Fika What?

Just another fika break to get me through the day.

Of the many quintessential Swedish words, "fika" has to be near the top, right behind "lagom," a discussion we'll save for another time.  Fika is essentially a coffee break that often includes coffee or tea, conversation, and some sort of pastry or sweet. Fika can take place between breakfast and lunch, in the afternoon, or sometime after dinner.  You can even skip lunch and just fika. Oh yes, fika is also a verb :)!  What do you do on a first date? FIKA!

 You cannot take a trip to Sweden or even meet a Swede without experiencing this cultural pasttime that is, in fact, so much more than a cup of coffee; it is an installment of society, a cornerstone to culture, a doorway of communication.  Business meetings are strange and incomplete without coffee and cookies or "bullar," Swedish cinnamon buns.  Every parent meeting, sports event, or even holidays, involve fika; Swedish Christmas  Eve just wouldn't be complete without gingerbread cookies and saffron buns after watching "Kalle Anka," (Donald Duck) in the afternoon!

To give you a little perspective, Sweden's average consumption of coffee in 2002 was 7.8 kg per person, making Sweden fourth highest in coffee consumption behind Norway, Finland, and Denmark.  Not only do Swedes like their coffee, but they are also the worlds highest consumers of sweets at almost 17 kg per person per year.  Sweden even has three holidays that the entire nation associates with certain buns:  Cinnamon Bun Day (October 4th), St. Lucia (December 13, saffron buns), and Fat Tuesday (usually sometime in February; semlor, sweet rolls filled with cream and almond paste)

The purpose of this blog is to discuss fika, fika culture and origins, and, of course, the best and worst places to have fika in Stockholm.  And, as it is after 15:00 now, I think I need to go make some coffee and see if there is anything sweet in the house to eat ;).