Smörgåsbord
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Type | Lunch meal |
---|---|
Place of origin | Sweden |
Serving temperature | Hot and cold |
Main ingredients | Bread, butter, and cheese |
Smörgåsbord (Swedish: [ˈsmœ̂rɡɔsˌbuːɖ] ⓘ, directly translates to “open-sandwich-table”) is a buffet-style meal of Swedish origin. It is served with various hot and mainly cold dishes.
Smörgåsbord became internationally known at the 1939 New York World's Fair when it was offered at the Swedish Pavilion's Three Crowns Restaurant.[1] It is typically a celebratory meal and guests can help themselves from a range of dishes laid out for their choice. In a restaurant the term refers to a buffet-style table laid out with many small dishes from which, for a fixed amount of money, one is allowed to choose as many as one wishes.
A traditional Swedish smörgåsbord consists of both hot and cold dishes. Bread, butter, and cheese are always part of the smörgåsbord. It is customary to begin with cold fish dishes, which are generally various forms of herring, salmon, and eel. After eating the first portion, people usually continue with the second course (other cold dishes), and round off with hot dishes. Dessert may or may not be included in a smörgåsbord.
Etymology
In Northern Europe, the term varies between "cold table" and "
The Swedish word smörgåsbord consists of the words smörgås ("sandwich", usually open-faced) and bord ("table"). Smörgås in turn consists of the words smör ("butter", cognate with English smear) and gås (literally "goose", but later referred to the small pieces of butter that formed and floated to the surface of cream while it was churned).[3] The small butter pieces were just the right size to be placed and flattened out on bread, so smörgås came to mean "buttered bread". In Sweden, the term att bre(da) smörgåsar ("to spread butter on open-faced sandwiches") has been used since at least the 16th century.
In English the word smorgasbord refers loosely to any buffet with a variety of dishes (as well as a metaphor for a variety or collection of anything, particularly an extensive or disorganized one), and is not necessarily used to reference traditional Swedish cuisine. In Sweden, smörgåsbord instead refers to a buffet consisting mainly of traditional dishes. The buffet concept remains popular in Sweden even outside of its traditional presentation. Buffets are for example commonly served at larger private gatherings consisting of any type of food, or at fika with a variety of pastries. For restaurants in Sweden of various types of Asian cuisine it is common to offer an all-you-can-eat buffet (in particular for lunch customers), which is referred to with the more generic term buffé ("buffet").
In an extended sense, the word is used to refer to any situation which invites patrons to select whatever they wish from an abundant selection, such as the smorgasbord of university courses, books in a bookstore, etc.
Julbord
A special Swedish type of smörgåsbord is the julbord (literally "Yule/Christmas table"). The classic Swedish julbord is central to traditional Swedish cuisine.
A traditional julbord is typically eaten buffet-style in five to seven courses (depending on local and family traditions). The first three courses are usually fish courses. The first plate is an assortment of different pickled herrings served with sour cream and chives. The second is a variety of cold fish, particularly several kinds of lox (e.g.
The fourth course is often a selection of cold sliced meats, the most important cold cut being
The fifth course consists of warm dishes (småvarmt). Traditionally, the fifth course begins with soaking bread in the
The sixth and seventh courses are a cheese plate and a dessert plate. Julbord cheeses include
A julbord often also include local and family specialties. Among them are
Beer and the occasional snaps, brännvin or akvavit are common beverages served with this Christmas meal. The seasonal soft drink julmust is also served at the julbord, as well as during the whole Christmas holiday.
The Christmas ham is either boiled or broiled and then painted and glazed with a mixture of egg, breadcrumbs and mustard.
Julbord is served from early December until just before Christmas at restaurants and until Epiphany in some homes. It is traditional for most Swedish and Norwegian workplaces to hold an annual julbord between November and January.
History
The members of the Swedish merchant and upper class in sixteenth-century Sweden and Finland served a small buffet on a
Since March 2020, many smörgåsbords were suspended because of the
In small towns in parts of the Canadian prairies a communal potluck called a smörgåsbord is a common event organized by local service organizations to raise money for needy causes. Willing individuals in town will commit to providing various desserts and side dishes while the service organization will be responsible for providing the main course(s). This often includes roast beef, pork, and turkey, a variety of boiled vegetables, potatoes and gravy. Typically these are heavily attended events held on a weekend, often over multiple days drawing people from surrounding small towns, each of which can count on a similar attendance from neighboring towns and villages when they hold their own smörgåsbord.
See also
- Swedish cuisine – Culinary traditions of Sweden
- Korean table d'hôte – Korean buffet-style meal
- Zakuski – Russian term for appetizers served before meals
- Boodle fight– Filipino folkway for eating a communal meal
- Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine
References
- ^ "Straight-up Scandinavia: Understanding the smörgåsbord". Gadling. 23 February 2008. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
- ^ "Danish dictionary reference for the term: Det (store) kolde bord". Retrieved 28 April 2022.
- ^ Catharina, Grünbaum (2006-12-13). "Smörgåsar men datormöss". Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 2009-07-28. Retrieved 2009-03-05.
- ^ Bertil Falk. "The Smorgasbord". Retrieved 12 January 2015.
- ^ a b Nordiska Museet, in Swedish