Lucia spreads light and joy – Sweden
Now we arrived in Europe. On 13.12. ist the Lucia celebration in sweden, so you can have an impression now from swedish christmas:
The Nisse is a little supernatural creature who lives in stables and barns, and there protects the animals. He plays tricks on children who forget to leave him a bowl of special oatmeal.
Another tradition that makes the Christmas light shine for many is the Lucia celebration on December 13th, the Lucia day. Lucia which means as much as light, was a Sicilian saint who helped sailors in need by carrying a candle visible over a long distance – in a way a living lighthouse. Out of thankfulness the sailors introduced the Lucia feast to Sweden many years ago.
In many Swedish families an opulent Christmas buffet is the culinary highlight of the feast. That traditionally includes „Julskinka“ (Christmas ham) as well as liver pie, different sorts of aspic, small meat balls, pork chops and „Jansson’s temptation“, a potato gratin with anchovis. There is herb bread, homemade pralinés and rich drinks. A speciality is „Lutfisk“, air-dried codfish from the Lofoten, which preparation starts exactly on Anny day , December 9th. The fish is watered for five days and is marinated in a lye of chalk an sodium carbonate. On December 23rd the fish is ready to be cooked on a layer of salt.
Integrees:
- 900 g spelt or wheat flour (Type 405)
- 1 pinch saffron
- 1 teaspoon tumeric
- ½ l warm milk
- 100 g butter
- fresh yeast(42 g)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 100 g sugar
- 50 g raisins
- 1 egg for brushing
preparation:
Dissolve saffron and tumeric in 2 tablespoons milk. Melt butter in milk. Pour flour in a bowl, make a dent for lukewarm butter-milk, saffron-tumeric-milk and yeast. Mix in 2 to 3 tablespoons flour. Let the starter dough rest at room temperature for 15 minutes. Add salt , sugar and raisins in a bowl and fold everything into the dough and knead on a working space for 10 minutes. Let the yeast dough covered with a moist cloth rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 220 °C. Form small loaves and put them on a bakind sheet covered with parchment paper. Press the raisins in the dough. Again let them rest for 10 minutes. Brush the loaves with egg yolk. Move the rolls with raisins in the middle of the oven and bake for 10 to 12 minutes.
Have fun!
Quelle: Christmas cooking Hanne Kruse Fonaverlag