Author: Chiara

Nordic findings in japan

Nordic culture experienced in Japan: Moomins, Dala horse stationery, Nordic-inspired foods and books about Scandinavia seen by the Japanese.

You can find Nordic cafés & restaurants in Japan on this blog, but here is some other stuff I bumped into during my trip there !

Nordic-inspired Japanese items

I saw some cute objects connected to Nordic cultures, as a gacha-gacha machine where you could get a Marimekko-looking item keychain! It was called Kippis, what the Finns say when toasting.

It is also not surprising that Japanese and Asian people find Dala horses cute, and that’s what I saw on the cover of a journal. Was kinda tempted to get it!

dala horse journal japan

Moomin!

MOE magazine was featuring Moomins in the current issue. Moomins are pretty popular in Japan and represent an iconic symbol of Finnish culture. This issue had many pages about Finland and Finnish bakeries in Japan among others as well.

moomin gacha gacha japan


A Moomin pop-up cafe closed just before I left, and Mcdonalds has Moomin toys in their happy meal right now! Too bad I was either late or early.

I was also very tempted to visit the Metsä in Hanno (near Tokyo), メッツァ公式, a Nordic-themed park with Finland-like nature and a lake, Nordic/Finnish-brands, shops and restaurants, and the Moominvalley park in it!

Nordic food with a Japanese twist

Fun Fact: all-you-can-eat style fusion buffet restaurants are usually called Viking – バイキング – in Japan. The idea behing the name originates from Smörgåsbord (buffet) restaurants, that a restaurant manager from Tokyo’s Imperial Hotel saw in Sweden. As Smörgåsbord is not the easiest word for a Japanese, the word viking was adopted instead! (Source: tofugu.com)

Speaking of Sweden, IKEA is, all over the world, the place to go for Swedish food, with its rather cheap restaurant and bistrot. Japan is no exception, but it has its local twist, and I got to try Sweet Potato soft ice cream!! Sweet Potato is a very common seasonal flavour during Autumn in Japan.

You also have a chain called Danish Bar, selling roll-shaped danish pastries. Nothing particularly Danish besides the wienerbrød-ish dough though.

I was walking around in Takayama, Gifu prefecture, when I bumped into a Karjalanpiirakka/Carelian Pie being sold at a cafe called Tori coffee, the iconic Finnish Rice pudding Pie as it was named here!! I had to immediately interact with the person at the counter and ask about it, and I found out the baker had actually been in Finland! I was too full from Japanese food to eat one, but it looked delicious.

journal art

Days later, I found Finnish bakeries, cafes and restaurants in Japan being showed off in the MOE Moomin-themed magazine I mentioned above.

The TRANSIT magazine featured a section about the New Nordic Bread Movement, with among others an article about Åland.

åland japanese magaz
åland japan magazine transit

While browsing magazines and books in Kinokinuya 7-floor bookshop, I found Time in Scandinavia – what the world’s happiest people have taught me (北欧時間 世界一幸せな国の人たちが教えてくれたこと) by Inko Higurashi.

inko higurashi scandinavia

I also bumped into what seemed an elederly/daycare house called with the Swedish name of Merhälsa and a shop called Kiitos, Looking up online you find either a cafe, a character merch shop, and a cookie/chocolate manifacturer, but none of these seem to be related to Finland?

Follow for more Nordic-related stuff, wherever it may be!

5 symbols of Sami culture

Sámi people, indigenous people of North Scandinavia, have a distinct culture, symbolised by its unique flag and traditional clothing, and part of it are Duodji handicrafts and unique musical expression through yoik.

Chiara's avatar by Chiara

How Nordic are Baltic countries

Are Baltic countries Nordic at all? I explored Latvia and Estonia, noting their ties to Nordic culture, from languages to Rye bread and Midsummer.

Last summer i visited Latvia and Estonia. They are not too far from Scandinavia, and I was curious to find what they have in common with Nordics.

1. language and identity in the Baltics

While Latvians and Lithuanians are Baltic people – speaking an Indo-European language, related to Slavic languages- Estonians are Finnic, and their language is very close to Finnish, making Estonia the most ‘Nordic’ of the Baltic countries. Livonians are a small Finnic minority in Latvia.
Estonia in particular has deep ties with Scandinavia – it used to be under Swedish and Danish rule. Though you can find a Swedish gate in Riga too!

There is actually a Swedish minority in Northern Estonia and coastal areas, that has existed since the 13th Century: eestirootslased or rannarootslased in Estonian, estlandssvenskar or aibofolket  in Swedish, similarly to Finlandssvenskar, Finland’s Swedes.
Its number shrinked however significantly due to the USSR occupation in the 20th century, that urged many to flee to Sweden, being very small today.

