Day 222: Swedish food

I was just about to write a blog post when my latest Airbnb guest, a nice Japanese girl from London who is visiting Scandinavia for her graduation trip, came back home after a walk around Uppsala. "Oh, what a lovely city!", she exclaimed after entering the door. "Can I take a picture of your home? Is it true that Swedish homes are so cozy because the winters are so cold and you spend so much time indoors?" I don't know, but it does make sense.

Then she made some tea, ate some of the plums I had picked in my mum's garden earlier today and started asking me about Swedish food.

Many of the people who come here want to try traditional Swedish food. Which is not so easy, since Swedes seem to prefer Thai, Japanese, French or Italian food, when they go out, so there are not that many restaurants that serve Swedish food.

Anyway, I told her about meatballs. With jam. "Jam?! Is it sweet? Like dessert?". Yes, I know it's a bit weird. And pickled herring. I had had some herring for dinner, so I offered her to try a piece. "Oh, nice!" She actually looked as if she liked it. And fermented herring. Which I, fortunately could not offer her, it smells terrible. I showed her a video of a friend trying it for the first time, just to let her see the reaction when the can is opened. And about the cray fish parties that takes place now in August, but that too will be difficult to get in a restaurant. And then it was 10.30. "It was nice talking to you. I didn't realize it was so late. How do you say 'thank you so much' in Swedish?", she asked, before going to bed.