Food - News
This Creamy Casserole Is A Swedish Staple At Christmastime
By VEDRAN MASLOVARA
Swedish Christmas dishes are mostly filling foods such as meats and sweet desserts and are a part of the Julbord — the Swedish Christmas buffet. While Julbord usually contains foods like Christmas ham, sausages, rice pudding, and meatballs, one Christmastime staple is a delicious creamy casserole.
The traditional Swedish casserole is called Janssons frestelse or Jansson’s temptation, named after Pelle Janzon — “a Swedish opera singer of the early 1900s.” The recipe for this creamy casserole consists of julienned floury potatoes, onions, milk, cream, breadcrumbs, butter, and ‘ansjovies.’
‘Ansjovies’ are cured sprat filets that have a milder and sweeter flavor than Mediterranean anchovies. For those who dislike sprats, there is Hansson’s temptation, made without sprats — and is suitable for vegetarians — while Karlsson’s temptation uses ground beef instead of sprats.