We met on Sunday, November 13, at 1:00pm Central via Zoom for “Swedish American Holiday Traditions” with Patrice Johnson, food historian and Nordic cooking instructor. View the presentation by clicking here!
Many of us were raised in America’s heartland with Nordic food traditions. We may not have understood the significance of our holiday julbord beyond the White Plate of lye-cod, butter or cream sauce, potatoes, rice pudding, and lefse. Perhaps someone thought to add color with a sprig of dill, pile of peas or pickled cucumbers, or a splash of red lingonberries. Still, we understood that we honored the past when great grandma’s meatballs were served. We are bound by a legacy of meatballs and lutfisk. These foods tell a story of immigration: where we come from, who we are, and what we wish to become.
Where did the iconic meatball come from and how did an Italian Saint make her way to feed starving Swedes? Why do we eat lutfisk and what is the proper way to prepare rice pudding? Patrice Johnson presented a discussion of Swedish American holiday food traditions as we explore everything from holiday baking to dopp-i-gryta, from Swedish sausage to Jolly Troll’s infamous smögåsbord.
Patrice Johnson is a self-described Nordic Food Geek and meatball historian. Johnson has written and presented on a wide variety of topics, including on the intersections of Swedish immigration and foodways. She is the author of Jul: Swedish American Holiday Traditions and Land of 10,000 Plates: Stories and recipes from Minnesota. Her weekly food and culture column appears in her hometown newspaper, and she is a cooking instructor with American Swedish Institute and Vesterheim Museum. She lives in the Twin Cities with her husband and three cats.