On the Table
Sweden’s Warm Heart Fika, the beloved coffee-break tradition, brings sweet indulgence to winter’s dark days. BY INGRID K. WILLIAMS PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAN KULLBERG
Classic cake: A marzipan-covered vanilla-and-cream prinsesstårta at Stockholm’s 1920 Tössebageriet café.
W
HEN THE WINTER WIND BLUSTERS AND THE SUN SINKS IN THE EARLY AFTERNOON,
Swedes rely on warm scarves, boots, and a cozy afternoon fika to combat the cold and increasingly dark days. Fika is the tradition of having a coffee and something sweet to eat over idle chitchat with friends, family, or colleagues. It’s a pillar of Swedish society, as much as the welfare state or an appetite for pickled herring. And while Swedes will take a fikapaus ( fika break) anytime, anywhere – at home, in the office break room, on a weekend hike in the woods – the best place to engage in this sociable ritual is at a café, bakery, or coffee shop offering a selection of baked goods and sweets, such as buttery kardemummabullar (cardamom buns) or coconut-coated chokladbollar (chocolate-oat balls). An intentional pause, fika is a special time to enjoy not only the food and drink, but also the company. And nowhere is it easier to find a place to partake
52
V I RT U O S O L I F E
