A +500 year old swedish tradition which nowadays involve eating one special pastry we call Semla.
It comes from the latin Simila, referring to the finest wheat of the harvest. FetTisdagen is an old tradition from the 1500's, when Sweden was catholic, and the people would be fasting a couple of weeks before easter.
Then, on this tuesday, everyone would compensate/reward themselves by instead eating ridiculously much.
The bottom part of the bread has got cardamom in it, with a pat of marzipan, then there's some curled, whipped cream and another little piece of bread with icing sugar on it.
I was not going to buy a semla today, couldn't be arsed. I don't usually give a rat's ass about this tradition, after all. And so now, at 22:45, my crazy big brother stopped by my flat with a little parcel and then was on his way. That was a really nice gesture, I thought. So I typed this up and now I'm full. I get a funny feeling in my stomache from cream, but it was worth it, it tastes of sunny delight.
So, anyway, that concludes this session of Fun Facts of Sweden. Next time, I show you how we clean our hogs underneath, at BresaFredagen.
posted
Isn't Fat Tuesday related to Mardi Gras as well?
Anyway, I passed on the pancakes today, probably because the university cafeteria makes ones that taste like crap.
-------------------- "I was surprised by the matter-of-factness of Kafka's narration, and the subtle humor present as a result." (Sizer 2005)
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
It's Mardi Gras already? I guess in another week we can sit through ads for the next volume of "Girls Gone Wild at Mardi Gras!" Sheesh, those ads bug me.
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posted
I see Shik has found his word-of-the-month.
-------------------- "Lotta people go through life doing things badly. Racing's important to men who do it well. When you're racing, it's life. Anything that happens before or after is just waiting."
-Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney, LeMans
Registered: Mar 1999
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quote:Isn't Fat Tuesday related to Mardi Gras as well?
I thought you were Canadian Tom, "Mardi Gras" is "fat Tuesday" in French. I hope you were joking. It is also known in the Christian calender as Shrove Tuesday, last day to party before Easter or Paques.
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Da_bang80
A few sectors short of an Empire
Member # 528
posted
Must... have... delicious... pastries...! One looks like a whipped cream hamburger...MMMMMM! I think i'm going to have a sugar induced stroke just looking at it!
-------------------- Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. The courage to change the things I cannot accept. And the wisdom to hide the bodies of all the people I had to kill today because they pissed me off.
posted
Wait, isn't it New Year's Day for the Chinese and Vietnamese? And what kind of cream have you been digesting Nimrod?
What happens if you are not fat and most likey will not be until you are 70?
[ February 12, 2002, 21:15: Message edited by: Michael_T ]
-------------------- "It speaks to some basic human needs: that there is a tomorrow, it's not all going to be over with a big splash and a bomb, that the human race is improving, that we have things to be proud of as humans." -Gene Roddenberry about Star Trek
Registered: May 1999
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posted
Then you'll receive the passionate hatred of those people who are fat and likely will be well past 70.
I'm oh so cheerful at midnight!
-------------------- The philosopher's stone. Those who possess it are no longer bound by the laws of equivalent exchange in alchemy. They gain without sacrifice and create without equal exchange. We searched for it, and we found it.
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posted
Sieg, it's called genetics. Let's look at my family tree: my mother and her sisters and brothers are all Filipino. Most of them, including my mother, were thin up until their 50's. Granted they were all born around the late 40's and early 50's, they lived the lifestyle they grew up in. I didn't notice til I was 18 that they started getting fat or bald in my uncle's case; the oldest among the group is currently 54. As for my grandparents, my grandfather died of cancer at 79 and my grandmother is still ticking and enjoying her soap operas at 76, thought she looks like she's in her 50's. My mother doesn't look 52, my sisters don't look like they are 19 and 14, and I don't look like I'm 20; We all look younger than our actual age.
What did I learn from my observation? Well... 1) I won't get fat until my 50's so I can eat all the junk food I want. Hell I still weight 90 lbs and love it. 2) I will go bald when I reach my 40's unless I use Rogain. 3) My aunts and mother hate saying their real age and my uncles don't like being reminded that they are going bald.
[ February 13, 2002, 00:14: Message edited by: Michael_T ]
-------------------- "It speaks to some basic human needs: that there is a tomorrow, it's not all going to be over with a big splash and a bomb, that the human race is improving, that we have things to be proud of as humans." -Gene Roddenberry about Star Trek
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posted
Woooo-hoooo, Ladies! I got beads, now show me your-- ...What? It's over?! What do you mean it can't be over allready. Nah, I mean-- I mean I got all these beads... Nah, I mean what am I gonna do with all these beads... That's funny... Grease your own damn pole, spoilsport... Damnit.
-------------------- "Nah. The 9th chevron is for changing the ringtone from "grindy-grindy chonk-chonk" to the theme tune to dallas." -Reverend42
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