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What is Sweden’s national dish?

Sweden is a Scandinavian country located in Northern Europe. It is known for its natural beauty, progressive values, and appreciation for design and functionality. When it comes to Swedish cuisine, there are some iconic dishes that come to mind like meatballs, pickled herring, and cinnamon buns. But is there an official national dish of Sweden?

The Complex History of Swedish National Dishes

There has been much debate over what counts as Sweden’s national dish. For many years, people associated Swedish meatballs or gravadlax (cured salmon) as the unofficial national dishes of Sweden. However, Sweden has never formally declared any official national dish.

Up until the mid 20th century, food culture in Sweden centered around what ingredients were readily available based on the region’s geography and climate. The dishes consumed were very localized and varied greatly depending on if you lived along the coastlines and rivers or within the central farmlands. For example, Swedes from fishing communities relied heavily on herring and other seafood in their cuisines whereas agricultural communities consumed more cheeses, breads, berries, vegetables and freshwater fish.

It wasn’t until more modern times when improved transportation infrastructure allowed ingredients to be easily distributed across Sweden that more unified cuisine began to emerge. Dishes like meatballs, gravadlax, and pickled herring became more commonly consumed across the country. Additionally, globalization and immigration from places like Turkey, Greece and the Middle East introduced new flavors and dishes into Swedish food culture.

The Case for Swedish Meatballs as the National Dish

If a national dish for Sweden had to be chosen, Swedish meatballs (köttbullar) would be a top contender. Meatballs likely originated from influences from Turkey and Greece but took on a unique form in Sweden.

The typical Swedish meatball contains a mix of ground beef and pork, onions, breadcrumbs, egg, milk and spices shaped into small spheres and then pan-fried. They are often served with a brown cream sauce, lingonberry jam, and boiled potatoes.

Swedish meatballs grew very popular in the 1800s and became associated with traditional Swedish home cooking. The dish gained international recognition at the 1939 New York World’s Fair when Sweden brought meatballs and other native food to represent the country.

To this day, Swedish meatballs are an iconic part of Swedish cuisine. They are served in homes, schools, cafeterias and restaurants across the country. The global furniture chain IKEA has also famously commercialized the dish, solidifying Swedish meatballs as a symbol of Swedish culture.

Reasons Why Swedish Meatballs Can Qualify as the National Dish

  • They are recognized globally as being authentically Swedish
  • They have been popular within Sweden for over 200 years
  • They are served and enjoyed regularly by Swedes of all backgrounds
  • They utilize ingredients reflective of Sweden’s geography like beef, pork and potatoes
  • They represent a cuisine tying together international influences

The Case for Cinnamon Buns as the National Dish

If not meatballs, cinnamon buns or “kanelbullar” could be considered Sweden’s unofficial national dish. Cinnamon buns are a beloved Swedish baked good often served daily as part of Sweden’s coffee-centric culture known as fika.

Cinnamon buns were likely introduced to Sweden in the 1920s by bakers inspired by Austrian and German baking traditions. The cinnamon bun took off in popularity across cafes, bakeries and homes in Sweden, becoming an iconic part of everyday Swedish cuisine.

The basic cinnamon bun consists of a rich yeasted dough that is rolled up with cinnamon sugar filling and topped with pearl sugar before baking. Swedes have created many variations on the classic cinnamon bun adding things like apples, nuts, vanilla custard and cardamom.

Reasons Why Cinnamon Buns Can Qualify as the National Dish

  • They are widely available across Sweden in cafes, bakeries and grocery stores
  • They are frequently served as part of the daily coffee break fika
  • They have been popular in Sweden for nearly 100 years
  • They represent an adaptation of a foreign pastry into an everyday Swedish treat

Other Notable Swedish Dishes and Their Origins

While cinnamon buns and meatballs may be the front runners for national dish, here are some other important Swedish foods:

Gravadlax

Gravadlax or cured salmon is a delicacy of cured fish made by burying salmon filets in salt, sugar and dill for multiple days. It emerged as a way to preserve fresh salmon in the days before refrigeration.

Pickled Herring

Pickling herring in a vinegar, sugar and spice brine has been a way to preserve fresh herring from the Baltic Sea for hundreds of years in Sweden. It remains popular today as a smörgåsbord item.

Kroppkakor

These potato dumplings stuffed with salty pork emerged as a staple in the mining communities of Sweden’s north in the 19th century.

Ostkaka

A cheesecake-like dessert made from curds, whey, cream and eggs that dates back centuries as a way to use up dairy products in Sweden.

Kanelbullar

As described earlier, these beloved cinnamon buns came to Sweden in the early 20th century and are now ubiquitous across the country.

Kåldolmar

Cabbage rolls filled with a mix of rice, beef and pork emerged in the late 1800s and took inspiration from similar dishes found in Turkey and Greece.

Köttsoppa

A clear meat soup often served over thin pancakes was mentioned in Swedish cookbooks as far back as the 1600s.

Julbord

A Christmas smörgåsbord loaded with cold cuts, warm dishes, cheeses, breads and sweets that highlights many traditional Swedish holiday foods.

Why Sweden May Never Declare an Official Dish

With a diversity of established national favorites across Sweden’s regions, it is difficult to crown just one dish as the representation of all Swedish cuisine. Different areas still connect strongly with their local food traditions that utilize the resources around them.

Additionally, Sweden has become more multicultural in recent decades with over 1.2 million foreign-born immigrants living in the country. This has exposed Sweden to more outside culinary influences and complicated the idea of strictly “Swedish” food.

The public and government have not pushed for an official national dish declaration, being content with their wide range of beloved traditional dishes. The culture seems to prefer not singling out any specific food to represent the entire nation.

So while Swedish meatballs and cinnamon buns can claim to be symbols of the country, neither can officially carry the title of Sweden’s true national dish. The cuisine is arguably stronger for embracing its diversity rather than forcing a solitary national representation.

Conclusion

Swedish cuisine emerged from the localized food traditions across the country’s different regions based on geography and resources. In more recent times, dishes like meatballs, gravadlax, herring and cinnamon buns became more nationally recognized through improved transportation and increased cultural blending. However, Sweden has never officially declared one dish as its representative national food, likely owing to its varied culinary preferences across its lands and peoples. So the debate remains open on what most authentically symbolizes Sweden’s food identity on the global stage.