As American as apple pie

Smorgarama

A traditional Swedish smörgåsbord consists of both hot and cold dishes in a very specific order. With time, the custom has been adapted on this side of the Atlantic.

CYNTHIA ELYCE RUBIN
Travel Editor
The Norwegian American

Smörgåsbord (English smorgasbord), a type of Scandinavian meal originating in Sweden, serves multiple hot and cold dishes of great variety. It became popular at the 1939 New York World’s Fair Swedish Pavilion’s Three Crowns Restaurant. 

Americans loved it so much that they deleted those pesky marks over the o- and a-vowels and made it their own. Although the meal is based on a tradition that dates back to the 12th century in Sweden, for Americans it was a first taste that took off with a vengeance and eventually evolved into the all-American all-you-can-eat-buffet.

Americans adopted the word “smorgasbord” from the original Swedish”smörgåsbord,” dropping the Swedish letters and making it their own.

The Swedish word smörgåsbord consists of the words smörgås (sandwich, usually open-faced) and bord (table). Smörgås, in turn, consists of the words smör (butter) and gås (literally goose, later referred to the small pieces of butter that formed and floated to the surface of cream while it was being churned). 

The small butter pieces were the right size to be placed and flattened on bread, so smörgås came to mean buttered bread. The Swedish phrase “att bre(da) smörgåsar” (to spread butter on open-faced sandwiches) has been used since at least the 16th century.

In Scandinavia, when long dark days of winter came, people thought of getting together and eating. Some Norsemen would throw open their homes and invite guests to bring whatever food they had on hand. In the beginning, the feast was simple and hence the name of smörgåsbord, which literally means “bread and butter table.” 

Sweden House in Miami Beach, Fla. advertised the “World’s finest smorgasbord service.”

As time went on, women of the house outdid themselves until tables were packed with a solid array of delicious edibles. Good food and good friends mixed with good appetite and an array of attractive dishes.

In English, as in the Scandinavian languages today, the word “smorgasbord” loosely refers to any buffet with an assortment of dishes. It has also come to refer to an abundant selection, such as a smorgasbord of titles in a bookstore or a smorgasbord of articles in The Norwegian American.

A traditional Swedish smörgåsbord consists of both hot and cold dishes in a very specific order. Bread, butter, and cheese are always part of the meal. One begins with the cold fish dishes and continues with additional cold dishes and then with hot dishes. Dessert may or may not be included. 

A special Swedish smörgåsbord is the julbord, literally the Yule or Christmas table (julebord in Norwegian). Here there is a traditional buffet-style meal in five to seven courses. Glögg (mulled spiced wine) is a common beverage, as is the seasonal soft drink called julmust that is always sold at IKEA during the holiday season. 

It is traditional for many Swedish and Norwegian workplaces to hold an annual julbord/julebord between November and January. In Door County, Wis., Al Johnson’s Swedish Restaurant holds an annual julbord. That’s the place with the goats on the roof.

What is amazing is the hold that the Swedish-American smorgasbord took over the entire country in the 1940s to the 1960s. Looking at the different images on postcards, we can see that these restaurants were popular from the East Coast to the West Coast and all states in between.

The San-Dar Dining Room was a long-time favorite in Bellville, Ohio. It began as a local hangout in 1947 and gradually morphed into the San-Dar.

One beloved local restaurant was the San-Dar, a long-time favorite in Bellville, Ohio. Begun as a local hangout in 1947, it morphed into the San-Dar. “San” stands for Sandra and the “Dar: for Darrell, the two children of owners Dorothy and Eugene Banks, whose name became synonymous with the 1954 name change for the growing restaurant. 

Later in 1981, son Darrell took over the restaurant and operated it until its closure in 1994. Why its demise? Like everything else, a popular trend waned. In the 1990s, lesser-known ethnic cuisines became increasingly popular, and healthy eating became a subject of concern. Today, one has to search high and low for a true smorgasbord restaurant. The fad is over.

 But the language of hospitality and good food is easily understood the world over, even if turns out to be an American all-you-can-eat buffet, where all dishes are laid out on a table or series of tables, and diners serve themselves. The concept of “vær så god”—be so kind, dig in, enjoy—somehow never goes out of style. 

All images from the collection of Cynthia Elyce Rubin.

This article originally appeared in the June 18, 2021, issue of The Norwegian American. To subscribe, visit SUBSCRIBE or call us at (206) 784-4617.