Steigg Larsson and the Swedish coffee habit

[OrmRenewed]

Finishing the last book in the trilogy. Fantastic read. Have enjoyed every line. But bugger me! They don't have put away the brown stuff. I get the coffee jitters just reading it. How do any of them sleep?

Do Swedish folk really put away that much caffeine?

[pollywollydoodle]

no idea but it was on a par with fictional american detectives...

[EccentricaGallumbits]

it set my mind at rest that actually my coffee habit is perfectly normal and reasonable.

[OrmRenewed]

I love coffee but even I can't drink that much.

No tea. or juice and hardly any bloody booze even! Freaks!

[puddinghead]

That struck me too! The number of times they put some coffee on and had sandwiches!

[OrmRenewed]

Yes. Exactly.

'Blomqvist woke up. He put the coffee machine on. He had a shower. And made some coffee. When he got to the office he made some coffee. Later he met X in the cafe. They had coffee with some extra coffee. And sandwiches. Back at the office he poured coffee. Then he refilled the coffee machine.'

And they drink it before bed too.

[Bicnod]

Arf

I found it strange that Salander ate caviar open sandwiches fairly regularly as well...

[MagicDad]

I am married to a Swede and yes, the Swedes drink a phenomenal amount of coffee - the second-highest per capita consumption in the world. They make it STRONG as well (and thanks to the ubiquitous "keep warm" coffee pots in cafes it's often stale and lukewarm, though they're always happy to make it fresh if you ask).

It is good manners to offer coffee when people visit your home (in the same way that Brits offer a cup of tea or something else to drink). It's also a booze substitute: for various reasons (historical, religious, financial) the Swedes are not, in general, big boozers.

As for Salander's caviar... It's not "caviar" as we know it. It's the roe of common white fish, mixed into a paste with some other stuff and sold in tubes like Primula cheese. It's inexpensive and especially nice with eggs. (Our kids love it). You can get it at Ikea, the usual brand is "Kalle".

[pollywollydoodle]

well, you learn something every day!

[ILikeToMoveItMoveIt]

Thanks for the clarification Magic

I'm nearly all the way through The Girl Who Played With Fire and I have been wondering about the whole coffee thing too.

Have I totally missed the whole caviar thing or is it in the 3rd book?

[Bicnod]

Feel a bit queasy thinking about fish eggs in a tube

[Sassyfrassy]

I'm swedish and considered rather excentric for not drinking coffee. Coffee is very important to swedes and most people like it brewed, so not the instant sort.

The Kaviar isn't at all like regular caviar and the roe is very small, so it's a different consistency is well. If you go to Ikea they sell it in the shop there.

[skymonkey]

Haha, every time I picked up the first book my DP would roll his eyes and go make some coffee as I would always mysteriously crave some. Haven't found the 2nd and 3rd books so coffee-intense.

[vanitypear]

Wallander drinks just as much, I noticed! Thanks MagicDad, I liked your post , it cleared things up!

[Katisha]

And what about the amount of pizzas?

[SeaShellsOnTheSeaShore]

Norwegians are just as bad- I spend our trips over there wired from too much black coffee I'm too English to say no to when proffered by mil fil gil etc etc!!

And caviar eggs and black pepper sandwiches are yum