There is also significant proficiency in Finnish in Estonia, thanks to its linguistic proximity with Estonian and exposure to Finnish broadcasts during the Soviet era. Nowadays, young Estonians are not as exposed to Finnish media as older generations were during those times, and Finnish is not as intelligible for them as it used to be for their parents.

According to a poll done in 2013, about half of the young Estonians considered themselves Nordic, and about the same number viewed Baltic identity as important.

2. Baltic cuisine

estonia bakery
latvian cookies
  • Rye bread is king! As dark as night! Rye bread chocolate is a things both countries!! Says enough..
  • Herring, Redbeet, (potato) pancakes are staples – all stuff to be found at LIDO chain self-service restaurants, Latvian of origin.
  • Soups in Latvia are a very common part of meals as in Slavic countries, notably the redbeet cold soup. Something typical Latvian are the dumplings Pelmeni, similar to Polish Pierogi etc.
  • A galore of Baked goods were everywhere in Latvia, maybe not as much in Estonia. Nordic style buns were in both! Something that seemed very common were custard buns, and coconut coated buns. Latvians seem to love cookies.

Kalev is Estonia’s chocolate brand, Latvia also has its national confectionery brand Laci.

3. Nordic stores and products in Baltic

  • Stockmann department stores are present in both countries – you can find a lot of Nordic stuff, including Norwegian Brunost and carelian pastries!! Though I saw carelian pastries in Estonian supermarkets, and ICA cloudberry and lingon jam at a Rimi supermarket.. Finnish fast food chain Hesburger is present in the Baltics – I have to say I did not see any special items from it though…
  • You can get bulk candy in supermarkets like in Nordics. But it seems in the Baltics they enjoy bulk cookies as well!

Finnish brands as Fazer chocolate and some moomin stuff is common in Estonia. At Tallinn airport they had a whole selection of more Finnish and Swedish candy brands, and even a Pippi + moomin merch corner!!

4. architecture

Looking at some buildings, you could be in Scandinavia, though others make you think of Eastern European cottages.

Old buildings in the centre of Riga and Tallinn. I think these could be mistaken for Danish or from Stockholm?
Countryside houses in Jūrmala and in Estonia. I guess these look more like Eastern European cottages. Birch trees give a pretty Nordic vibe though.
Orthodox churches in Jūrmala and Tallinn

Folk Culture

As in Sweden and Finland among others, Baltic celebrate the Summer Solstice, a.k.a. Midsummer – or Saint John’s night – jääni in Estonian, Jāņi in Latvia. People go to the countryside to gather and eat, drink, sing and take part to old pagan traditions. Among others lighting a bonfire and gather herbs to make flower crowns and oak leaves wreaths!

Folk costumes are also quite distinct from Scandinavian ones, and are often characterized by a headgear in both Latvia and Estonia.

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Who are Greenlanders? 3 symbols of Greenlandic culture

Discover Greenland, home to the Inuit Kalaallit, and its most iconic aspects as its flag, language and folk costumes. The biggest island of the world has a rich history of indigenous culture intertwined with Norse colonization and later Danish rule.

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Fika in Nijmegen, lunch with smørrebrød

Fika in Nijmegen is a cafe/lunchroom with Scandinavian vibes: smørrebrød, knäckebröd, buns, cakes and books!

Some time ago I went to Fika in Nijmegen, a Scandinavian inspired Café / Lunchroom, focused on open-face sandwiches. high fika with friends. It is also possible to use your laptop at certain times for remote working! Next to the café you have the Fika Kiøsk for a treat and drink on the go.

NL: Een tijdje geleden ben ik bij Fika geweest in Nijmegen. Daar kun je lunchen met skandinavische boterhammen, een lekkere koffiepauze hebben met kardemombollen of cakejes, en zelfs een gezellige ‘high fika’ met vrienden boeken. Andere Zweedse broden als Knäckebröd en polar brood kan je hier ook eten.
Fika heeft een ruime ‘smørrebrød’ selectie: boterhammen van meergranen desembrood met vis, vlees en vega opties. Borrelsnacks met wat skandinavisch gevoel zijn er ook.
Je mag hier ook je laptop gebruiken, aparte flexwerk-ruimte.

Here is what you can eat at Fika:

A highlight of the café is the wide ‘smørrebrød’ selection: multigrain sourdough open-face sandwiches with fish, meat and vegan options. Shrimp salad and köttbullar (meat- or vegan balls) among others.

For a sweet break, of course you can have a fika at Fika – some classic Scandinavian treats to choose from are buns, cardamom or almond; and Kladdkaka (Swedish chocolate cake with gooey filling).

