Sweden

In Sweden the main Christmas meal is eaten on Christmas Eve, December 24, as a julbord, a table of many dishes. It opens with cold herring, such as senapssill, before the warm food: julskinka, the mustard-crusted ham at the center of the table, with köttbullar, Janssons frestelse and braised red cabbage. The season starts earlier, on December 13, when saffron buns called lussekatter are served for Saint Lucia. Rice porridge comes with a single almond hidden in it for luck, and by old custom a bowl is left out for the tomte, the farm's Christmas gnome.

The Swedish chapter draws on husmanskost, the country's traditional everyday cooking. Ärtsoppa med pannkakor, yellow pea soup with pork followed by pancakes, is the Thursday meal and a winter staple. Kalops, an allspice beef stew, rotmos med fläsklägg, rutabaga mash with pork hock, raggmunk, potato pancakes with salted pork, kåldolmar, cabbage rolls, and kroppkakor, potato dumplings from the southeast, are winter mains. Semlor, cardamom buns with almond paste and cream, belong to Shrove Tuesday, February 9, and bakeries sell them from January until Easter. Småländsk ostkaka, a curd cake, is served lukewarm as a festive dessert.

The Swedish menu begins with Toast Skagen, shrimp folded into mayonnaise with dill and lemon on butter-fried bread, a dish Tore Wretman first made in 1956. The main course is Wallenbergare, ground veal beaten with egg yolks and cream, breaded and fried in butter, with mashed potatoes, peas and lingonberry jam. Dessert is Kärleksmums, a chocolate coconut traybake whose name joins kärlek, love, and mums, something good to eat.

The Swedish menu centers on påskafton, Easter Eve, Saturday, March 27, 2027, when Swedes hold their main Easter meal as a påskbord buffet. Eggs mark the end of the old Lenten fast, so the table carries egg halves with shrimp and roe, gubbröra, a spread of eggs and sprats, and Västerbottenpaj, a cheese pie. Fish is customary on Good Friday, March 26, which suits laxpudding, a salmon and potato bake. Easter Sunday brings roast lamb with potato gratin. Våfflor belong to Waffle Day, March 25, nettle soup with egg uses up Easter eggs, and britatårta is a meringue cake for Easter dessert.