Fika is a very important part of Swedish culture, a daily tradition that usually involves coffee … but it’s really much more than that.
It started with the early word for coffee, kaffi, but when hefty taxes were put on it, and worse, when coffee was banned altogether (more than once), Swedes couldn’t kick their habit and found ways of acquiring more; they even developed a secret code to reference the black gold they’d grown addicted to – they simply rearranged the syllables and had their code word: fika.
Nowadays, fika is a social institution, Swedes love their fika, usually twice a day. It’s a time to meet with friends or colleagues, to get to know people. Fika is a sit-down break with a leisurely conversation and a sweet treat, such as the mega popular kanelbullar (cinnamon buns) or choklad bollar (chocolate balls). No solitary on-the-run cup of coffee-to-go, in fact it doesn’t even need to be coffee that’s consumed – any beverage can be enjoyed at fika. After all, it’s really about the break.
Americans could surely benefit from this Swedish custom of taking time to enjoy relaxing, face-to-face conversations with each other. We Swedish Americans should do our best to perpetuate this great tradition, perhaps by trying one of the kanelbullar recipes below - just in time for Kanelbullens dag on Oct. 4 - and casually suggesting some friends meet you for fika.