Ärtsoppa is a culinary classic that has been served in Sweden since the Middle Ages. At one time the Catholic Church regarded it as a sin to eat meat on Fridays, so it was considered sensible to fill up on ärtsoppa on Thursdays. Swedes tend to cherish their customs, thus a warm bowl of yellow pea soup on Thursdays is still popular today.
John Duxbury: https://www.swedishfood.com/swedish-food-recipes-starters/134-pea-soup
Being a Thursday and following an invitation from Nicoline, we had a pea soup dinner at Lagnö Bo tonight. I’m not a mad keen fan of pea soup but, given this is a Swedish custom, I figured I’d better give it a try.
Firstly, it’s not green pea soup and, secondly, it has lardons in it and a swirl of mustard. All of these things make the whole a bit more palatable for me. And then there was the pancake for desert with, what we thought was, beetroot jam*. I should also mention the warm punsch that Nicoline slipped me.
Of course, as usual, Mirinda and I had to sit separated. I had, among others, Morten sitting with me. During a discussion around what the community was doing for Christmas Eve, he loudly proclaimed that he didn’t care because he was escaping to Portugal. And he only had a one way ticket.
In an odd coincidence, Mirinda went into Stockholm today to visit the Portuguese Embassy in order to lodge her visa application. Unlike last time, this went without a hitch so, to celebrate, she bought herself a new hat. She also bought me some delicious jars of Italian condiments, which I shall be using in cooking with great delight.
Speaking of cooking, I have volunteered to help in the kitchen on December 15 at Lagnö Bo. When the general table discussed who I could work alongside, it was decided that I will be assisting Magnus who is actually a chef. Who owns and runs a restaurant. That’s a frightening prospect. Mind you, it did give rise to a jolly good laugh when they asked me what my surname was.
I didn’t take any photos (it didn’t feel right) so here’s one I took of Freya looking adorable when the sun came out at one stage during the day.
Also, Nicoline told us off for already having Christmas lights on in the house.
* The jam, we discovered, was actually apple, blackberry and butternut pumpkin. It was delicious and nowhere near as sweet as most jam. Perfect on a pancake.
