Swedish Christmas treats – Julmust and Pepparkakor
With last Sunday being the Advent Sunday I realised there’s not a lot of days till Christmas, and I got in the mood for some of the traditional Swedish Christmas treats. I’m really not a traditional guy, but when it comes to Christmas me, and most other Swedes are very traditional. There are a lot of things that is only around at the holiday season and two of them are Julmust and Pepparkakor
Pepparkakor and Julmust
Julmust
Translating Julmust to english is not an easy task, but a literal translation would be “Christmas juice“. Being invented as an alternative to alcoholic beverages in the 1920′s, this soft drink now completely rules Christmas. The recipe is a secret, and only two people know it. Julmust is so popular that it knocks out the sales of a lot of the other soft drinks in the month of December. One example of this is Coca-Cola sales drastically dropping by 50% in the holiday month compared to other months. Coca-Cola has even tried to buy the recipe without succeeding. When that didn’t succeed, they tried to develop their own Julmust, but that failed too.
Taste wise, Julmust is not like any other soda i have ever tried. It contains both hops and malt, just like beer, but the taste is still far from it. It tastes a little like cola, but sweeter, and fizzier. I would say there’s a hint of ginger, cinnamon and dark cherry. I can’t describe it, but to me it just tastes like Christmas. When poured into a glass, the drink has a dark color and the head rises quickly as it’s heavily carbonated.
Julmust
Outside of Sweden, the best place to find Julmust would probably be IKEA. If you get to try it, please let me know what you think.
Pepparkakor
Pepparkakor (literally, pepper cakes) is a thin and brittle gingerbread cookie, that is closely associated with Christmas. It’s a very traditional treat, and has been around in Sweden since the 14th century. Originally it contained peppers (hence the name) but nowadays gets its special taste from cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and cloves. The cookies come in many shapes, with hearts being the most usual. If you make your own, or buy them at a bakery, there should be royal icing on them aswell. There’s a lot of myths about Pepparkakor, the main one being that they make you a nicer person. There’s also a kids game in which you try to break the cookie in three parts and if you’re successful you will be granted a wish.
Pepparkakor
Breaking it in three pieces
In recent years, the biscuit has been made popular as a cheese cracker, and goes surprisingly well with Blue Cheese. Others love to dip it in coffee or just eat them as they are.
Personally i like them best with a glass of Julmust. Outside of Sweden, your best bet to find Pepparkakor is, once again, IKEA.
8 Comments to “Swedish Christmas treats – Julmust and Pepparkakor”
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That is interesting. I really like this post. So you broke the cookie in 3 parts, what’s your wish? :P
Julmust is not my thing, but I love pepparkakor!! In the US, you can also find them at World Market. In comparison to American gingerbread, I think they’re thinner and crispier… not the big chewy things we like to eat, but super delicious in their own right!
How can you not like Julmust?! :P
Have you tried pepparkakor with blue cheese yet? :)
Interesting :D I am curious on how good that Julmust is knowing the fact that it did beat Coke in terms of sales every Holidays. Hmmm… is Christmas in Sweden more laid back compared to ours here in the Philippines? :P
I would say it’s actually more of the tradition than the taste that makes it so popular. It’s just an essential part of Christmas for us.
Yeah, I would say so, from what I have been told. Plus the fact that your malls were decorated in mid October when i was there, and there was countdowns on tv and all… more relaxed, definitely :P
Our Christmas is like the Thanksgiving in the US and more. We have so many traditions associated with Christmas and New Year, almost everything is symbolic — but what I love is that there’s this festive mood in the air wherein everybody is happy, generous and loving — plus all the parties and activities and the blinking lights. Suddenly everyone is “family”.
I’ve never tried either of those, and even though I’m not a big soda fan, even the Julmust looks delicious! I hope your cookie wishes come true.
I’m really not sure what anyone non-swedish would think of Julmust, as it’s a very weird taste to many. But it’s just Christmas in a glass to us. :)