The Eats

I got a good sampling of Swedish food this week. I’m not normally very adventurous when it comes to food — I’m a meat and potatoes man — but I didn’t want to visit a new land without being willing to try the food. (I won’t guarantee this feeling if I visit some place very exotic.)

Turns out Swedish food is not bad. In fact, I loved some items; some items were decent, but a bit different from what I’m used to. Surprisingly I didn’t really dislike any Swedish food. Unfortunately, I don’t remember the names of most of the items (and probably couldn’t spell the names even if I remembered them).

The following pictures are not all the meals I had — I forgot a few times — and some pictures were taken after I had already started eating — I almost forgot a few times.

The above was the Sunday breakfast served on the SAS (Scandinavian Airlines) flight on the approach to Copenhagen. Nothing unusual to an American, here, other than the white pudding-looking thing in the top left corner — I didn’t try it, so I don’t know what it was.

The above was dinner Monday night. Bean chilli, rice, bread, pasta, sliced ham, cold corn, and a piece of some kind of meat with red sauce.

The above was lunch Tuesday. Swedish meatballs with sauce and sweet lingomberry sauce (think cranberry sauce), boiled potatoes, salad, and bread. I loved this meal.

The above was Tuesday dinner. Sliced ham, warm mashed potatoes, cold corn, a bologna-like sausage covered with cheese and ketchup (the ketchup is part of the item — it was not my doing), a quarter bagel, and a cinnamon bread.

The above was Thursday lunch. Some kind of rice with beans, something I don’t remember, cold green beans, something I couldn’t identify, something Italian, something else I couldn’t identify, wild pig, and bread in the middle. Not pictured was my follow up taste of pancakes with lingomberry sauce and whipped cream — yum!

The above was Friday lunch. This meal was at an American-style sports bar. Cheeseburger, french fries, and a spicy sauce. I liked the sauce a lot, so I put it on my burger and I dipped my fries in it.

“What’s this sauce?” I asked my friends. “I like it, and it’s a bit spicy.”

My friends looked at each other a moment and then said, “It’s supposed to be American dressing.”

“Um, OK,” I said. “I have no idea what it is. It doesn’t taste like any American dressing or sauce I’ve ever had.”

We all got a good chuckle out of that.

The above was my Friday dinner. A nice hot cup of hot chocolate, free from the hotel bar. After so many full meals this week, I enjoyed just sitting in bed for a while and sipping on some hot chocolate. I’m not usually a big hot chocolate fan at home, but something about the cold of Sweden, and the really tasty chocolate in Sweden has given me a new outlook on the beverage.

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Today is my flight back to the US. My flight leaves Copenhagen at around noon, and I finally arrive home at near 9:00 p.m. (that’s 2:00 a.m. Sweden time). So I probably won’t have a timely post on Sunday morning.

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com