A weekend in pursuit of warming festive food and drink

Many of the local meats, cheeses and smoked fish make their way into a julbord (a Christmas smorgasbord) served at Gripsholms Vardshus, a cosy inn in nearby Mariefred. Vodka-infused salmon, herring pickled with fennel and a salty roast gammon are all highlights of the festive fare, which requires a four-hour sitting.

Built in 1609, the inn sits on the site of a Carthusian monastery. Two of its original stone wells are encased in a wine cellar allegedly visited by ghosts.

I learn more about the origins of this former Viking settlement at the Callanderska Garden folklore centre, a 274-year-old red clapperboard house bequeathed to the town by an artist in 1947. Jaundiced song sheets sit on a piano and china tea cups are neatly stacked in a polished Welsh dresser; it’s as if the owner has just popped out for the afternoon.

Sprightly pensioner and self-made historian Torsten joins me for a glass of glogg (mulled wine) spooned with plump raisins and shaved almonds.

Regaling tales of King Gustav Vasa, he explains how materials from the monastery were used to build Gripsholm Castle – its dumpling turrets still dominating the town.

At dawn it’s resplendent, as the sun yawns above bristles of spruce forest, streaming across the motionless Lake Malaren and bouncing from glass windows.

In the early 19th century, King Gustav IV Adolf was imprisoned in the castle following an army revolt, and found solace in playing waltzes and marches on the piano. It was a torturous time.

Yet I find it hard to imagine living in such fairy-tale surrounds could be a hardship.

Still, musicians are a peculiar bunch, and neither castles nor Nobel prizes can please a complex soul – even at Christmas.