Fika!

  Swedes drink a lot of coffee, an average of 3-4 cups/day. It is one of the highest rates of consumption in the world, and we most became aware of this going on picnics with cousins or friends. Picnic baskets always contain a large thermos (or two) filled with coffee.

   But coffee culture in Sweden is not only about the ubiquity of the beverage. It is also about the cherished custom of fika. Fika is a centuries-old tradition revolving around the importance of regularly taking a coffee break, not only at work or with colleagues, but also with friends, family and at home on weekends. It is everywhere, as our friend Stina says, “from the kitchen table to the corridors of Parliament.” And here is one of the best parts: fika almost always involves a sweet treat too, with a cinnamon bun (kanelbulle) being the most traditional. (Every year on October 4 Swedes celebrate Cinnamon Bun Day.)

Carol and our friend Stina getting ready to enjoy Fika with Stina's homemade cinnamon buns in her house in Södertälje, outside of Stockholm.  Stina baked for us for the two days we were with her, cheese pie, apple cake, rye bread rolls and cinnamon buns.  She worked at Cabbagetown Cafe when she lived in Ithaca.  Stina's apple cake recipe is in the Wings of Life cookbook!

 

   We take coffee breaks too in the U.S.  But here it is much more than a “coffee break”; it is an integral part of Swedish culture. Swedish workplaces, for example, almost always have morning and afternoon fika breaks, but these are also opportunities for interaction across hierarchies, and for reducing social and class division. And everyone is expected to show up. You relax, unwind, chat together. But it’s also for planning, say a project or, if at home, a family trip. In the end, it highlights the Swedish value placed on work-life balance.

And there are even books on Fika.  Here is Stina's book published a few years ago.  This is the English version; it will shortly be coming out in Swedish too.