🧑🤝🧑 Swedes
The main people of Sweden, a northern land of forests and lakes; their age-old home-made sour milk is filmjölk (fil).
Swedes are the main population of Sweden, a Nordic country of forests, lakes and cold winters. Milk and fermented milk products have a firm place in Swedish cuisine: they are eaten for breakfast and added to baking and sauces. The milk comes mainly from cows; in the past, in the north of the country, cattle were driven to distant forest pastures in summer.
The best-known Swedish product is filmjölk, or simply fil: a mild sour milk fermented at room temperature by the mesophilic bacteria Lactococcus lactis and Leuconostoc mesenteroides. It is eaten with a spoon with muesli, cereal, crushed crispbread, jam or berries. Similar products are described in written sources from the 18th century; the idea that homemade fil was made as far back as the Viking Age is only a guess. Filbunke, fil that has set right in the bowl, is also well known.
Today filmjölk is a mass-market product: it went on sale in 1931, and later versions with different fat levels and flavourings appeared. Homemade starters are still kept and passed down in families.
How it connects to milk
🧑🤝🧑 Swedes ← among ← 🦌 Moose cow → gives → 🥛 Milk
Links
- Where they live
- 🌍 Northern Europe
- Traditional products
- 🥛 Filmjölk
- Dairy animals
- 🦌 Moose cow
- Traditions
- 🌱 Caraway spirits and aquavit, 🥃 Aquavit
Frequently asked questions
What is filmjölk?
A mild Swedish sour milk fermented by mesophilic bacteria at room temperature and eaten with a spoon, often with muesli or berries.
What is the difference between fil and yogurt?
Yogurt is fermented by thermophilic bacteria at 40–45 °C, while fil is fermented by mesophilic bacteria at room temperature, so it is milder and less sour.
What do Swedes eat fil with?
Usually for breakfast — with muesli, cereal, crushed crispbread, jam, fruit or cinnamon.
What to read next
- 🌱 Caraway spirits and aquavit — Aquavit is a spirit flavoured with caraway or dill, at least 37.5% ABV, no essential oils. Caraway spirits (Kümmel) start at 30%, and Kümmel liqueur is much sweeter.
- 🥃 Aquavit — Aquavit (akvavit) is a Scandinavian spirit flavoured with a distillate of caraway or dill: in the EU from 37.5% ABV, essential oils banned. Svensk Aquavit and Norsk Akevitt are protected names.
- 🦌 Moose cow — A female moose (moose cow); her milk is rare and very nourishing: 10.5 g of protein and 8.6 g of fat per 100 g (FAO). Moose cows are milked at Älgens Hus (“Moose House”) in Sweden.
Similar
🧑🤝🧑 Norwegians · 🧑🤝🧑 Icelanders · 🧑🤝🧑 Finns · 🧑🤝🧑 Sámi
ℹ️ This page describes the people only through food: what they grow and make, and which foods and drinks matter in their traditions. History, language, religion and other parts of the culture are not covered here.
What it includes
- Traditional products
- Dairy animals