Smorgasbord
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In English, the word smörgåsbord refers to any buffet with a variety of dishes. The Swedish word smörgåsbord (listen) , of which it is an anglicization, is a combination of the words smörgås, meaning sandwich (or, more strictly, "slice of bread and butter"), and bord, which means table. So a smörgåsbord is literally a sandwich table. This is a bit of a misnomer, however, since the table normally has a lot more than sandwiches on it.
In the home a smörgåsbord is, typically, a holiday feast at which the family and guests can help themselves to whatever takes their fancy 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.
In an extended sense, the word is used to refer to any situation which invites patrons to select whatever they wish among several pleasant things, such as the smorgasbord of university courses, books in a bookstore etc. It may also be used to indicate any diverse group, synonymous with Hodge-Podge.
A traditional Swedish smörgåsbord consists of both hot and cold dishes. It is customary to begin with the cold fish dishes (generally various forms of herring, salmon, eel etc), continue with the other cold dishes, and round off with the hot dishes (of course including meatballs, and other Swedish specialties like Janssons frestelse). There may or may not be desserts.
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[edit] Julbord (Christmas smorgasbord)
The classic Swedish julbord refers to the traditional smörgåsbord served from the beginning of December until just before Christmas in homes and at restaurants. A traditional julbord is typically eaten in three courses. The first course consists of the cured salmon, pickled herring and eel served in a variety of sauces. It is customary to eat particular foods together to ensure the appropriate combination of taste and textures. For example, herring is typically eaten with boiled potatoes and hard-boiled eggs and is frequently accompanied by a snaps of vodka (with or without spice).
The second course is a selection consists of cold sliced meats, such as turkey, roast beef, and the julskinka or Christmas ham. Cheese, cucumbers and liver pate are often eaten on top of hard bread.
The third course of hot dishes include meatballs, prinskorv (small sausages), kåldolmar (meat stuffed cabbage rolls), jellied pigs' feet, lutfisk (a reconstituted dried cod served with thick white sauce), revbenspjäll (oven-roasted pork ribs), and Janssons frestelse ("Jansson's Temptation", a baked dish of matchstick potatoes layered with cream, onion and sprats). Side dishes include beetroot salad and warm stewed red cabbage.
Julbord desserts include risgrynsgröt or rice porridge, eaten with hallonsylt (raspberry jam) or sprinkled with cinnamon. (Traditionally, one almond is hidden in the bowl of rice porridge and whoever finds it receives a small prize or is recognized for having good luck).
[edit] Etymology
The Swedish word "smörgåsbord" is a combination word consisting of the words smörgås (translated "sandwich") and bord (translated "table"). "Smörgås" (sandwich) in turn consists of the words smör (literally "butter") and gås (literally "goose"). According to some, the word smörgås refers to an old Swedish tradition, where the fresh butter used for the openfaced sandwich was placed on the table sculptured as a goose[citation needed].
According to Catharina Grünbaum (DN Kultur, 27 November 2006) Gås referred to the pieces of butter that was formed and floated up to the surface of the butter or cream when one churned butter, reminding of fat geese that swam up to the surface. Such a piece was just the right size to be placed and flattened out on bread. And so smörgås came to mean the butter and the bread together. In Sweden buttered sandwiches, ie bredda smörgåsar have been talked about in Swedish at least since the 16th century, and nowadays also referring not only to buttered bread but also food put on bread to make a sandwich.
