Holiday smörgasbord

HPU's Swedish Student Association brings a seasonal taste of Scandinavia to the isles

By E. Shan Correa
Special to the Star-Bulletin

TONIGHT'S AN (almost) typical, traditional Scandinavian Christmas celebration. Surfers tote in their boards as the warm winter sun disappears into the ocean. A chill fills the air; the temperature may plunge to 75 degrees, causing the elegantly attired young women to draw silk shawls over bare shoulders.

Tiki torches light the palms as sweet slack-key music drifts across the beach grass to the lanai of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.

Although a world away from the snow-laden lawns and spruce-scented homes of their families, these Hawaii Pacific University students know that Christmas has arrived.

They have gathered to await the evening's highlight, the Santa Lucia Train, a procession of white-robed singers led through the darkened Monarch Room by a young woman whose blond hair is crowned with lighted candles. In Sweden's dark winters, "Saint Lucy," a beloved third-century martyr, brings light and joy on her Dec. 13th feast day.

The students have also come for food and drink that are as authentic as the chefs at the Royal Hawaiian can make them. Every dish on the julbord, a smörgasbord of traditional Scandinavian Yule foods, has been prepared using the students' recipes.

Filling silver chafing dishes on the julbord table are beet-root salad, pickled herring, crumb-topped Swedish Christmas ham, Gravad Salmon with mustard sauce, Jansson's Temptation (potato gratin layered with anchovies and onions) and Swedish meatballs. Dessert tables feature apple cakes and rice pudding.

Executive Sous Chef Jerry Siu acknowledges that the annual party offers special challenges. "It's interesting -- a hotel in Waikiki preparing Scandinavian Christmas food. Every year, new things are added and the basic dishes are tweaked a little.

"The students come from different regions, different countries, so the traditional foods they grew up with may not taste the same."

One year, a little mishap resulted from a misunderstanding of the students' directions for preparing a dessert.

"We were told to place one almond -- a single almond -- in the traditional rice pudding," Siu remembers, "which we did. The only problem was that we had to make several huge pans of pudding to serve over 300 guests, and a single almond was placed in each one. We learned afterward that according to tradition, the one person who finds the almond will marry the following year, so that was a little awkward."

This year, Siu says, just one person, not five or six, will officially look forward to impending matrimony.

IT'S EARLY in the evening and out on the lanai it's time for a toast. Warm, fragrant glögg is poured. This tipsy drink is made with red wine, port and aquavit, a Scandinavian liquor -- and flavored with cinnamon, cardamom and orange peel. Raisins and almonds swim in each cup.

The drink is perfection, although its creator, Robert Popp, says he will need to increase the size of the recipe next year. Popp's glögg formula has evolved since 11 years ago, when the five original members of HPU's Swedish Student Association celebrated at the Popps' home.

"The glögg has also become much more expensive to make," Popp admits, but the celebration would not be as effective in easing the students' homesickness without this Christmas tradition.

Now, not five, but 350 party guests sample the spirit-filled drink. And it is spirit-filled -- the hotel staff diligently "cards" all who appear too young for the alcoholic punch.

Bring a touch of Scandinavia to your own holiday table with Popp's formula for glögg and a dish of Köttbullar (Swedish meatballs), from the HPU students.

At evening's end all the dishes were pronounced delicious ... ono ... läckra.

Glögg

Ulla and Robert Popp

2-1/2 bottles red wine, such as burgundy
4-1/2 bottles inexpensive port
5 cups aquavit (a clear Scandinavian liquor) or vodka
5 cups seedless raisins
5 cups blanched white almonds
5 orange peels
10 cinnamon sticks
5 tablespoons crushed cardamom seeds (preferred) or powdered cardamom
25 whole cloves
1-1/2 cups sugar (or to taste)*

Combine wine, port and aquavit with sugar. Add raisins, almonds, orange peel and cinnamon sticks. Place cardamom and cloves in a cheesecloth sachet and float in mixture.

For best flavor, make glögg several days before serving. Keep covered, in a cool place, stirring at least twice daily to ensure sugar is completely dissolved.

To serve, heat glögg, but do not boil. Remove orange peels and cheesecloth sachet. Make sure that each includes raisins and almonds. Your guests will be very happy. Serves 30.

Nutritional information unavailable.

Swedish Meatballs

1 pound ground beef
1/2 pound ground pork
3/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
1 small onion, minced
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

» Gravy:
3 tablespoons pan drippings from meatballs
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 cup water
1 cup half-and-half
1 teaspoon instant beef bouillon
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine all meatball ingredients. Shape mixture into 1-inch balls, dipping hands into cold water from time to time. Place on ungreased 15-1/2 by 10-1/2 inch jellyroll pan or in 2 9-by-13-inch pans.

Bake uncovered until light brown, about 20 minutes. Remove meatballs to serving dish; keep warm.

To make gravy: Place pan drippings in saucepan; stir in flour. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and bubbly.

Remove from heat. Stir in water, half-and-half, bouillon and salt. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Pour over meatballs or serve separately.

Approximate nutritional analysis, per serving (based on 48 meatballs): 50 calories, 3.5 g total fat, 1.5 saturated fat, 15 mg cholesterol, 150 mg sodium, 2 g carbohydrate, no fiber or sugar, 3 g protein.

CORRECTION Friday, December 23, 2005 » A recipe for the Swedish Christmas drink glögg -- printed on Page D6 Wednesday -- included the wrong measurement for sugar. The correct amount of sugar is 1 1/2 cups. Please see the applicable Corrections Page for more information.