10-11 december
Are you curious about what Christmas was like during the 1800 ‘s? Are you interested in and love seeing old houses and interiors while tasting special christmas treats? Do you enjoy seeing cute animals while enjoying the stroll “old village” with a christmas vibe? Then you should come and visit Torekällsberget for its Christmas market in SÖDERTÄLJE to enjoy the old style of Swedish christmas.
Christmas in the 19th century at Torekällsberget – SÖDERTÄLJE
10-11 December 2022, Torekällsberget offered a great 1800’s christmas from 11 am to 16 pm. We went there around 11:30 and started strolling, and checking the animals, small cottages and their offers. There were already quite a lot of folk and a guy with an instrument welcomed us with joyful christmas music which made my heart already start to get even more excited. The entrance fee was 100 kr and you can pay either by swish or card. All the children under 17 are free. Do I still look like 17? I was joking with my friend and we entered. There was a map of the area and schedule of the event for the day.
WARM WELCOMED BY BEAUTIFUL AND FRIENDLY HOUSES
First, what came to our eyes was a beautiful horse. S/he had an interesting color with white, black and brown and was really friendly! Even when I was filming and taking photos, s/he came close to me and said hello.
FOOD TRUCK (WAFFLES & HOTDOGS) & BLACK RABBITS
Then, we smell something really nice. It was a food truck with waffles and some hotdogs! We also saw a cute black rabbit. There was only a rabbit but it is supposed to have other kinds as well. It was so interesting to see her/him eating Pine tree leaves.
STORIES WITH HANNA VAGAN AT RÅBYGARDEN
Then, we entered one of the old cottages called råbygården. I love those small cottages with low ceilings. They are just so cozy and everything was made with natural materials such as wood that made us feel calm and peaceful. There were two rooms inside and one room held what was called “stories with hanna vagant”. Here, I saw many families and kids sitting on the wooden bench but what was the coziest for me was it was like a farmer’s style and hay/dry glass was filled on the ground. Hanne was wearing traditional clothes and comically and theatrically did the story telling. It was all in Swedish but just to see and feel the atmosphere was worth it and fun!
CHRISMAS DINNER AND SAUSAGE AT RÅBYGARDEN
In another room, there are small beds, dining table, kitchen and stove. The lady was giving us special sausage and we were able to see what the Christmas dinner was like during the 1800 ‘s. They offer a special recipe for this sausage so if you like to try, here is the recipe!
Pork sausage from the oak nut region, tveta soken
Christmas sausage according to an old recipe
1kg lean pork
2.5 – 3 dl pork puree
1/2 kg lard
1/2 kg boiled potatoes
1 tbsp potato flour
1 dl warm milk
4 meters of pork skin
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp ginger
2 tbsp salt
- Grind lard, meat and potatoes. (NOTE: In the old fashioned way, this was cut into small cubes and chopped finely)
- Mix in the potato flour, milk, pork broth and spices and stir until smooth.
- Thread the well cleaned and rinsed hook feathers, gut side out, onto the sausage horn and press the meat mixture into the horn with your thumb.
- When the sausage is long enough and not too tightly stuffed, tie it at the ends. If the sausage is too tightly stuffed, it may crack during cooking.
- Leave the sausages to marinate with salt until the next day.
- Cook in the juices of the ham, for example, but simmer and cook slowly!
the sausage can also be smoked
Instead of tying knots on the sausage ends, wooden sticks used to be taken and tied up.
The sticks left little room for air in the sausage to blow out. If there was too much air, the sausage could burst, which was a sign of impending doom, it was believed.
At Christmas in the 19th century, the sausage was sold under the name Tveta sausage. This was done in cooperation with the Sorunda sausage factory. Inside Råbygården, samples of the sausage are offered. Christmas sausage is one of the few pieces of old Christmas food that still exists.
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I felt a bite of potatoes or something and it had a nice taste with all the spices.
INSTA SHOT WITH OLD COTTAGES
Then, we went outside and did some photoshooting! All the beautiful cottages are perfect for “insta photo” or just great memories to be in an old time in sweden. Very cozy and beautiful.
THE FRIENDLIEST GOTLA
THE FRIENDLIEST GOTLAND SHEEP
We also saw gotland sheep and you can really get close to them if they feel like coming close to you. We were really lucky that those sheep were so friendly and one of them especially was acting almost like a dog or cat asking us to touch and massage his neck (at least it seems like so !) so we were able to touch him and it was just so cozy and beautiful. Some kids came close to kiss the sheep and it was so lovely.
MAKE A WISH TO SANTA CROSE
After a while walking and strolling around, we really started to feel cold so we decided to go to a cafe and have lunch. On the way, we found some people were sitting outside and seemed waiting for something. So we asked what it is and they told us that you can meet Santa here. So we also joined the line. They let each group only so it was a bit painful to stand cold outside but that made sense later on why they let only each group in. When it was our turn, we went inside and it was such a cozy inside with nice fire and Santa was warm and welcomed us. He had such a warm and kind atmosphere with a smile on his face asking us what our wishes were. He can write down our names, ages and wishes and he was willing to take a photo together.
