Scandinavian Food

[lingonberry]

I am looking for Swedish and Norwegian food in the Boston area - specifically a deli that might carry even just a few products. I've been surprised at how difficult it is to come by. I'm Scandinavian, originally from the Midwest and craving something from home. It's pretty expensive to ship it in, and Ikea isn't exactly what I have in mind.

This weekend, I am cooking dinner for some friends. I would especially like to find some potato sausage and some lingonberry sauce to show them what I eat when I'm home.

Has anyone stumbled across any Scandinavian products in the Boston area? I don't expect to find a specialty store, but perhaps someone knows of a store that carries a diverse range of international goods - meats, cheeses and other specialty foods.

Thanks!

[sch89]

If someone knows of a place which sells Nøkkelost cheese I would be eternally grateful. Last I heard it is not entirely legal to import this cheese but occasionally you may come across he "right" stores which has a secret stash.

[robertlf]

IKEA in Stoughton.

[kbdiana]

Does anyone know of a place in the Boston area to buy beer from Sweden?

[autopi]

you might try downtown wine & spirits in davis square, which has a large-ish beer selection. or i suppose cardullos in harvard square. i can't confirm either one, but if i were looking for swedish beer, that's where i would go.

[9lives]

If you can expand to Finland, I bought some Matjes Herring in spicy sauce..Skansen brand at Berezka; Russian market at Commonwealth and Harvard Ave last night.

Unfortunately, I didn't check around for other Scandinavian products.

[lingonberry]

Happy midsommar!

Awesome tips, I will report back on what I find.

[Joanie]

I don't know if Portland can count as the Boston area, but there's a dedicated Scandinavian store on one of the side streets in the Old Port (hopefully it's still there). Not sure about cheese but there are refrigerated items (definitely some fish) and various cookies and stuff along with bumper stickers of the flags, etc. You missed Swedish nite at the Plough and Stars last Tues. w/ free meatballs. And the Swedes Stampede won the DJ Smackdown.

[NSDishGal]

I second the Crown Bakery in Worcester, http://www.thecrownbakery.com and just down the road from there is the Gift Chalet in Auburn. http://www.giftchaletauburn.com Not particularly close to Boston, but it's easy to hit both in one trip. I usually hit up both to stock up for my Holiday party smorgasbord.

http://www.northshoredish.com/

[enhF94]

Swedish pastry and fika are a bit of a problem in the Boston area - even at the Danish Pastry House, folks don't sell (or recognize) semlor or princesstorte.

You can get a kinda-sorta chokladboll from several of the Brazilian bakeries in town (the Brazilian ones are made entirely differently, with condensed milk, but if you imagine really really hard...)

IKEA sells jams both lingonberry and cloudberry, crispbread wheels, tube caviar (and jar too, but it's more fun to say "tube,"), rye bread mix in a milk carton, and several types of chocolate (including Kex). Also DAIM almondy, my favorite candy bar torte. And some pretty good all-beef hot dogs for what, a buck? So they're my go-to place.

Happy midsommar, btw.

[steinpilz]

Scandinavian food in Boston, and so many 'hounds can speak specifically about this?!?

Chowhound is amazing.

[three of us]

Isn't it fun? I'd expect a long thread if posting to the Minneapolis/St. Paul link but to get this many comments on the Boston board is great. Can't wait to hit Karls' Sausage.

[junior coyote]

Karl's Sausage Kitchen has a few things. They also make Korv.

[trufflehound]

I seem to remember some scandinavian products at polish markets in s. boston and worcester. Sorry, can't help with the names but the southie one is outside andrew sq.9they also own tom's deli in worcester) the other one is on millbury st in worcester. hope it helps some.

