Text and photo Laila Duran ©
We wanted to show some of the traditional ways of celebrating Christmas in the next volume of Scandinavian Folklore, and Britt Eklund who has been very much involved in the making of the first book, suggested she ask her friends in Boda to cook a meal both pleasing to the palate and the eye. The dining room at Gammelgården in Boda has beautiful wall paintings and we chose to do the photo shoot there. Britt gathered nine friends and on the morning of the shoot ten ladies dressed in the traditional costumes of Boda were standing on the doorstep, all of them with a delicacy in their hands. The scent of all the food made my stomach rumble and I was told we would eat it all as soon as the pictures were taken.
There will be a careful account of all the food on the table in the book. A memorandum from the area, written in the 19th century was used to make sure all the details where right. The author of the memo has noted the exact numbers of breads to serve and also made an account of how many times the thin flat unleavened bread should be folded. Apart from bread there are cheese, biscuits of peaflour, pudding made of beestings, potatoes, Swedish turnips and two kinds of meat.
All the food was beautifully prepared, even the butter looked like a piece of art.
Britt Eklund, to the left, with Sara Jons who had been preparing food for days.
Cheese……… in different shapes and flavors!
Finally the pictures were taken and we were all seated at the table for a feast I will not easily forget.
I would like to thank the ladies who took the time to prepare all the food and dress for the occasion. It was a memorable weekend and the photos will be one of the highlights of the book.
Happy New Year to you all!
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