PEPPERKAKA (GINGER COOKIES) BAKED IN WOODEN FIRE OVEN
We stopped by one of the other houses where they were. On the way to a cafe, we also saw cows and windmills which were also very beautiful. We also stopped by another cottage where they baked pepparkaka and baked in their own wooden fire oven. It was the best pepparkaka that I had ever had living in Sweden for the last 8 years. The cookies, made in a wood-fired oven, were crispy, warm and had a nostalgic, rustic taste that was truly delicious.
FOOD TRUCKS
There are more food trucks and here you can buy sandwiches such as chicken curry sandwich or Langos but since we really wanted to be inside, we went to one of the cafes called Lindbloms kafe.
LINDBLOMS KAFE
They had a really nice interior as you can often see in old style garden cafes such as old stoves, beautiful wall paper and wooden tables and chairs and of course, many nice pastries! In this cafe, you can taste all the bread and pastries baked in the bakery. I Would love it if they could increase the lunch menu and prepare for such a special event with more staff since the lunch menu was quite basic (something you can make at home yourself) and there was a long waiting time. I ordered a hot sandwich with mozzarella, tomato and pesto and my friend ordered a hot sandwich with salami and cheese. Unfortunately, they told her that salami was running out so she agreed to have ham and cheese. The taste was quite ok, not bad at all but I would love it if they had more side salad and put a bit more colors for instance as well as a bit more ingredient inside the bread since it was quite flat. That way it can get more satisfying. Als, there is no toilet inside the cafe but you can find it in another place easily, for instance Karusell.
After warming our bodies, we started to check out all the stores and markets. I got to taste nice chocolate and brownies. We also stopped by the bakery. Even though we did not buy anything, the bread looked great, especially my favorite lusse bulle looked really delicious and they have nice hot chocolate tops with marshmallows.
In Handelsboden, you can find Christmas decorations & sweets, museum shops and Christmas crafts & games. The shop looks so old with style and atmosphere with many interesting candies. The shop also sold nice Christmas decorations and some home goods. Both downstairs and upstairs there had some exhibitions and there was even a place for the kids to play and make some arts.
PHOTO STUDIO 1918
What was out of my expectation was at Fotoatelje 1918. Here you can see how it was like in 1918 to take photos. Nowadays we can take photos on our phone but at that time, it took quite a while so there was even a neck rest on the chair. The lady was very passionate to tell us about the history and its development. It was eye opening to hear that the camera in 1918 when it comes to focus and sharpness still cannot be beaten by modern technology. It’s fascinating to realize that no matter how the current technology develops, there are certain things in older times that work better. She said that combining both wisdom from old times and new technology is the way forward and I agreed. What’s your opinion? They also had a small exhibition of photos from that time and it was nice to see the sharpness that she told us about. It was very romantic to capture the moment and have fewer photos.
Next to the studio in another cottage, you can also taste flat bread baked in the fire. It is a very simple recipe but it tasted amazing with the fireplace. They also offer a special recipe so if you like to try, here it is!
Gahkko
oven 225
Ingredients:
5dl milk or water
50g yeast
75g room temperature butter
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp light syrup
about 700g wheat flour
Direction:
- Heat the milk until it is lukewarm.
- Crumble the yeast in a bowl.
- Pour over the milk.
- Add the syrup, butter, salt and most of the flour.
- knead into a smooth dough.
- leave to rise for 30-45 minutes
- turn the dough out onto a floured table and divide into 12 pieces
- round and give a little rest, then roll out each bun into a flat cake (it will fit 3-4 on a baking sheet)
- Flour the cookies lightly and place on a paper lined baking sheet.
- let rest for 5 minutes
- nibble and bake in the middle of the oven for 5-7 minutes they should be quite light
We had them put a bit of butter on and it was so delicious while seeing the fire in the fireplace was extra cozy.
LUCIA TRAIN
The last one to close out the wonderful Christmas of 1800 was Lucia train. This year (2022) Lucia will be on the 13th December therefore they had a nice walk from Life By school to the big main stage. It was 16.00 o’clock and already it was very dark. People dressed up in Lucia costumes with candles and musical instruments started to walk while singing and playing special songs. We walked along the way with them and it was very cozy. After they arrived on the stage, they continued with some performances but we decided to start heading home as we had been there the whole day and were very satisfied with the whole experience.
SUMMARY:
Only paying 100 kr, not only we enjoyed a nice christmas market but also all the historical scenes as well as interaction with cute animals were definitely worth visiting. It is a bit outside of the city but definitely worth visiting especially if you love that kind of staff. at skansen, you can have a similar experience on a bigger scale, but if you like a more cozy and personal experience with fewer people this is definitely the place! We were so happy that we went there. And please make sure to wear warm clothes!