[Food4Thought]

One of them in Southie would be:

Baltic Deli & Cafe
632 Dorchester Ave # 1 South Boston, MA 02127-3550 - [phone]
balticdeli.polishgrocery.com

[Lieber78]

I would recommend Baltic Deli -- even though their focus is really on Eastern European food, they do carry some Baltic/Scandinavian specialties, too. In particular, it is the best source for Latvian-style rye bread that I've been able to find yet. My mother-in-law is Latvian, and she agrees that its the most authentic she's found so far in the Boston area that isn't actually imported from Latvia (and thus very $$!). I think they have become somewhat well-known for this, though so they often sell out -- it is worth calling ahead!

They also have some jarred pickled herring that is quite good. They also have lingonberry jam, but only the smooth kind (or at least that is all I've ever seen).

[overproofed]

This may sound strange, but Ikea carries a few Scandinavian food products (including lingonberry jam). I have no idea about the quality, since I never bought any. I'd call them to see if they carry anything you want before driving all the way out there and braving their store.

[yumyum]

I've purchased lingonberry preserves from IKEA and it's perfectly fine. And yeah, the Swedish meatballs are a guilty pleasure, although they are easy to make at home.

[another_adam]

For smoked and pickled fishes, Bazaar in Brookline has a pretty good assortment , including incidentally some Scandinavian options. (Sometimes the truly Swedish ones are limited to Abba brand, though, which I guess you could get at IKEA, too) We go for their Lithuanian sprats when we're mixing up a batch of Jansson's temptation.

[peregrine]

The smoked and pickled fish selection at Baza in Newton, just past Filene's Basement, is also excellent.

[three of us]

I would like to find the hard, tan cheese I enjoyed so much in Norway. I didn't see it on the website someone posted, alas. If you do find this cheese, please post.

[PinchOfSalt]

Are you looking for gjedost? (or similar spelling) You might try Whole Foods or Formaggio. I know I have seen gjedost at the Fresh Pond Whole Foods in the past, but it has been a while.

[Taralli]

I used to find Gjetost at Star Market in Cambridge.

[Chris VR]

Karl's Sausage Kitchen stocks gjetost (both Ski Queen and another brand), as well as other interesting goodies. Mostly of the German persuasion, but I feel like I've seen lingonberry sauce there.

-----
Karl's Sausage Kitchen
142 Broadway, Saugus, MA 01906

[lingonberry]

This was a great - I went, they had lingonberry, gjetost, potato sausage (kokkorv) and tons of other scandinavian products. Thank you so much.

[Chris VR]

Glad it worked out for you! They make all of their sausages in-house.

BTW if anyone in the Salem, Marblehead or Melrose areas is interested, I know Karl's is considering setting up a meat CSA with, I believe, a delivery to a central location in those cities once per month. I think Annette? is the one organizing it, so give them a call if you are interested... I think they want to gauge interest before they go forward with it.

[Chris VR]

I picked some up at the new Hannafords in Saugus today, Ski Queen, $6.99 for a small block of it.

[three of us]

Thanks for the tips. I will definitelly follow up on them.

[emilief]

I have seen this cheese at Wasik's Cheese Shop on Central Street in Wellesley Center. Not sure if they still carry it but you can call and find out.

[Prav]

My Norwegian co-worker recommends this: http://www.giftchaletauburn.com/shop/...

[rlundq]

Gift Chalet is excellent for Swedish products of all kinds. Many imports of cookies, baking mixes, brown beans, swedish yellow peas . . . .etc. -- their website has most of their products on it. They make their own potato sausage -- I think just at Christmas and you should call ahead to reserve if that's important to you. If Auburn seems too far for you, they will ship. They have a lot of cheeses and my guess is they would order Scandanavian cheese for you if you like.

[Chrispy75]

Not too sure if you'll find everything that you are looking for, but you might want to check out The Crown Bakery in Worcester. http://www.thecrownbakery.com

Also, there is a place in Plainville, MA call Distinctively Sweden. http://www.distinctivelysweden.com Might be worth a call. They do have ligonberry sauce.

Good luck.

[Mr Bigglesworth]

probably a longshot but perhaps cardullo's in harvard square?