Jackie: Christmas means food! was: Re: Day before dipping-day

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Hi Jackie,Sounds like you have yummy Christmas traditions too!As far as to what you eat during a traditional Swedish Christmas dinner, it's actually easier to say what you don't eat... I am sure you are familiar with the word smorgasbord? Well, the Christmas dinner is known as "julbord" (where "jul" means Christmas and "bord" is the same as the "bord" in smorgasbord, that is "table"). And one might say that the julbord is the mother of all smorgasbords...A minimum list of what it should contain follows:Eggs (boiled)Pickled herring: At least three kinds, one pickled with mustard, one with onions and one with onions and allspice. That's the very minimum, but there is often also one kind with curry and/or one with sourcream and caviar. And my sister likes to have one kind with garlic. And... you get the picture...Salmon: Gravlax, especially (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravad_lax ). But some times smoked salmon as well.Lutfisk (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lutfisk )Eel: smoked and/or friedMeatballsPrinskorv (literally: "Prince sausage", it's a small sausage with a high meat content). Served fried.Julkorv (literally:" Christmas sausage", a larger pork sausage, in the fresh sausage (not cured or smoked) category. Served boiled.Liver paté.Head cheese.Jellied veal.Ham.Beetroot salad: A sort of coleslaw, only with beetroot and mayonnaise, and usually a few other ingredients too. A selection of cabbages, cooked and served in different ways; Kale cooked with cream, there is "brunkål", a dish containing of cabbage cooked with syrup, vinegar and salt, and red cabbage, cooked in different ways in different families. Boiled potatoes.Bread: At the very least two kinds, rye and wheat. But usually more than that. And cheese to go with the bread (because with all this on the table you of course need bread and cheese to not go hungry... or not...).And I am sure I am forgetting dishes, but if you put this on the table you'd at least have a basic julbord...For dessert usually rice pudding.In fact there is not one food type not represented on the "julbord"... No bird meat, but on the other hand there is eggs, so the birds are kind of represented too... And in some families there is turkey or duck among the traditional dishes.In short: Christmas means food around here. Almost a little too much of it... But it's good though.love/Reb>> Hi Reb, what an interesting life you lead, and I love your stories of all> the different customs during the year. My grandmothers mother and father> were from the Netherlands, Holland, and she had many customs she brought to> the table at Christmas. The one I couldn't get use to was her pudding cake> [i called it] which she made a suet glaze and dark chocolate spice cake to> go with it. I liked the cake, but the glaze to me was awful. I think there> was a name for it but it escapes me now. It was a traditional dessert in her> family. > > I like the "dipping" day tradition you have. Sounds yummy. What else are> customary dishes you have at Christmas? We are having Ham cooked in the slow> cooker with green beans and carrots. Potatoes Au `gratin, orange sauce for> the ham to cut down on the saltiness, and corn muffins. Desserts will be> pumpkin, cherry and Dutch apple pie. All with real whipped cream on top.> This year no Chex mix or cookies were made. L> > Merry Christmas to you and yours. J> > Hugs, Jackie > > > > > > From: MSersLife [mailto:MSersLife ] On Behalf> Of Reb D> Sent: Friday, December 23, 2011 1:57 AM> To: MSersLife > Subject: Day before dipping-day> > > > > > Tomorrow is Christmas Eve (julafton, in Swedish), but it is also known as> "dopparedagen" (means: dipping day). And traditionally the countdown to> Christmas can be done with the (when Christmas is far away exceedingly> long...) phrase ending in "the day before the dipping-day". Hence, today is> "the day before the dipping-day", yesterday was "the day before the day> before the dipping day" and the day before that was "the day before the day> before the day before the dipping day", and so on and forth, you get the> picture I am sure...> > > > Anyhow, the name "dipping day" comes from the traditional Christmas lunch> (on December 24), which consists of slices or pieces of bread that are> dipped in meat stock (typically the stock from the cooking of the Christmas> ham, or from the cooking of any of the other Christmas meat dishes, like> sausages etc), and served with mustard. And in many families also served> with something else on the side, in 's family it's served with sausages> on the side. The tradition can be traced back to ritual sacrificial meals> during the Viking age, but probably also has to do with practical reasons,> such as the enormous amount of cooking already going on during that day (in> preparation for the traditional Christmas dinner the same evening) could> make fixing lunch a bit of a stretch (and probably even more so in the time> before take-aways...), so you'd use what you had on the stove anyway (the> stock) and combine it with something that didn't need cooking (the bread).> > > > love and Christmas greetings> > /Reb - who is looking forward to the dipping and getting hungry just writing> this...>