Swedish "smorgasbord", ~ give it a try!!

The word smörgås means something like "open sandwich", and bord is the Swedish word for "table", but still a smörgåsbord is not a table full of sandwiches. 
This specialty instead consists of a number of small dishes, from which you can take your pick. An average smörgåsbord may, for instance, contain a number of herring dishes (sweet-pickled herring, pickled herring with onions, mustard, dill, etc.), Swedish meatballs, salmon, pies, salads, 'Jansson´s temptation' (sliced herring, potatoes and onions baked in cream), eggs, bread, boiled and fried potatoes and so on.
Smörgåsbord was served already in the 18th century but at that time it was used as an appetizer before the main course. Gradually, however, it has become a meal in itself. 

If you want to try some typical Swedish fast-food, you can go to a hot-dog stand (korvkiosk). There you can choose between fried and boiled hot dogs, served with French fries or mashed potatoes together with mustard and/or ketchup (Senap eller ketchup? you will be asked). Lately, som new dishes have turned up in the stands, like baked potatoes. 

If you want to taste some Swedish homely fare you can try pea soup with pork and pancakes for dessert. This dish is usally served on Thursdays. 
Pytt i panna, a hash of fried diced meat with onions and potatoes is another specialty. It is served with fried eggs and slices of pickled red beets. You can also try kåldolmar, or stuffed cabbage rolls, a dish brought home by King Charles XII (Karl XII) after an involuntary residence in Turkey, nearly three hundred years ago. 

Swedish crayfish
If you are here in August you might get invited to a crayfish party. The crayfish are boiled with dill, sugar and salt and you eat them  using your hands. The meat is found in the claws and in the tail of the animal. 

When it comes to drinking coffee, Swedes rank second in the world (per capita, of course). People usually drink coffee for breakfast, after lunch or during the highly esteemed coffee breaks.

Midsummer is perhaps the Swedish greatest festival. This is one occasion where the smörgåsbord is served. Herring, meatballs and fresh potatoes are almost compulsory dishes, and usually a lot of snaps is served too. 

Christmas and Easter have their own traditional dishes.There are also special days during the year for waffles and cream buns with almond paste (semlor); both these days occur in the spring, but you might find 'semlor' already in January.

Surströmming
If you try surströmming, or fermented Baltic herring, you will never forget it. It is sold in cans, and when you open them a strong, foul smell is released, the result of a fermentation process. 
This method of preservation was invented long ago, when brining food was quite expensive due to the costs of salt. When fermentation was used, on the other hand, just enough salt was required to keep the fish from rottening. Surströmming is served with boiled potatoes and onions and often rolled into a slice of tunnbröd, a type of thin, flat unleavened bread. Although lots of people do not like it, you have to eat it a couple of times before you really appreciate the taste, there is a hard core of surströmming devotees, most of them in the north of the country.