People, Happy food ①
Johanna and pickled herring and potato
Johanna is the first friend I made in Milan. This talented friend who speaks Swedish, Italian, English, and even Korean let me easy to open my mind to different cultures. Of course, one of the key roles of that was trying a variety of food together. And what’s more, her mother Ulrica makes the joy doubles during a meal thanks to her wide knowledge of drinks. Today I think of a piece of our delicious recollections in midsummer.
Midsommar, the longest day of the year like Haji in Korea. In Sweden Midsummer’s day is a Saturday between June 20 and June 26, but as is usual in Sweden the actual celebration is on the eve, i.e. a Friday between June 19 and June 25. Enjoying the seasonal dishes and drinks, making a wreath with wildflowers, and dancing around the maypole is an essential part of the celebration.
In June 2020, we organized a lunch to celebrate our post-lockdown reunion and the upcoming Summer. The dining table in Johanna’s place was covered with a clean white table cloth, with wildflowers that Ulrica and she brought on the way back from Tarzo to Milan. We made our own wreaths all together and it was such a meditative and peaceful experience to get ready for the celebration.
A short throwback to my young student days, my dad used to take a business trip to Stockholm. Once he brought a jar of pickled herring and I remember it was left rarely touched in the fridge for a long time. Perhaps it was a quite strong flavor for me at that time but thanks to the lunch with Johanna and Ulrica, I got to know a new taste of herring. Besides Sill;pickled herring, boiled potatoes, sour cream with fresh chopped chives, Knäckebröd are the key dishes for midsommar. They served me Gravlax;cured salmon, boiled eggs in halves, and Västerbotten cheese as well. A glass of cold lager beer and Snaps helped a harmony with all these incredible flavors.
The highlight of the lunch was singing all together before drinking a shot of snaps. The traditional drinking songs called Snapsvisor add more fun and a delightful vibe to all, and Ulrica was a prepared singer to do so. Sometimes singing in front of people during drinking games was too much for me in Korea, but how nice to sing all together not making someone embarrassed!
Anyway, I find it is a worldwide common culture that drinking and dancing complete the celebration and it’s wonderful. In that sense, I would like to toast for those who are ready to enjoy the longest day of this year, Skål!
