Laxpudding

The story

Laxpudding is Swedish husmanskost, everyday home cooking: layers of boiled potatoes and salmon baked in an egg custard until the top turns golden. Despite the name it is not sweet. Diet Doctor's Swedish site notes that it is traditionally made with gravad lax, the dill-cured salmon, which usually contains some sugar. The dish has no church rite of its own, but it suits the days of Easter. The Church of Sweden parish in Linköping writes that fish is eaten through Lent and Easter and is above all common on långfredag, Good Friday, which falls on March 26 in 2027. Salted fish was once usual that day, as a reference to Christ's thirst on the cross. Salmon then carries on to the påskbord on Easter Eve. The Michelin Guide describes salmon on that table served several ways, both hot and cold, and Statistics Sweden, writing in 2022, listed eggs, herring, salmon and candy as traditional Easter items and reported that smoked and cured salmon cost just over 8 percent more than at the previous Easter. Laxpudding reheats well, so it can be baked on Maundy Thursday and warmed in a 325°F oven on Good Friday.