In the end, Christmas was celebrated for us too! On Christmas Day, my mum invited our whole family and my brother's whole family to a Christmas table, coffee, Christmas cookies and Christmas sweets - as it should be at Christmas. A very nice afternoon and evening! And now that we've been eating traditional Swedish Christmas food all day, I thought we could talk about ... Swedish Christmas food.
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ShareChristmas food in different countries
The Swedish Christmas table is actually quite unique. In some of our closest neighbours - Norway, Denmark and Iceland - they don't serve a table of different dishes as in Sweden at Christmas, but instead eat a proper dinner. In Norway it might be ribs with potatoes, gravy and sauerkraut and in Denmark it might be roast ham or duck with potatoes, brown sauce and red cabbage.
When I lived in Iceland, lamb was served with potatoes, sauce and red cabbage. In Finland, although many different dishes are eaten, they are not very similar to Swedish Christmas food. Instead, they serve dishes such as turnip box, carrot box and pies.
What do people in other parts of the world eat? When I googled, it seems that in the UK and the US they eat turkey, in France a lot of exclusive things like foie gras, oysters and lobster, and in Eastern Europe 12 different dishes to symbolise the 12 months of the year. Which countries' Christmas foods do you know and can tell us about?
Swedish Christmas food and local specialities
In the past, the Swedish Christmas table probably varied a lot between different parts of our country. Nowadays, the differences are less pronounced and many Christmas tables include classics such as herring and gravad salmon, eggs, Jansson's temptation, Christmas ham, meatballs, prince's sausages, ribs, liver pâté, smoked sausages, beetroot salad and wafer bread. But there are some variations, of course!
For example, my mother always serves kale on the Christmas table, which is a Halland speciality. Do you have any local specialities on the Christmas table in your family?
Top photo: Peter's son Billie, Peter's son Robin and his wife Alexandra, Peter, my mum, my nephews Jesper and Gustav, my brother Johan, my sister-in-law Anneli and my youngest nephew Viggo.
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English (UK) 
Svenska 
Deutsch 
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Polski
Åsa says:
Bacalhau then of course in Portugal! 🙂
26 December 2015 - 0:28
BP says:
1. you must have been a cord child;-)
2. Peter was given the 'place of honour' at the table.
3. fortunately, your migraine must have subsided:-)
4. Yes, the Christmas ham and lutefisk (for me) are probably musts. It was fun to eat the "combo" again after five years abroad.
5. Kale is good. Totally underrated in Sweden, but offered at the local ICA here. Praise! Kale is on its way back. In Poland it is a matter of course all year round!
26 December 2015 - 1:00
Ama de casa says:
What a wonderful celebration 🙂
We eat "Swedish" Christmas dinner even though we are here in Spain. Or an imitation of it anyway. 🙂
26 December 2015 - 9:54
admin says:
Åsa, haha, yes of course! What else, if not bacalhau!? 😉
BP, haha, you always have such lovely reflections! My brother is seven years older than me, but the one who really is a cord child is little Viggo! And yes, my migraine has fortunately subsided, although I can be sensitive for a while (and thus never know if it will come back... huh). I understand that you enjoyed your Christmas ham and lutefisk! And yes, kale is good! Glad to hear that it is on its way back! 🙂
Ama de casa, Swedish Christmas table can be eaten even outside Sweden's borders! Guess you can find both herring and everything possible in Torrevieja! 🙂
26 December 2015 - 10:57
Lennart says:
Christmas Eve we ate Swedish and Christmas Day Portuguese!
Fun to try the food culture of other countries!
Live well!
26 December 2015 - 11:43
admin says:
Steve, some of the Christmas foods that used to be common are probably not so common anymore. My mum sometimes has pressed jam, but I don't think it's very good. Homemade sounds nice of course! It would be interesting to hear more about your vegetarian dishes on the Christmas table!
