Stockholm Is Sweeping the Culinary World Off Its Feet

Ask any native of Stockholm where he is from and you will get an answer that will surprise anybody unfamiliar with the city - you will be told the nearest substation to his residence!  Well, this should come as no surprise as the city itself is built practically on water, with 57 bridges connecting 14 distinct islands.   And don't be surprised either when a Stockholm native is proud of his city considering that in the 2008 Global Cities Index, it ranked first in Scandinavia and tenth in Europe. 

Yet another thing that Stockholm natives are proud of is their cuisine that continues to sweep the world off its feet.  Or at least, it impresses the residents and visitors alike due to its local flavor infused with an international vibe. 

This was not the case a few decades ago, however. The Stockholm restaurants of offered traditional fare, which was characterized by a smorgasbord of cultured dairy products, breads of the soft and crisp varieties, meats like pork and beef although reindeer and elk also available, seafood and shellfish in fresh and pickled types, and the ever-present meatballs and lingonberry jam.  In short, it was good but not necessarily excellent if you were to ask snotty gourmets. 

A bright spot for dieters in Stockholm is that the pastries like cookies, yeast buns, biscuits and cakes are not as sugary sweet as those found in the United States.  Plus, the coffee with fika is a filling snack in itself although it can really make for a coffee buzz like no other. 

And if you are a fast-food addict, Stockholm is a haven of pizzas galore.  Of course, there are also American-style restaurants serving hamburgers and French fries.  These are fatty, oily and greasy, to say the least, but it is cheap in an expensive city like Stockholm. 

In short, Stockholm offered good food but not something that you can rave about in your letters to home.  That is, except for the akvavit, the Swedish equivalent to the Russian vodka. 

Fortunately, just like its neighbors, the restaurants of Stockholm are slowly but surely catching up with the international scene.  The reasons often attributed to such an increasing open-mindedness to new culinary influences are the country's entry into the European Union and the information technology boom of the late 1990s.  Of course, you can always say that the way of the natives of Stockholm is the reason for it, too. 

Nowadays, the combination of choices ranging from improved local Swedish cuisine to a melding of Swedish with international influences to truly international cuisine is available for every taste bud out there in the city.  Thus, you will find lingonberries and cloudberries with more imported, exotic fruits. But of course, meatballs are still staples in the menu so you know you are still in Stockholm. 

Well, what better way to appreciate all that Stockholm has to offer in gastronomic delights than to visit the city?  Before you do, however, make sure that you have reserved your hotel Stockholm over the Internet.  You have the benefits of ease and convenience in booking your rooms as well as in taking virtual tours of the hotel, reading up on reviews and availing of discounts when they arise.  Indeed, there is nothing like Stockholm to practice your skills in negotiation! Nobel Prize rings a bell?