Flickr/Pelle Sten
While Mardi Gras has come to be more synonymous with colorful beads than anything else, many countries around the world have special traditions that accompany the day before Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. In some countries, Shrove Tuesday is honored with pancakes, but in Sweden it’s all about the semla, a tasty pastry that has come to be an iconic Scandinavian treat around the world this time of year.
What is a semla?
Semlor are cream buns, made with a sweet, yeasty dough, filled with almond paste and topped with whipped cream. Traditionally eaten on Fat Tuesday—known as fettisdagen in Swedish—as a kick-off to Lent, nowadays any self-respecting Swedish café or bakery carries them from the beginning of January onwards through Easter. With a strong cup of coffee, is there of a better winter treat?
The history of semlor
The word semla actually comes from the Latin simila, which means wheat flour. In Sweden, a semla can also be called a fastlagsbulle, which is a word more commonly used in Southern Sweden. The debate over whether to call it a semla or a fastlagsbulle is so intense that there is even a Facebook group devoted to the discussion, titled Det Heter Fastlagsbullar (It’s Called Fastlagsbullar). Fastlagen is the time right before Lent, originally just the day before Lent, but now considered Sunday (fastlagssöndag), Monday (fastlagsmåndag) and Fat Tuesday (fettisdagen). Of course if you are a traditionalist, you will only eat a semla on these three days. But let’s be honest, it’s hard to say no to a bun filled with sweet almond paste topped with heavy whipped cream, isn’t it?
In the beginning, the semla was just your average bun with no filling—the first known semla appears in a painting from 1250, which hangs in a Danish church. Then in the 18th century, people started filling them with almond paste. Later, in the 19th century, they were served with warm milk, known as hetvägg in Swedish. This method of eating the Lent bun with milk, which people still do, wasn’t just common in Sweden—it happened around northern Europe; called hetweggen in German, hedevig in Danish, and heitevegg in Norwegian. As it happens, the last thing King Adolf Fredrik ate before passing away on February 12, 1771 was a hetvägg.
