6 Swedes love a whole smorgasbord of flavours

We’ve all been there. Furniture shopping in IKEA is a slog, and often the only remedy to a flatpackbuying session is a dollop of meatballs and some kanelbullar (cinnamon buns).

As lovely as those can be, Swedish cuisine extends far beyond the blue and yellow bubble. The country’s long winters have meant meals often focus on sustenance, with staples including meatballs with mashed potato and a creamy dill sauce. But that’s only half the story.

Of course, Sweden has a signature cuisine of its own – think smorgasbords, fish, foraged herbs and berries, and, of course, meatballs. In truth, though, food from around the world arrives on Swedish tables.

“Swedes are notorious ‘early adopters’ of trends,” explains Steffi Knowles-dellner, author of Lagom: The Swedish Art of Eating Harmoniously. “In many Swedish cities, the food truck revolution has brought kimchi burgers and craft ales to the masses. There is a pastiche of influences rooted in Swedish traditions, a reverence for ingredients.”

Chefs and locals are keen to marry their traditional tastes with other foods. The trusted meatball, for example, is being adapted with spices and served with rice; fiskbullar (fish balls) has even been twinned with Asian noodle soup ( see right).

So, when you next dip into the Swedish food scene, be prepared to be met with a wave of flavours, and banish memories of flatpack pit stops to the warehouse.

Did you know? An average of 1.84 million meatballs are eaten daily across all of IKEA’S stores worldwide.