Other snacks to share I noticed on the menu are cheese and meat/vegaballs with a cranberry sauce; knäckebröd with goat cheese and veggies; mini Polar pizza – polar bread with mushroom or salmon; and dill potato chips!

Something I like was the good assortment of Naturfrisk Danish drinks they have!

If you are with friends, it is also possible to book a ‘high fika’, what they call a High Tea elsewhere here. For 26,- euros per person you will get warm drinks and:

  • a soup
  • small open face sandwiches
  • polarbread pizza with mushrooms
  • small cakes
  • skyr
  • fresh fruit

Being with someone else, I managed to try quite a few Smørrebrød, the fish versions- tuna-cheese, salmon, shrimp – and one with mixed vegan- and meatballs. They might not be on the ‘proper’ Danish rye bread, but they did look and taste good! I advised my friend to try the Elderflower Naturfrisk drink.

smorrebrod nijmegen fika

Before entering the backyard to sit outside, I saw a nice collection of Scandinavia-related books: novels by Nordic authors (translated or in the original version, travel guides, and more.

pippi langkous zweedse literatuur
An old Dutch edition of Pippi Longstocking
denemarken gids
zweedse literatuur

Underneath there were some toys, and I found one featuring a dammsugare, I am a sucker for this small details.
After checking out the books, it was time for dessert. I really wanted to mke my friend try cardamom buns and try an almond bun myself (Swedes would call it a Tosca), but unfortunately there were not any left, so we went for another Dessert lemon velvet, and a Matcha-mango latte. Not particularly Nordic but good.

I loved how the café has a lot of maps of Scandinavia hanging here and there as well!

And here is the journal spread for this smørrebrød fika experience in Nijmegen!

We left, with me being kind of disappointed the buns were already finished when we were there, and because of that I had and even bigger craving for a kardemummabulle…

Since you never know, we went to the Albert Heijn to Go to see if they had the more Swedish-looking cinnamon knot. They did not only have that, but CARDAMOM knot too!! Sometimes life surprises you. Not sure if this is only a temporary promotion for Wereldse Smaken – international treats together with miso cookies and pandan muffins.

Volg de blog voor meer Skandinavisch eten aanraders in Nederland:

7 fun facts about Lucia, Sweden’s pagan saint

Lucia brings light in the darkest night of the year and is a mix of pagan and christian traditions. It is celebrated in Scandinavia with processions, saffron buns and church concerts.

Chiara's avatar by Chiara

False Friends within Scandinavian languages

False friends in Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and Icelandic that can lead to misunderstandings and funny situations between Scandinavians.

False friends are a very common thing in similar languages, and they can cause funny or weird situations, from calling someone calm instead of fun and pastries becoming headaches. Or insulting a girl by calling her girl.

So here is a list to find out curious false friends and keep yourself safe from incoveniences. As you will notice, Danish and Norwegian often have the same meaning opposed to Swedish, but not always.

(se-dk-no) wordSwedish meaningDanish meaningNorwegian meaning
roligfun (calm=lugn)calmcalm
artigpolitefunnyfunny
frukost/frokostbreakfast (lunch=lunch)lunch (breakfast=morgenmad)breakfast (lunch=lunsj)
blomma/eflower (plum=plommon)plum (flower=blomster)plomme=plum (flower=blomster)
varelse/værelse(living) being (room=rum)room room
bytown/village (city=stad)city (town=landsby)city (town=landsby)
stad/stedcity placeplace
semesterholiday (semester=termin)semester (holiday=ferie)semester (holiday=ferie)
lovsummer break , promise (law=lag)law (a promise=et løfte, but to promise=at love) law (a promise=et løfte, but to promise=at love)
rarweird (nice=snäll)nice, friendlyweird (nice=snill)
konstig/kunstigweirdartificial (weird=mærkelig, underlig)artificial (weird=rar, merkelig)
snålstingy–weird, odd
lesmile (laugh=skratta)laugh (smile=smile, read smeeleh)laugh (smile=smile)
grina/eweep, cry, also gråtalaugh (cry=græde)cry (laugh=le, also gråte)
glassice cream (glass=glas)glass (ice cream=is)glass (ice cream=is)
kjol/kjoleskirt (dress=klänning)dress (skirt=nederdel)dress (skirt=skjørt)
killingyoung goatkitten*geitekilling=young goat
bumsimmediately, at oncepimple–
kryddsill/krydsildspiced herringcrossfire (spiced herring=kryddersild)-, spiced herring=kryddersild)
tallrik/talrigplatenumeous (plate=tallerken)-, plate=tallerken
hurtigcheekyfastfast
anledningreasonreasonopportunity
bedriftachievementcompanycompany
styggnaughtyugly
flyescapeairplaneflight
tillbud/tilbudincidentofferoffer
tullcustoms– (customs=told)joke/nonsense (customs=toll)
snortsnotlace, cord
driva/e medjoking with/kiddingdoing
måste/må jeg…do I have to?may I?do i have to?

