Friday, July 28, 2006

A Swedish wedding lunch: so Nordic, so nice

2006 is definitely a good year for weddings. I've got no less than six wedding invitations this year, and have agreed to attend four of them. I already missed one in Estonia, as I was travelling to Sweden (sorry, Eve & Risto). I've decided to skip the one in Colombia in December (apologies, Sara-Jane & Hernan), as last time I went to a wedding in Latin America, it was called off in a true telenovela fashion just two days before. So far I've been to two weddings already - the one in Santorini at the end of June, and Annika's & Ben's wedding near Stockholm in early July. Two more to go - one in Brussels in August, and another in Tallinn in September..

Here are some pictures of the Swedish wedding lunch, which, let me tell you, I enjoyed immensely. I felt like I'm at home in Estonia, which, suddenly, is a very delicious prospect... It was a small, intimate affair with some 55 guests from Sweden and the UK (the bride was Swedish and groom British, and they both work and live in the UK). The wedding ceremony itself took place next to Djurönäsets Båthus or boat house (above is the picture taken of the girls on the pier) in Stockholm Archipelago, less than hour's drive from Stockholm city centre. The lunch and party afterwards were at Seregården restaurant at the nearby Djurö Kursgård.

The Starter:


A slice of toast with "löjrom" (vendace roe*, Coregonus albula) and garnish. I'm not a big fan of caviar - probably ate too much of it as a child growing up in the Soviet Union:) I find caviar usually too, well, fishy, and way too salty. I must admit I was somewhat disappointed when the starter was brought to the table. But I decided to put on a brave face and wear my foodie hat, squeezed some lemon juice over the tiny orange-pink eggs and reluctantly had a forkful. Hmmm. Not bad at all, I thought, and had another. And then another. My plate was spotlessly clean just five minutes later, and I ordered a löjrom dish in a fancy restaurant in Estonia just a few days later.

Sometimes it pays to overcome one's prejudices :)

The Main Course:


Pan-fried trout fillet with steamed green asparagus, dill sauce and boiled new potatoes. Lovely and very summery.

The Dessert:

Flaky butter pastry with vanilla ice cream and fresh strawberries. Served with a glass of honey-coloured cloudberry liqueur (on the right). Absolutely divine (both the dessert and the liquer:)

I must give special thanks to bride's cousin Yann for being so nice and swapping his dessert for mine. He had at least twice as many strawberries than I did on his dessert plate, and he quickly realised the unfairness of this. Such a gentleman;) Tack så mycket, Yann!

The Wedding Cake:
An impressive-looking five-tier chocolate mousse cake with raspberries. A bit too sweet for my liking, but delicious nevertheless. This was a small, intimate wedding, with just about 55 guests, but the cake was finished very quickly.

The lunch and cake were followed by joyous dancing and some more food (buffet-style, including tacos with chilli and a choice of toppings, various Swedish fish dishes, as well as wraps with reindeer meat) just before midnight.

From Stockholm, I flew straight home to Estonia, so I start looking for wild strawberries and cloudberries. Lovely..

* There is some confusion about the correct English term for that fish. The room service menu in my hotel translated löjrom as 'bleak roe'. I'm relying on a very comprehensive Finnish source, Raholan syötäviä sanoja. The site claims that löjrom isn't roe from a fish known as 'löja' in Swedish (Alburnus alburnus alias bleak, also known simply as 'whitefish', or powan or lavaret, which is the French term), but from 'siklöja' (or 'mujka' in Finnish-Swedish), known as Coregonus albula in Latin, Maräne/ Zwergmaräne/ Marenke/ Zollfisch in German. How would you translate this popular caviar, dear Swedish bloggers?

14 comments:

Anne said...

I usually call it bleak roe! :)

Anonymous said...

Bleak roe :-) But I've heard Whitefish roe a couple of times.

K and S said...

what a wonderful event! enjoy the next two!

Orchidea said...

I like the starter and the dessert... and the cake then...
I have also attended 2 weddings this year... it is definitely the year of the weddings.
Ciao.

Anonymous said...

ahahh Pille, 6 weddings, be careful. Something might be lurking your way. Great way to travel and visit your friends! I love it!

Anonymous said...

gorgeous wedding cake... had a similar one for my wedding, but with passion fruit instead of the raspberries - and much smaller, as there were only 8 of us!!!

Anonymous said...

Hi Pille, thank you for sharing thee wonderful memories. I am sure a Swedish wedding, if big or not, has its special flair. Enjoy the rest of the summer and the next two weddings !

Anonymous said...

Wow! This has been a good wedding year for you! The food looks delicious. I really like the looks of the dessert! Lovely wedding cake!

Pille said...

Anne & Dagmar - thanks for clarifying this. It's all very confusing, isn't it? Now I need to decide whether to call this rääbisemari or siiamari in Estonian:)

K & S - I'm sure I will enjoy the next two as much as I've enjoyed the previous ones!

Orchidea - believe me, the main course was wonderful, too! I've already received some informal invites for 2007 weddings, so maybe it's not the year as such, just my age:)

Bea - I wish:) And you're right - it's a great way to travel and visit friends. Plus it saves me from having to decide where to go for a holiday:)

Johanna - I imagine yours must have been absolutely amazing, considering where your select wedding guests ate!

Angelika - you're welcome and enjoy your summer, and the bounty from your garden, too!

Paz - the dessert was absolutely yummy, especially with all those extra Swedish strawberries I managed to get from my neighbour:)

Karin W. said...

You are right, Pille. There is some confusion about the correct name. Alburnus alburnus, bleak or löja is a freshwater fish of the carp family.

This fish has nothing to do with "löjrom" which comes from Coregonus albula or siklöja.

Whitefish may refer to any market fish - except herring.

"Genuine Swedish caviar" should be the correct name. Then there wouldn´t be any confusion.

Everyone knows, without confusion, what genuine Russian caviar is.

Tabel20 said...

Wow Swedish food I love it. I worked in a lot of restaurant here in Sweden and all mentioned dish I love :) especially different desert after food awesome :)

Nasir said...

awesome taste...swedish food love :)

connectonlineshop said...

wow swedish food taste awesome...

perfumeinside said...

swedish weding are awesome..I attened most of them and like it alot..thanks for the post