

The other night, I ate some delicious reindeer fillets at Hotel Skeppsholmen. The meat was served up with gravy, mashed potatoes and lingonberries. And you know what, it was really good. I can admit that. Although I wouldn’t dare tell my Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer loving niece that I did. So keep it quiet.

Tagged as: dining at Hotel Skeppsholmen, Eating out in Stockholm, eating reindeer, reindeer

{ 6 comments }

1 Sharon September 23, 2011 at 17:14

A reindeer once surprised me when I was driving off E4 at the Rotebro exit. In Stockholm! He passed right in front of me on the off-ramp and then ambled on down the highway! I always wondered what happened to him…

2 Sandra September 24, 2011 at 10:21

That’s great Sharon. I had no idea that we had reindeer in Stockholm!

3 Sharon September 26, 2011 at 14:53

Gee, I am totally wrong!!! OMG. I meant a moose, of course!! **embarrassed**

4 Sandra September 26, 2011 at 15:48

OK, that is totally hilarious Sharon!

5 Sophie September 27, 2011 at 15:02

I love bumping into reindeer in the wild, esp. the sound of their hooves as they trot down the street. Don’t even have to go all the way up to the Arctic. I once had to stop for a few by Lake Femunden in Norway (close to the Swedish border, near Idre). They were a curious lot, tried to stick their heads in through my car window, but the antlers got in the way. One of those “why of why don’t I have a camera with me “-moments.

As for eating them: I wonder why eating reindeer would be any worse than eating, say deer… Rudolf, Bambi… – or even the Three little pigs. All adorable, no?

6 Sandra September 27, 2011 at 17:31

Great story Sophie. Thanks for sharing it. They are cool and very curious too. Although I have never run into any in Stockholm…
As for eating reindeer, I like it.
My husband likes to laugh that the kangaroo is part of their national symbol, but people eat them too.

Comments on this entry are closed.

Previous post:

Next post: