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Foods Europe
Northern
Because
of the latitude of the countries in Scandinavia and
their expanse of coastline, it is no surprise that their
diet primarily consists of an abundance of seafood.
This can be observed in their daily routine as well
as during times of celebration. The festivals
and holidays of this region can be primarily linked
to pagan and Christian traditions. These observances
are generally celebrated in the same manner among the
Scandinavian countries with some variations.
Midsummer’s
Eve or Midsummer’s Day is one of the most popular holidays
in this region, especially with young people. It
is celebrated on the summer solstice, June 21, and originated
from pagan rituals and involves the building of maypoles,
dancing around them, and bonfires. Drinking is
common and includes beer, schnapps, and aquavit, which
is a liquor made from potatoes or grain. In Sweden,
boiled new potatoes, herring, fresh green salad, and
wild strawberries with whipped cream are typically consumed.
Other dishes are included in Norway, such as rommegrot,
which is a cream pudding served with cinnamon and sugar.
In Finland, dill is added to the boiled new potatoes
and smoked salmon can also be found (Kittler 2000).
The
Christmas season is probably the most important in Scandinavia
in terms of food. The largest Smörgåsbords
of the year are enjoyed during this time in Sweden and
Denmark. A Smörgåsbord is a buffet
style feast, with dishes served in the order prescribed
by tradition. The fish dishes are served first
and include lutefisk, which is a dried salt cod that
has been soaked in lye before cooking, herring, pickled,
smoked, dried, and other variations, smoked salmon,
sometimes marinated in dill as well as other fish dishes.
It is important to note that many Scandinavian
dishes are indicative of their old traditional preserving
methods, such as drying, pickling, smoking, and salting.
Other foods present at a Smörgåsbord
include ham, Swedish meatballs, crepes, salads, rice
porridge, jellied pig’s feet, and omelets. In
Denmark, a dish called fricadeller is also served, which
consists of ground pork and veal patties fried in butter
with breadcrumbs and onion. Pinnekjøtt,
salted ribs from lamb, can also be found in Norway.
(Kittler 2000).
Norway
has an interesting harvest ritual associated with
the beginning of the Christmas season. Late in
autumn, the best wheat is gathered and saved until Christmas,
when it is put out on poles. If many birds come
to feast on the wheat, the following year is said to
be good for crop growing. (Christmas in Norway
2002).
The
Christmas festivities in Sweden as well as in parts
of Norway begin on December 13th with the Festival of
Lights or the Lucyfest. This tradition honors the Catholic
Saint Lucia, who is the patron Saint of “the light of
the body”. Originally, a girl was chosen from
a village to act as the Lussibrud, or Lucy bride, and
dress in a white gown with a crown of Lignonberries
and candles. In a procession, she would go to
one farm to the next bringing pastries such as saffron
buns called Lussekattor. Today, the eldest daughter
of the family acts as the Lussibrud, bringing pastries
and coffee primarily to her parents and waking the household
(Lucyfest 2002).
Another
Christmas tradition in Sweden involves a ritual that
originally was considered poor man’s fare. This
is called dopp i gryton or “dipping in the pot”, which
entails immersing slices of rye bread in hot bouillon
with ham, pork, sausage, or butter. This is a
customary practice of Christmas dinner, which also features
a hot, alcoholic fruit punch known as glögg, lutefisk,
and creamed rice.
Easter
in Scandinavia is celebrated similarly to Christmas
festivities. A small Smörgåsbord is
also prepared, typically consisting of boiled eggs,
ham, different types of herring, smoked salmon, and
lutefisk.
Germany
is probably best known for its numerous regional festivals,
which includes Oktoberfest and many different beer and
wine festivals. Beer and wine are made locally
and the festivals are usually associated with some part
of the process, if not just to sample what the year
has brought forth. Oktoberfest, the most notable
of these harvest-type festivals, originated in Munich
to celebrate the marriage of Prince Ludwig of Bavaria
in 1810. The festivities were accompanied by horse
races, which the Bavarians decided to continue for years
to come. Because of this, the festival occurred
every year, although horse races are now no longer a
part of Oktoberfest.
The
festivities were also accompanied by lots of beer drinking,
because at this time of year, late September to early
October, beer from the previous brewing period needed
to be used up to make room for the newly produced beer.
This old beer is referred to as Märzen beer
because March is the last month beer was produced due
to the spoiling effects of the summer. Other foods
now associated with Oktoberfest include Bratwurst, Spaetzle,
small noodle dumplings, and Sauerkraut, a fermented
cabbage. (Oktoberfest 2002).