and here special section with Naughty words…. Pay attention

Swedish meaningDanish meaningNorwegian meaning
skedephasevag**a
tös/tøsgirlgirlsl*t
bolla/eplay boll (to f8&k=knulla)to f*cken bolle=bun pastry, å bolle seg=chill, have fun (to f8&k=knulle)
kneppe–to f**k (button=knappebutton (fuck=pul3)
måsseagullbutt (seagull=måge)– (seagull=måke)
svanstailfag**t–
källing/kællingkitten*b**ch–
kukd1ckcuckoo , mess (d*ck=p1k)d1ck
bärs/bæ,sjslang for a beerpoop

icelandic also has a few interesting cases:

SwedishIcelandic
huggachopconsole
bakverkpastrybackache

That’s all for now, I will keep this updated in the future!



more:

Nordic findings in japan

Nordic culture experienced in Japan: Moomins, Dala horse stationery, Nordic-inspired foods and books about Scandinavia seen by the Japanese.

Chiara's avatar by Chiara

How Nordic are Baltic countries

Are Baltic countries Nordic at all? I explored Latvia and Estonia, noting their ties to Nordic culture, from languages to Rye bread and Midsummer.

Chiara's avatar by Chiara

Guide to Ice Creams in Scandinavia

Discover Ice creams to try in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway: all-time classics,
Popular flavors, and curious novelties.

Since travelling to Scandinavia for the first time, i got quite acquainted with ice lollies available there, they have of course the magnum ice creams you see everywhre, but also quite a few interesting national classics, which vary. Here is a guide, so you are prepared..

Liquorice is a Nordic favourite!

One thing you see everywhere in Nordic countries is liquorice, lakrits/lakrids. You find tons of liquorice candy, in chocolate, and of course as ice cream flavour, and there are several options.
A pan-Scandinavian ice cream type is a round DAIM chocolate covered cream cone with a few variations, and it got recently a salt liquorice version!

liquorice in sweden scandinavia
raspberry liquorice ice cream and a liquorice-only shop!
Danish Scandinavian ice creams

During my Denmark-Sweden holiday of last summer, I got the Daim Mint variation at a 7/11 of Copenhagen station last year though. And I did try a berry-liquorice combo in Sweden though.

The Danish Classic ice creams

Frisko in Denmark, GB Glace in Sweden is the ice cream brand with the heart symbol present everywhere with different names, and many Ice creams I will mention are sold by it. Denmark has a set of all-time favourites, some have been around since the 50s!

Ice creams at the 7/11 at Fredericia station
danish ice cream
Filur: haven’t you got cold feet on saturday? Champagne Brus: No, I am bubbling from excitement!


I have tried Københavner stang, Champagne Brus and Solbær of them. the former is just a plain lemon one (picked it because of the logo), but I enjoy Champagne brus contrast of lime-ish freshness with the chocolate covering. Solbær – which changed name from Kæmpe Eskimo for political correctness reason – is just chocolate with berry creamy filling. Still good! Kung Fu is lime and liquorice, Filur is the cute orange-raspberry water ice cream.

Sweden: pear flavour, Pippi and Emil

Other than liquorice being king, a particularly common flavour in Sweden is pear, or at least much more than it seems to me in other countries. A Finnish Swede friend told me it probably is because you cannot grow many other fruit…Piggelin by GB Glace is a pear ice cream classic.

Swedish ice creams
Pressbyrån always making puns, here with ‘Vilken är fin glassiga favorit’: Which one is your classice cream?


SIA is the main competitor of GB in Sweden I guess, based in Halland. It has introduced Emil and this year Pippi ice creams!! The former is Krumelurglass (which i got in the original candy form last year, krumelurpiller), a fruity ice cream. The green part is -you guess it- pear. Emil has blueberry flavour.

pictures (c) SIA Glass

I actually tried the raspberry liquorice ice cream, the lemon cornetto, and the Swedish classic 88, read åttioåtta. Shoutout to my friend Linda & her husband who made me try it. I would have also tried a Hilda, marshmallow/strawberry-ish? ice cream covered in rainbow sprinkles, or Godisregn (‘candy rain’), basically the same concept but in a cone. Glassbåt (‘ice cream boat’), also looks interesting. There are a few versions of it.
I have seen other new ones from this year with very Nordic vibes:

  • Konfetti gul & blå (blue-yellow as the Swedish flag) from Hemglass, lemon and blueberry ice creams with sprinkles on them.
  • Punschrulleglass, inspired by the green and chocolate dammsugare pastry. Hence it looks like a Danish Champagne Brus.
  • a Kanelbulle flavour one
  • Geisha ice cream- ice cream version of the famous chocolate candy by not Japanese, but Finnish Fazer.

