kräftskiva: swedish crayfish party

we have been very fortunate to have very amazing swedish freinds in san francisco. our friendship began a couple of years ago in a very funny way when we were in costa rica on a local bus to go from one part of the country to another. we were too sleepy in the bus and this nice couple asked us where the bus is heading to and my husband was so sleepy that he said he has no idea where we are heading to ... apparently he was so sleepy that he really didn't know where we are going to! anyways during this bus ride we figured out that we all live in san francisco and since we were so sleepy we forgot to get each other's contact information. but then we were lucky enough that we went to their the place were they stayed at for dinner and we found them and that's how the friendship started. since then we have had some great get togethers for hiking, camping, skiing, eating, and just being good friends.

they have been talking about their amazing tradition of celebrating the end of the summer and crayfish season. this year they really did an amazing job and introduced this magnificent tradition to us. first of all i should say the customary party accessories are paper hats that we had to wear, paper tablecloths, paper lanterns in crayfish shapes.:-) they look fantastic. they even printed the lyrics of traditional swedish drinking songs or snapsvisa. also as appetizer we had swedish pickled herring which is marinated very sweet but it goes very well with a savory creamy sauce on bread. as a side dish we also had a bacon quiche which swedes call it pie. it was fantastic with crayfish.

crayfish is boiled in hot water and served cold with fresh dill. its meat is a lot more tender than lobster but you have to work harder to get into it which is half of the fun. here i post an introductory video that our friends henrik and louise explain how to eat crayfish.

every now and then you also have to have a sip of a swedish snaps. another fun part is the singing part which doesn't happen unless you have had enough snaps. the swedish schnaps reminded me a lot of the austrian ones. very herbal and dry which i really like. we also had to sing a song from the snapsvisa every now and then with our excellent swedish accent and then drink another sip. after so much eating and drinking and singing a nice princess cake was a fantastic dessert.

Comments

Hehehehe that sounds like great fun!!! I love this kind of traditions!!!
And I can totally relate to your bus story... we too made wonderful friends on a mini van in San Cristobal (Mexico) and even though they live in Romania, we are still in contact! :-)

Posted by: Manu | 09/14/2011 at 10:58 PM