The
most important holiday in Germany is Christmas. On
Christmas Eve, carp is generally served for a large
festive dinner, during which families visit each other
but do not stay for dinner. On Christmas Day,
a roast goose with apples, onions, herbs, and nuts is
expected. Sweets are much more prevalent on this
holiday. Marzipan candies are made in the shape
of animals and different types of fruit. Spiced
cakes and cookies, such as Pfeffernüße and
Lebkuchen are served after the Christmas meal for dessert.
Stollen, a common type of fruitcake, which can
be made from marzipan or other sweet ingredients, is
shaped like the Christ child, in honor of his birth.
Gingerbread houses also originated in Germany
and are still common (Kittler 2000).
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The
common practice of decorating and hiding Easter eggs
originated in Germany from pagan spring festivals. The
eggs were painted to represent the blooming of colorful
flowers in the springtime Candied eggs and rabbits,
as well as assorted chocolates are widely eaten by children
for the most part at this time. The traditional
Easter meal consists of ham, peas, and other fresh spring
vegetables (Goldstein 1983).
Easter
is the most important holiday in Russia and other Slavic
countries. Easter falls at the end of Lenten,
in which meat and dairy products are abstained from
for six weeks. The week preceding Easter, called
the Passion Week or strastnaya nedelya, is reserved
for the preparation of the Easter holiday foods. The
evening before Easter, these foods are traditionally
brought to a priest to be blessed before consumption.
Eggs are also decorated in this region. In
the Ukraine, elaborate designs are made from dipping
the eggs in beeswax and dye baths. Because a week
is taken to prepare the food, presentation is also important.
Barashek
iz masla is a main centerpiece for the Easter feast
and is a lamb molded out of butter and textured with
cheesecloth. Paskha is a very rich cheesecake
molded into the shape of a pyramid. The Cyrillic
letters, ΧΒ are molded or written on the cake and stand
for “Christ has risen.” Also served at Easter
is kulich, a tall loaf of saffron scented bread and
babka, a sweet yeast raised cake. Roasted ham
and suckling pig are common for the main course. Mazurki
and krendel’ki are rich Easter cookies, the latter pretzel
shaped (Goldstein 1983).
Preceding
Lenten is the Butter Festival (Maslenitsa), which signifies
the last chance to eat dairy products for six weeks.
The most common food is the Blini, which is a
thin pancake made from buckwheat flour and leavened
yeast. They can be served with a wide variety
of condiments. They can be sweet with sour cream
and jam or more snack-like served with butter, caviar,
smoked sturgeon, salmon, or herring (Goldstein 1983).
Typical
Christmas dishes include roasted goose, hot soups, carp,
served hot or cold in aspic, and pirozhki, which can
be filled with meat, cabbage, or mushrooms. Desserts
include kut’ya, a dish of steamed, sweetened wheat with
fruit and raisins and vzvar, which are different stewed
and dried types of fruit. For New Year’s, the
meal, consisting of roast goose or chicken usually,
will be eaten after midnight and the first toast of
vodka has been made (Goldstein 1983).
Poland
shares many of the same food traditions with Russia
because of their common Slavic background and political
histories. For Easter in Poland, foods are generally
blessed before consumption as well. Paskha, kulich,
and Babka are all served here as well, although babka
is given more significance in Poland and has many varieties,
whose recipes are usually specific to the family (Polish
Easter 2002). The typical Easter meal consists
of a roast suckling pig; coils of sausage (kielbasa),
roasted veal, grated horseradish, and decorated hard-boiled
eggs. A centerpiece lamb sculpted from butter
of white sugar is another custom shared with Russia
(Polish Easter).
Christmas
Eve is usually considered a fast day in Poland although
some foods are still served. Barszcz Wigilijny
is a type of mushroom and beet soup, similar to borscht
served on Christmas Eve. Fish, noodle dishes,
and pastries are also found. On Christmas, carp
is served, specifically karp po zydowsku, which
are chilled carp slices in sweet and sour aspic with
raisins and almonds that is Jewish in Origin. A
rich Christmas cake called makowiec is shaped like a
jellyroll, filled with poppy seeds, and served for dessert.
Paczki, jelly-filled doughnuts are popular on
New Year’s Eve. On New Year’s Day, “hunter’s stew”
or bigos, which is made from a variety of meats, vegetables,
and cabbage especially is customary and consumed with
plenty of vodka (Kittler 2000).
Other
Eastern European countries share similar customs with
Germany, Russia, and Poland because overtime, the borders
of these countries haven’t always been as they are now
and were controlled by various governments. The Czech
Republic, for example, shares many common holiday foods,
such as sauerkraut and dumplings with Germany because
it belonged to Germany for a long period of time. The
Czech Republic and Slovakia also share many Russian
customs stemming from the Soviet Union’s previous control
of Czechoslovakia. For example, on Easter in Slovakia,
Paskha is commonly served (Kittler 2000).
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Elizabeth D'iAmico
Copyright© 2003-2006 DrewMCA, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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