Norway’s 17 mai ice creams

In Norway you see Diplom-Is or Hennig Olsen instead, not sure if Unilever is still behind them – Whatever. There are ‘regular’ strawberry or chocolate and cream cones, which around May get fancier for the National Day, 17 Mai, with bunad-like patterns.

I have not eaten any ice creams in Norway, but I have to say I saw nothing that stood out compared to the other countries! Please invite me to Norway to prove me wrong, haha.

That was all for now, I will probably update this post for the future summers…Or add it for Finland and Iceland and hopefully try out their ice creams!!

So subscribe to stay update on Scandinavian Ice creams:

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How I learned all Scandinavian languages (and more)- Anchor language method

The ‘anchor’ language concept allowed me to learn Swedish, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian easily starting from studying properly only one language. This approach helps prevent confusion and builds a solid foundational understanding of language structures.

At the Polyglot Gathering 2025 – an event to connect with fellow language lovers and attend talks on language-related topics – Richard Simcott mentioned an interesting concept during his talk Language Bubble. Replying to a question about learning many closely related languages (and avoid confusion) he talked about relying on an ‘anchor’ language. And I realized i actually used that method without being fully aware of it.

As I mentioned while talking about learning all Germanic languages simultaneously, I did not start 5 languages at once. It was a gradual journey. And I relied on different languages at different stages. First on German, then on Swedish, and that is how I gradually studied/learned all Scandinavian languages. My experience as follows.

How I learned Scandinavian languages together

My first Scandinavian language was Swedish, which I picked out of feeling. Sweden was probably just slightly better represented in my head than Denmark and Norway. I started it after having studied English and German for years, and that helped me significantly, vocabulary and grammar wise. The same goes for Dutch, which I started at the same time as Swedish – they are related, but not that closely.
When I started, I could make a lot of assumptions and give things for granted thanks to my German knowledge: verb position, past verb paradigm, vocabulary I could understand etc. Back then, German could be loosely defined as my Anchor language for both.

Then, after having focused myself only on Swedish for 2 years, I started trying to write in Danish. I could not express myself but all i needed was figuring out how to modify my Swedish. The grammar works In the exact same way for most things, vocabulary is often very similar and has recurring spelling differences. After a while just google translating you see the patterns, and learn fast because of how similar they are.

Similarly, as I happened to chat with more Danes than Norwegians, I expanded a lot my Danish skills, making it more ‘independent’ from my Swedish. For Norwegian I have been relying on both, being aware of typical Norwegian features. I believe the key when attempting to speak is learning well filler words. The listener will be impressed about it before you recycle a word in another language – fake it until you make it they say.

Knowing Scandinavian languages surely did not have the same role as an anchor language when learning Icelandic, but I guess I could/can still use them as a ”reference”. German similarly when it came to Icelandic grammar in the beginning.

Anchor language concept In a nutshell

This concept consists in one language being on a higher level than the rest, To know something also means to know what distinct it from the rest, and for that you need a solid base you can rely on and use as reference. At some point, you will rely less and less on the anchor language.

  1. Pick a language and focus only on it and no new closely related ones for a while. You do not need to become fluent, but you need to know the language structure well: how grammar works, general vocabulary etc. So you are sure of what is Swedish, and do not mix it with what isn’t when learning.
  2. Get exposure in other related languages: start getting to know the other members of the family. Just like in a real family you do not remember the names of everybody after first introductions with many new people, so you have to have contact with them again here and there to actually be acquainted.
  3. Start using the other languages. As the passive language skills are already there due to language intellegibility, and you can use what you naturally absorb after a while, also by searching words you do not know and grammar concepts that might be different in your anchor language.

you can also see it as writing two essays: it works better to first write and finish one with a defined structure, then take that structure for a different topic and slightly modify it, than starting two different essays simultaneously, adding bits to both now and then, ending up with two randomly written texts.

The same can be applied for Romance languages, though my Anchor language is my native language, which I obviously have a strong base of to begin with…

I do plan to focus on Finnish to be able to make it my anchor language in order to easily learn/understand Estonian. It already helps with absorbing grammar features and some words I have randomly encountered, but to be a proper anchor there is work to do!

