

Her recipe of course.Īt the time I had no books to my name, I didn’t even had a food blog. 32) for the first time at my grandmother’s apartment in Sweden. There is something special about print.īaking Orange Almond Slices (pg. Inevitably, if you write, even if only a little bit, there is always the dream of publishing a book. At home, my mother has framed poems that I wrote at the age of six. Actually, I don’t really remember what was. To be an author was never on my list of life goals as a child. So grab a cup of coffee (or bubbles, like we’re doing today!) and have a read.įika: The Art of the Swedish Coffee Break – Behind the Scenes

Both Johanna and I are sharing a little behind the scenes of how Fika went from concept to final book (you can read hers here). Today, April 7, 2015, marks the official release of Fika: The Art of the Swedish Coffee Break. 1, Fika: The Art of the Swedish Coffee Break But the essential thing is that you do it, that you make time to take a break: that’s what fika is all about.” You can do it at home, in a park, or at work. You can do it alone, you can do it with friends.

It is the moment that you take a break, often with a cup of coffee, but alternatively with tea, and find a baked good to pair with it. “Functioning as both a verb and a noun, the concept of fika is simple. Everybody can include it in their day-to-day lives, enhancing all that it brings to a healthy lifestyle.Fika: The Art of the Swedish Coffee Break – A Look Behind the Scenes But fika also started to spread to surrounding countries, creating a more well-known concept all around the world.Ī fika is not just a Swedish tradition, it is so much more than that. Statistics from the International Coffee Organization show that Sweden is in the top 10 of most coffee consuming countries. It really has become an everyday ritual, which is shown in their coffee consumption. In Sweden, people have been taking fika’s for ages to decrease their stress-level and have one or more peaceful moments per day. A fika can be held anywhere, the ambience does not matter but the relaxation and social part are what counts. It does not have to be about socializing with others, since it is a personal break that is filled in however one wants. But a fika can also be used to take some time to yourself. It is the moment of the day that one takes the time to sit down and chat with friends and family, to socialize. The fika, therefore, is not just a break, it is a get-together or a moment to wind down.Ī fika is often used as a social event. It is an important part of everyday life, it is a religion. According to the Swedes, fika is the state between work and rest. Indicating that a fika is a relaxation moment during a busy day, where one can just slow down for a minute whilst having a cup of coffee accompanied by food.

Next to the common meaning, the old ‘kaffi’ could also indicate ‘to strive’ in certain contexts.īoth translations lead to the meaning of having a fika taking a (coffee) break from striving to something. Reversing words and syllables was a huge trend in that time, giving birth to the word fika. It originates from the 18 th century and the word for coffee back then in Sweden was kaffi. Fika, pronounced as feeka, actually just means ‘coffee’ in Swedish.