Lennart, it's nice to have variety! 🙂
26 December 2015 - 11:43
Steve says:
I only know the Swedish Christmas table as I have always celebrated Christmas at home. From my youth and even later Christmas celebrations with my parents, I remember that there was always "dip in the pot", pig's feet, veal jam, pressed jam, homemade mustard, homemade STARK! cheese, homemade flatbread, etc. Yes, everything was homemade.
We have none of that now. We now try to find new vegetarian dishes every year. I make one annual departure from my vegetarian diet and that is the Christmas ham, provided that D has cooked it. We always eat lutefisk on Christmas Day. And on New Year's Day. Happy holidays!
26 December 2015 - 11:20
Krisztina says:
I am from Transylvania, we have cabbage dumplings made from sauerkraut (boiled). They also slaughter pigs in my country in winter and eat liver sausage, blood sausage, kolbász. We also have a special Christmas cake (I don't really know what it's called in Swedish, but I'll give it a try) walnut and poppy beigli. They also have that in Hungary.
26 December 2015 - 12:30
Znogge says:
Wishing you a very good continuation of the weekend from us on the landbacken!
26 December 2015 - 12:40
Resfredag says:
Glad you're feeling better, looks like a cosy Christmas day! My brother-in-law Nathan is from Scotland and brought Haggis to our family the first time he celebrated Christmas with our family... However, ground sheep entrails have no place on our Christmas table, despite Nathan's attempts to introduce it, haha!
26 December 2015 - 12:55
admin says:
Krisztina, oh interesting with Transylvania! We would like to travel there at some point, we have talked about it a few times! 🙂 Do you go there from time to time? Exciting to hear about the food! The Christmas cake sounds good 🙂
Znogge, thank you!
Travel Friday, I've tried (some) haggis once and it was ok, but maybe not so much that I'm sitting here longing to eat it again 😉 I didn't know they usually eat it at Christmas though.
26 December 2015 - 13:41
Krisztina says:
Yes, we sometimes go to Transylvania. I took my husband (who is Swedish) for the first time and we have been on many excursions and there is a lot to see. He would like to go back again. If you want more tips later, I can tell you more on the travel guide?.
26 December 2015 - 14:03
Steel city anna says:
In the Czech Republic they eat carp, sausages and potato salad. Very different from our Christmas table. In addition to turkey they also eat other kinds of meat, it is common to have several different kinds of steak at Christmas dinner, perhaps turkey, a large ham and salmon side, small sausages rolled in bacon and Brussels sprouts, Christmas pudding with custard, oven-roasted potatoes, carrots and parsnips ... We have a Swedish Christmas table but not so many dishes.
Fun with flags on the tree!
Good luck!
26 December 2015 - 14:49
bia says:
Thanks for watching 😉
Fun with a houseboat... but I probably prefer a regular house, hihi....
Have a nice continuation of the Christmas holidays !
Bia
26 December 2015 - 17:02
admin says:
Krisztina, how exciting! We have no concrete plan on G right now, but I will return if we plan to go there! 🙂
Steel city Anna, oh how interesting! Carp and potato salad was a bit different! At least for us... 😉.
Bia, houseboat may not suit everyone, but we think it's cosy! 🙂 And thank you the same!
26 December 2015 - 17:13
Comsi Comsa says:
Keep up the good work.
Oh, in Norway we eat much more than ribs and sauerkraut at Christmas, hi hi hi hi....
We have herring and different boxes, we have mutton and steak. :))
Hugs ❤
26 December 2015 - 17:29
admin says:
Comsi Comsa, thank you very much! And thanks for the correction and update on the Christmas food in Norway! 😉 My info comes from Norwegians we met on our last trip + Wikipedia... But it sounds good with herring and mutton too! 🙂
26 December 2015 - 18:10
Geddfish says:
I grew up with Christmas ham, home-made sausage, jam and herring. Also lutefisk and then rice pudding with almonds, cinnamon and sugar.