Find more language tips & facts on Nordic languages learning on this blog, or check out my free language resources list.

20+ Mindblowing Icelandic Composed Words

curious Icelandic compound words, from unique Icelandic words as ‘number prophetess’ for computer to ‘light pear’ for lightbulb.

Icelandic, like other languages, has a lot of compound words, expressing a concept with multiple other words.
For new concepts, for example technology-related vocabulary, Iceland has a committee inventing new words for new concepts, by assembling existing Icelandic words. This is to follow the language purism policy, and avoid just adapting foreign words or using loanwords.

Here are some Icelandic compound words I like. Can you guess the meaning by looking at the literal translation?

words unique to Icelandic:

  1. a classic example is tölva – Number-Prophetess (tala+völva): computer
  2. ljósmóðir – light-mother: midwife
  3. bergmál –rocks-language: echo
  4. spékoppar – naughty cups: cheek dimples
  5. tónlist – sound-art: music
  6. hugmynd – mind-picture: idea
  7. ástfanginn – Love-captured: be in love. This one is probably my favourite!!
  8. hugfanginn – mind-captured: fascinated
  9. sálfræði – soul-study: psychology. Most academic subjects have their own icelandic name, as málfræði – language-study: grammar.
  10. ratljóst – know/find the way (rata)-light: enough light to wander. This is however not widely used.
  11. Viðskiptavinur – business-friend: customer
  12. Mörgæs – Fat-Goose: penguin
  13. smokkfiskur – condom-fish: squid: it might be that smokk comes from smock, however, smokkur means condom, and that would somehow makes sense…

Compound words that also exist in other languages

Icelandic also took words that are jut adaptions of the original Greek words, literally translating into Icelandic, and shares quite a few with other (Germanic) languages, which are still curious if you are not a speaker of any of them.

  1. eldfjall – fire-mountain: volcano (just like 火山 in Japanese)
  2. Reikistjarna – wandering-star: planet. (what Planet originally means in Greek)
  3. rafmagn – amber-power: electricity (as electricity originally comes from Greek ēlektron meaning amber)
  4. flóðhestur – river-horse: hippo. (As in Scandinavian languages flodhe/äst or ‘Nile-horse’ in German and Dutch Nipferd/nijlpaard, it is just the literal translation of Greek hippopotamos). Nashyrningur – nose-horn: rhino. See above literal translation of rhinocerus, as Noshörning, neshorn, Nashorn, Neushoorn.
  5. Legkaka – Womb-Cake: placenta. (As Scandinavian mo(de)rkake, ‘mother cake’…)
  6. Gæsalappir – Goose-Feet: Quotation Marks (besides Anführungszeichen, German also has Gänsefüßchen)
  7. Ljósapera – Light-Pear: Lightbulb (as Glühbirne in German, and lyspære in Norwegian)
  8. Innblástur – In-Breeze: inspiration…(yes, you’re welcome)
  9. vínber – wine-berry: grapes (also exists in Estonian viinamarjad)

sources:

Article by Silvia Cosimini on Passenger Islanda, Iperborea.
Reddit thread: /r/linguisticshumor/comments/17k5ivl/whats_the_most_ridiculous_example_of_semantic/
guidetoiceland.is ‘s Icelandic Language iverview

3 easy and fast iconic Nordic dishes

simple and iconic Scandinavian recipes to make yourself for a typical Nordic dinner

I have been testing Nordic dishes as someone with not-so-incredible cooking skills who likes to cook simple things, and these are three delicious and easy meal ideas I can present you, in time/complexity order from the easiest:

1. Räkmacka – Swedish Shrimp open sandwich

Typically found at cafés as savoury option for a fika, but you can easily make it yourself – (rye) bread with Shrimps, cucumbers and tomato slices on salad, often egg and lemon – add whatever you like and make it look fancy!

2. Lohikeitto – Finnish salmon soup

soup with chopped salmon, based off milk and lemon juice, and enriched by veggies as potatoes and carrots.

3. Fiskefrikadeller – Danish fishballs

Make balls after mixing fish chunks (I have used pangasius and cod) with egg, flour, spring onion – I also like to add carrot bits -, Fry them in a pan on both sides. Garnish with herbs as parsley. Complete the plate with some fresh veggies to the plate as cucumber and red cabbage. Enjoy the fishballs with remoulade sauce as the Danes do!

Here are pictures of my experiments:

räkmacka
lohikeitto
fiskefrikadeller

Disclaimer: these are my creative versions, and I do not follow 1:1 classic recipes. You find plenty of other references online! You can still see more Scandinavian and Nordic food on this blog, from my trips in Scandinavia and to Nordic cafés elsewhere.

Please let me know if you will try making these!

