“It’s a way for family and friends to come together, sing and get very very full and very very drunk” said Måns Sandring, director of Stockholm Food Tours in the capitol of Sweden. Now I don’t know about you, but this makes me want to dive right in to the culture that revolves around Swedish cuisine and the citizens that are able to indulge in it daily. As it turns out, getting in touch with someone from a small country with 9.9 million citizens and 172,756 square miles of land is harder than you might think. After emailing several intriguing food blogs with inviting pictures and warm recipes and reaching out to family and friends, I ended up in a conversation with Måns. He allowed me to have a glance into Swedish cuisine through the eyes of a native local while also giving an interesting outlook at what you can experience while in Sweden.

Måns and I were only able to communicate over email due to time differences and his busy schedule. First and foremost, I wanted to know if he was from Sweden. This would help me understand a lot of his replies for the remainder of the interview. To my excitement, he is from Sweden originally.

Being the head of a food tour company that many tourists take interest in, I wanted to know his connection to cooking. I knew that he had to have some sort of appreciation for it, as his job revolves around cuisine itself and must be a part of his daily life. I was pleased to find out that cooking is, in fact, one of the most important parts of his life while also finding out how he uses his local Swedish resources to cook.

 

 

Q: What are your experiences with cooking (if you have any)?

A: I’ve always been drawn to cooking, even as a small child all I wanted to do was play make believe with my parent’s kitchen utensils, but it were my grandparents that really taught me about cooking and I would help out in the kitchen any way I could. Ever since then, my love for food and beverage has been a big part of my identity and career. When I cook, I like to just get creative and have fun, the only rule I try to set for myself is using organic and local produce.

 

 

Knowing how he likes to cook is one thing, but knowing how he cooks is another. I quickly learned that Sweden freezes for most of the year, meaning that preservation is Key. Through our conversation, I became a fly on the wall in a Swedish kitchen. I visualized preserved ingredients turning into delicious Swedish meals. The thought of having a taste of fresh produce during the dead-cold winter makes my mouth water.

 

 

Q: If you had to describe to someone learning about Swedish cuisine (such as me), what would you describe the delicious cuisine as in terms of taste, sight, and traditions?

A: Preservation. Being a country where nothing grows for most of the year, learning ways to preserve food becomes really important. This creates many complex and interesting flavours, as in order to use a carrot in February for example, that carrot would have to have been picked in august and then put in a root cellar or be pickled. And so you see a lot of these techniques in our classic cuisine. Fermented herring being one famous example. Salting food is also a way of preservation, and so much of Swedish dishes and delicacies tend to be on the saltier side.

Smokey, salty and complex are the adjectives I would use to describe Swedish cuisine.

 

 

Of course, I couldn’t complete a conversation with someone as invested in Swedish food as Måns without mentioned the infamous smorgasbord and what is brings to the culture in this day and age.

 

 

Q: In my studies of Sweden and its food, I have come across the smorgasbord in almost every discussion. What are your experiences with the smorgasbord and what does it bring to the cuisine?

A: The smörgåsbord is an essential part to most of our celebrated holidays, it’s a way for family and friends to come together, sing and get very very full and very very drunk.

What is included in the smörgåsbord vary depending on the holiday, but the staples are always pickled herring, smoked salmon and potatoes (Early potatoes in the summer).

You won’t see much greens on the smörgåsbord as the idea is to eat a whole lot of protein.  

 

 

Q: If someone was visiting your country for the first time (me someday hopefully!), what restaurant would you suggest and why? 

A: Difficult to say, but if we imagine that you are in Stockholm and wanted to try out Swedish cuisine, I would probably suggest a visit to “Bakfickan” (The back pocket) at the royal opera house. The restaurant offers a traditional Swedish menu, served in a historic building with a lot of atmosphere. One of my favorites.

 

 

Q: What is your favorite Swedish meal?

A: Råraka. It’s a type of potato fritters, traditionally served with crème fraiche, whitefish roe, minced red onion and a squeeze of lemon juice.

 

 

After realizing that my questions were becoming scarce, I knew the end of the interview was near. For my last question, I had a twist on the questions that I had asked so far. I wanted to get to know what a foodie thought of my heritage’s cuisine. What is American cuisine? We are so diverse, I was just dying to know what American cuisine is to people from diverse cultures around the world, especially from someone with experience in the food industry.

 

 

Q: Just for my own personal curiosity (a question that I have always wondered), what would you consider American cuisine if you have ever tried it? It is a question that I, as an American, can not answer. I always have wondered what people from different parts of the world consider as “American” food!

 A: When I think of American cuisine, I think comfort food. I think of burgers, barbequed meats, diners and Eggs Benedict. I also think about fusion, because of your history being very ethnically varied in origin, to me that’s the most interesting and exciting part of American Cuisine, that it’s influenced and developed by so many different cultures.

 

 

Throughout the whole interview, even if it was through email, talking with Måns opened my eyes to the flavor and fusion of Swedish cuisine. I got to further understand first hand what someone loves when their life revolves around food and their cuisine. I learned new types of meals, preservation techniques, and the lasting traditions of Swedish food. Maybe someday I will be lucky enough to take the Stockholm Food Tour and meet Måns in the flesh.