One of the Swedish traditions I've been most excited to experience is a kräftskiva, or crayfish party! Originally I want to have a group picnic in a park with decorations and all of the traditional food, but the Swedish weather moved my big party to a small one indoors. But still so much fun!
August = Crayfish Party! This tradition began due to Sweden limiting crayfish harvesting to the late summer. Now the parties continue every August with lots of decorations, like paper tablecloths and lanterns (like the one we bought with the Man on the Moon), plus hats and bibs for the guests!
Alongside the boiled and marinated crayfish, there's snaps (but first a song before drinking!), bread, and Västerbotten cheese pie with all of the fixings - sourcream, roe, and red onion. I also love that at the fish shop I received crown dill for decoration!
I live in Vasastan, so I bought my crayfish at Mariannes Fisk, which specializes in Swedish seafood. They bid at the seafood night auctions on both coasts with morning deliveries - you can't get much fresher than this! Plus they've been around for almost 100 years and prepare the seafood themselves according to the traditional recipes!
I had a bit too much fun decorating! Definitely want to consider investing in crayfish decorations and china so we don't have to throw away so much next year. But you can see how it'd be hard resisting buying everything! And you don't even have to look hard - all of these decorations are available in the supermarkets...
I'll be honest - I didn't intend to bake my own Västerbotten cheese pie, but as it was the last weekend in August - they were sold out everywhere! I used the recipe from the official website and it turned out delicious! Here's the link if you want to try: Click Here
The crayfish were the stars!
And so happy to have a real Swedish dessert : kladdkaka (Swedish chocolate cake) made by Meredith with Swedish strawberries and vanilla ice cream!
In red and wearing my crayfish hat!