Nordic flags explained

Origin and meaning of Nordic flags and other Nordic cross flags explained

Tomorrow, 23 March, is Nordic day, on this day the Helsinki treaty, establishing the Nordic Council, was signed in 1962. Its member are all Nordic countries and autonomous regions – including Åland, the Faroe Islands and Greenland.

In honour of this occurence, I am writing this post explaining Nordic (cross) flags. Scandinavians and Nordic peoples in general really like to use their flag, which are common to see in various forms and occasions, from pennants to wooden table flags, as decoration for a birthday or on a Christmas tree. But let’s go back to history!

Where Nordic flags come from: Dannebrog, the oldest flag in the world

the Nordic cross flags originated from the Danish flag, the oldest flag in the world! Also called Dannebrog, according to the legend it fell from the sky during a battle in Lyndanisse (today’s Estonian capital Tallinn) in 1219, turning 800 years old few years ago! 15th June is celebrated as Valdemarsdag in Denmark, from Valdemar Sejr, the king who fought in that battle.

The flag of the Kalmar Union, union of Scandinavia (or Denmark and Sweden, with Denmark reigning over Norway) 1397-1523, also had a Nordic cross. The Danish flag then became the model for fellow Scandinavian countries:

Sweden officially got its flag 300 years later, with a design from the 16th century, with the colors -yellow and blue – taken from the coat of arms dating back to 1275. The day on which the flag is celebrated is June 6th, Svenska flaggans dag.

Norway‘s current flag appeared in 1821 – picked among a few different flag design proposals. It was the first Nordic flag with 3 colors, maybe inspired by the French revolution wanting to get rid of the Danes…parliament member Fredrik Meltzer from Bergen said ‘it means freedom, as the French flag, and in the Flags of the Dutch and Americans, and the Union of the English’. You will see a sea of flags everywhere on 17th May, Norway’s constitution day

2oth century Nature-inspired Iceland and Finland, Faroe islands and Åland

Iceland‘s official flag became official in 1915, based off its nature: according to the Flag Act the flag colours are “sky blue”, “fire red” and “snow white”. Iceland had previously an unofficial flag called Hvítbláinn, the ‘white-blue’, used by Icelandic nationalist activists from 1897 and after 1915 partly abandoned due to its similarity to other flags. Today it is still used by the Icelandic Youth Association among others.

Finland‘s flag, called Siniristilippu “blue cross flag”, was adopted in 1917. The colors would represent the lakes Finland is rich of and snow. Finland has a Day of the Flag, Suomen lipun päivä, which also happens to be Midsummer (or Juhannus in Finnish), a very important day for the Nordics! On this day the Finnish flag is raised on Midsummer eve on 6pm, until 9pm of midsummer itsself.

Faroe Islands flag is called Merkið “drape / mark”, with a white background symbolizing the foam of the sea and the pure, radiant sky of the Faroe Islands, while the old Faroese blue and red colours are reminiscent of other Scandinavian and Nordic flags, also reminding the colors of traditional Faroese clothing. Faroese students in Denmark strongly felt the need to have their own flag, and in 1919 their newly created flag was hoisted for the first time by a student in his home village. On 25 April 1940, the British Authorities officially recognised the Merkið as the Marine Flag of the Faroe Islands. This day became later the Faroese flag day, Flaggdagur.

Åland islands, the autonomous Swedish-speaking archipelago belonging to Finland, mixes Sweden and Finland in its flag, where the red cross represented Finland as the color of its coat of arms. The red cross used to be blue, with the colors taken from a song festival in the capital Mariehamn. Since 1954 it has been the official flag of Åland, April’s last Sunday is the flag day, Ålands flaggas dag.

Regional, minority and other unofficial nordic cross flags

On this map I added official or widely used flags, not adding therefore Normandy and proposed flags
  • Skåne – The flag of Scania is actually quite old, and has its origin in the historical coat of arms of Lund’s (Danish) archibishop of Lund, older than the Danish Dannebrog! The Nordic cross flag was made up in the 1800s though. The third Sunday of July is Skåne flag day. skaneflaggan.nu
  • Finnish/Swedish minority: Flag mixes – Finland’s Swedes (looks actually the same as Skåne flag, red stands for Finland as above for Åland) and Swedish Finns, Finland’s flag with a yellow lining around the cross.
  • Bornholm – The island’s unofficial flag is from the 70s, designed by Bent Kaas. Green would represent the nature on the Danish island. It is mainly used in tourism and to mark local products.
  • Unofficial Nordic cross flags have been created for Swedish regions as Norrland, Bohuslän, Småland among others, and the Swedish Baltic Sea islands of Öland, and Gotland, although these are not really used.

