My Midsommar weekend
Midsommar is probably the most Swedish of holidays. It’s an old pagan holiday to celebrate the brightest day of the year. As Sweden is located far north the days here are really long at this time of the year. with the northern parts experiencing constant sunlight. After a long, cold and dark winter, we all crave the light, and I guess it makes us all go a little crazy.
The last few years i have celebrated midsommar with friends, but this year i decided i was going to go back to my parents summer house and celebrate it with my family (my parents, my brother, some of my cousins, and my uncle and aunt). The 5 hours on the hot and sweaty train to get to the southern parts of Sweden would prove to be worth it.
The traditional way to celebrate revolves around a maypole (midsommarstång/majstång) that is dressed in leaves and flowers. These raised poles are then danced around in ring, to typical midsommar music (most popular song is about… frogs). It’s quite odd, and i skipped the dancing part this year. My cousins went and apparently they had a blast.
Instead i focused on the food. Traditional Swedish midsommar food is potatoes, soused or pickled herring, chives and sour cream. This is all of course traditional swedish food, and throughout history midsommar has been the first time you’ve been able to eat fresh potatoes, which are superior in taste to the ones you’ve had stocked away for months. To this you’ll drink beer or wine, and of course snaps. The snaps is either akvavit, vodka or flavored vodka. But the flavoring is not like the kind of vodka you’d use in long drinks or drink with ice. Instead, the flavors are strong, and usually it’s made from herbs. Of course, my father insists that the more disgusting the snaps is, the better it helps you handle the, rather fat, midsommar food. Thankfully i managed to sneak some of the more pleasant kinds into my glass after the first round. This year we also had gravlax, pies, patés made from pike, meatballs, Janssons frestelse, salad, bread, some slices of turkey and a variety of sauces. All in all, a great feast.
The dessert is just as important as the main course. There are no options here. If you celebrate midsommar, you’re having strawberries for dessert, that’s it. And why would youwant to have it any other way? Fresh strawberries with vanilla ice cream. So simple, so good.
As the swedish summer is really unpredictable, it’s very common with rain on midsommar, which is the only day of the year people are more or less praying for good weather. We managed to avoid heavy showers this year, and had a great time, being able to sit outdoors until 10 pm under the summer sun.
I spent my midsommar in Åhus, in the southern part of Sweden. Åhus is where Absolut vodka originates, and some parts of the production is still in the small village (don’t ask me what though). For me though, Åhus was all about ice cream. When i grew up, I would look forward to the summers in Åhus, so that I could eat those magificent huge ice creams, that were dipped in chocolate. Ice cream and chocolate, for a small boy, it doesn’t get much better than that, and frankly, it still makes my mouth water. Sitting by the river in the port and eating a freshly made cone with some of this years weird new flavors is still one of my favorite things to do in the summer.
Midsommar is by far my favorite holiday, and I had a blast this year! I could have used some sunscreen though…
7 Comments to “My Midsommar weekend”
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The ice cream part was — urgg… and dipped in chocolate!!! You shouldn’t post things that make people go crazy!
This is an awesome post though. I don’t know midsummer celebration but with your explanation I guess I understand now why it’s huge over there.
Nice post!
Your plate of food is bringing back all the happy food memories from the night… om nom nom.
And what pretty bottles of snaps! Did you make your own? If you did, I would love the recipe! I made my own for the first time and wrote about it here if you’re interested: http://blogs.sweden.se/expat/2011/06/28/oh-snaps-its-midsummer/.
Hope you’re doing well! – Kate
The bottle of snaps is just frozen inside a milk carton with flowers and leaves. In this case i think it was a bottle of akvavit. It’s a pretty way of keepting the snaps cold. We did not make our own snaps this year.
YAY! looks like a lot of fun with your family. Food, booze, family, flowers around your head- can’t get any better then that! *High Five* to Midsommar! Sounds like a great celebration!
Midsommar sounds like a great celebration. That icecream looks to die for. Holy crap! Nice flower wreath btw…very manly.
yeah, it’s my favorite swedish tradition. With cray fish parties coming in second :P
I know, is my manliness too much for you? ;)
I am planning on being in Sweden next June for MidSommar. I cannot wait!