Then the concept changes as you start a family and my children change according to their new families, so basically quite similar, but still different.
What a wonderful blog you have, I should have known about it when we were travelling around in a caravan.
Birthday hugs <3 Gerd
26 December 2015 - 18:24
admin says:
Geddfish, well that's exactly how it works! You grow up with certain traditions, keep the ones you like and add some new ones. And then it changes a bit over time... Thanks, glad you like our blog! 🙂
26 December 2015 - 18:31
Ditte says:
How nice that your mum got everyone together! It looks really cosy!
When it comes to the Swedish Christmas table, there is not much that is specific to Christmas, possibly the lutefisk and kale, but we also eat most other things at Easter and Midsummer. and a little whenever. The Christmas ham becomes Easter ham and then similar food comes out for Midsummer as well. Yes, the ham may be on holiday at that time.
But Swedish Christmas food can be enjoyed anytime...
It is certainly tasty.
26 December 2015 - 19:47
Anne-Marie says:
Glad you got away to your mum's Christmas party. Looks cosy with everyone together.
In the United States, turkey is often eaten with various side dishes. There are not nearly as many dishes as in Sweden.
Good luck!
27 December 2015 - 1:50
Anna i Dubai says:
In Dubai there will be a lot of turkey because the UAE and the Middle East in general are heavily influenced by the British. This year we celebrate in Lebanon which was very exciting. 50% of the Lebanese are Christians and are very attached to their traditions because of where the country is squeezed between Muslim, unstable countries.
As for the food, they don't have a direct Christmas table but a buffet that can consist of just what you want - but in BIG proportions of course. We had pumpkin soup, various salads, some chicken dish, lamb and of course Janssons temptation and cone buns that I made. Janssons became very popular! I'm glad because it was the first time I made it .........
27 December 2015 - 10:43
admin says:
Ditte, it's true that some of the food is the same at Easter and perhaps especially at Midsummer. However, I have never seen ham at any other time than Christmas!
Anne-Marie, you've seen American Christmas dinners with turkey on film a few times 😉.
Anna in Dubai, I can understand that you hold extra tightly to traditions when you live close to different cultures in that way, it is probably common for it to be so. Sounds like super good food anyway! And Janssons is not wrong either 😉.
27 December 2015 - 11:21
Maria says:
The Finland-Swedish Christmas table (what applies to us) combines the best of Swedish and Finnish, you could say: we also have herring, salmon, ham, meatballs, beetroot salad etc. but we also have those Finnish boxes you mentioned. So yes, it's still predominantly Swedish with us 🙂 How the Finns eat, I don't have much control over actually 🙂.
27 December 2015 - 19:05
Kattas Betrakteser says:
Nice to meet you. I myself think that the Swedish Christmas table is a bit beige in flavour. I like to add things like reindeer fillets, pate, roe, etc. But it is probably the case that everyone has their own favourites on the table. Happy holidays.
27 December 2015 - 23:28
admin says:
Maria, the Finnish-Swedish Christmas table doesn't sound bad at all! Why not combine the best of both worlds? 😉
Katta, oh that didn't sound bad at all on the Christmas table! Next time we're in Sweden at Christmas, we'll probably make our own delicacy Christmas table 😉.
28 December 2015 - 10:33
Johanna says:
I jump in a year later as I want to say that in Findland, the tradition of Christmas is similar to that here in Sweden. You eat gingerbread, meatballs, ham, salmon, herring, lutefisk (I think I also saw prince sausage when I was there many years ago) then not to forget their beetroot salad, sweetened potato box, carrot box, turnip box, liver box. Then we have had jansson at home and I think even many Finns do it for the Christmas table. I appreciate those boxes so much that I will start cooking them myself in a while and take them to my family on my partner's side, certainly an appreciated gift. It was fun to read your blog. Greetings Johanna
29 November 2016 - 8:12