ICA MAXI!

ICA Maxi is the first place I went with Etsuko when I came here two summers ago for the boreal forest ecology course - and on this go round after I went on a walking adventure to find it a couple of weekends ago I've gone back a few times on my bike (which limits my carrying capacity!).  ICA is the same chain as is in my local shopping center, but that one is small - it's no MAXI ;)    I know I talked about the grocery store in my last blog with respect to translation- but food is a staple of my life here and mult-faceted, so can't hurt to talk about it some more right :)

Rosehip soup that I bought by accident & blueberry soup - also fruit soup - apparently popular apres-ski?

As I've mentioned in previous blog posts the food has been a bit of a mystery and mistakes have been made - but I have not (to the best of my knowledge!) eaten anything that I would feel unhappy about (horse sandwich meat, for e.g.).  I have also been unsure of particular swedish foods and what they are all about - so today I went with Etsuko and Petter in their subaru so I could really stock up and understand what I was stocking up on (after they dropped off their old microwave for me to use - microwave popcorn mmmm - which I had to buy tonight from the local chinese 7-11 b/c I forgot to ICA - but I digress!).  We went at lunch time - turns out people are not eating their lunch on Saturdays around noon - they are instead shopping at ICA-Maxi - it was BUSY!  But that didn't stop us from some photo opportunities ;)
As Margo would appreciate there is a whole section of caviar - I like salt - but not enough to appreciate why eating fish eggs is thought to be a good idea - I will stick with fully grown fish, and keep my eggs to the chicken variety - makes for better cookies ;)

Etsuko is showing off just one of the many varieties of caviar shown!

Then there is the squeeze tubes of Ost (=cheese).  I never knew they could have so many kinds and variety - I mean they have whisky ost, rum ost, mushroom ost, and my personal favorite which I was mildly tempted to actually buy and try - bacon ost.  Alas I just couldn't do it!

Yes sir - you heard me - cheese with whisky, rum, and even bacon...

Lakris = black licorice and the Swedes LOVE the black licorice- I think this is an understatement!  I remember at Halloween when we'd get those it was straight to dad - but here everyone would likely be fighting over them!  Filmjölk is a staple of the diet here that I fully embrace and eat for breakfast every day with some granola - very similar to yogurt but with slightly different bacteria and sold in a variety of flavors - including pepparkak - which turns out to be gingerbread - rather than pepper-flavored, which was making me shy away from it.  I will be trying that one next!  Alas, apparently lakris-fil has not caught on - so maybe we're on to a new invention and this is the get rich quick scheme I am always looking for - lakrisfilmjolk mmmm?!



Licorice-flavored ice cream anyone?

I share the love of Sweets that the Swedes have - apparently they have one of the highest sugar consumptions - where that statistic comes from and the context for it I am not sure - but I do see a LOT of evidence around for it - there are aisle(S)! for Godis ("goodies"), even in my local ICA store :)  Now I know the swedish fish really do originate here, along with a kazillion other sour and sweet and every color and shape under the rainbow options in between :)  On Saturdays it's Lördagsgodis - which translates literally to Saturday's Goodies/Treats, which apparently is meant to be a special day when kids get to go to the candy store.  As you can see in the picture below - both kids and adults fill bags (whose size is getting into the territory of SUPER-sized as the years go by) with a wide variety of godis - both lakris and lakris-free.  I have been making a concerted effort to try a wide variety, although I don't really discriminate based on the day of the week - and I don't really think the Swedes do either - although perhaps a slight uptick in candy purchases on Saturdays ;)



Petter and Etsuko skipped the candy aisle - but many more did not - this is only one of many candy aisles :)

Every day should be Lördagsgodis day - well it kind of is for me while I'm in Sweden - when in Rome as they say - Sweden in my case ;)  And not to worry - when I don't forget my shoes AND my yoga pants - yes I did this earlier this week! - I am spinning and pumping iron at IKSU so it's all balancing out - more or less I hope!  And I should comment that despite the sugar consumption the Swedes look to be some of the healthiest people around - everyone is biking and walking and working out - makes you feel lazy if you don't! Exercise, eat sugar, and be merry - well aside from that sugar crash!

Christmas is Jule (pronounced Yule) - and this is christmas "skum" - aka Santa marshmallows! 

It being Maxi it has more than just food and I also bought an electric Christmas Swedish Style Candelabra - but I will come back to that when I talk about the lights festival et al. in my next blog - stay tuned :)

God natt (good night!).