Nations with Nordic ties- scandi heritage

  • Shetland and Orkney for their Nordic heritage, historical and cultural ties of the Scottish islands with Scandinavia. Shetland‘s flag was created in the 60s for the 500 years since its transfer to Scotland from Norway (after belonging to Norway for as long). A Nordic cross with Scottish colors. Orkney‘s flag was chosen in 2007, after a public consultation (all proposed flags were a Nordic cross). Yellow and red from Scottish and Norwegian royal coats of arms, Blue representing Scotland and the Sea.  
  • Normandy‘s Saint Olaf flag: mainly used by regionalists movements, its name comes from the Norwegian kind Olaf Haraldson, probably baptised in Rouen, remarking the region’s viking origin.
  • Nordic cross flags were also proposed for Estonia in 1919, to remark its Nordic (rather than Baltic) identity and historical ties.
  • A cool Nordic cross flag was also proposed for Frisia, probably due to the part of Scandinavian heritage Frisian people (scattered between the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark) have.

Nordic indigenous nations without Nordic cross: Greenland and Sami people

Greenland and Sami people have a flag since 1985 and 1986, both Inuit and Sami people adopted a sun/moon symbol instead of a cross, more typical of indigenous people and their connection to nature. the sun symbol was kept however in the same left-aligned position as Nordic crosses.
Greenland has had a Nordic cross flag proposal – you might guess, green was in it- , but the Greenlandic iceberg landscape-inspired design by Tue Christiansen was eventually chosen instead. its name is Erfalasorput,”our flag”.
In the Sami flag sun and moon are represented as a circle. The first Sami flag, designed in 1977 by Synnøve Persens, was the simpler, red and blue with the yellow line, inspired by Sami traditional clothing. Astrid Båhl added the Green line (color more present in South sami clothing) and the circle.

sources

  • Norway: stortinget.no – Det Norske Flagg – et flagg i frihetens farger
  • Iceland: government.is
  • Faroe islands: faroeislands.fo
  • Åland: regeringen.ax
  • Greenland: dr.dk – video about the Greenlandic flag (Danish)
  • Sami flag: Store Norske Leksikon
  • more: britishcountyflags.com, skaneflaggan.nu, patrimoine-normand.com

Semlor at Selma’s and Danish pastries in Amsterdam

Trip to another Nordic bakery to enjoy a fika with a semla, and surprises on my way

After getting a lussekatt during the Christmas season, I was really eager to also eat a semla, the whipped cream-filled bun which is eaten in the shrovetide season instead, culminating on Fettisdagen (fat Tuesday).

So I picked Selma’s Nordic Bakery in Amsterdam! On my way I randomly saw Danish flags at the Noordermarkt and happened to discover Raw Betty (Raw_betty42 on instagram), selling Danish delicious buns, cookies and cakes at Amsterdam markets. Read the article till the end to find out what I chose…

Raw Betty stand at Noordermarkt, Betty’s son also runs a hotdog stand, maybe I’ll get a pølse once!

We then walked forward on our way to Selma’s, located in Amsterdam West, around 30 minutes walking from Amsterdam Centraal. Which I was not upset about at all, because it would mean a well-deserved fika.

Selma’s also has a to-go location closer to the station, in the Jordaan area, but this time we wanted to sit and enjoy it.

The interiors are also in a quite Nordic and pastellish style. The restroom even had moomin posters!

nordic baakery amsterdam
moomin posters

Rye bread loaves, cinnamon and pistachio buns and smørrebrød were among the sold products, among others classic fika treats as chokladbollar, biskvi and kladdkaka. Of course at this moment semlor had their own spotlight!

They sold 2 versions: the classic Swedish one with almond paste, and Finnish one, laskiaispulla with a fruit compote. Since I had already tried the classic one in Sweden last year, I went for the fruit compote. We had matcha latte as drink, which is not particularly Nordic but always delicious.

journal art nordic bakery

While at Selma’s, i also got my birthday present from my friend: liquorice Marabou (Sweden’s favourite chocolate brand)! I had actually got a salmiakki Fazer bar (Finland’s favourite chocolate brand) when I went to the Finnish seamen church for their Christmas market month before, and it was actually fun to compare! the Fazer one is slightly darker, with a bigger liquorice chunk, also a bit juicy, while Marabou has smaller, crispier pieces.

As for the Danish treat I got, that was a Napoleonshat! The name is as you can imagine a hint to its shape, a sort of butter cookie with marzipan inside, coated with chocolate, and in this case pistachio. mega lækker!

I already have plans for other Nordic trips to Amsterdam, so stay tuned to see more interesting places…!