UPDATED December 21, 2024
It’s only November, but we are already thinking about setting up our Swedish Christmas Table (Julbord). You are even starting to see signs of Christmas around town. The chilly air and sweet spices of Yule time are already starting to fill our noses. Christmas in Sweden is a very special time of year, and many great traditions are celebrated no matter how far away you are.

One of the most beloved is eating the Swedish Christmas Table or Julbord with its various cold and hot dishes. Most of the items are also served at the Easter Table (Påskbord), as well.

It includes the obligatory item and star of the table, the Swedish baked ham, which is cured, but not smoked and finished with a sweet mustard glaze and a roasted breadcrumb coating. Mmmm… my favorite part of the Swedish Christmas is eating! You will have sensory overload sampling this Christmas smörgåsbord, as the Julbord covers every taste sensation from sweet, sour, savory, bitter to spice-filled.

To experience a real Swedish Christmas, you can create an authentic Julbord by trying some of the Swedish Christmas recipes found on Sweden.se. We will also cover where you can find essential ingredients for the Julbord across Canada. Here is a list of typical Julbord items to get you in the Swedish spirit.

Julbord Cold Dishes
Ham, herring, gravad lax, beet salad, cheese, cold cuts, soft and crisp breads, vörtbröd, eggs with caviar

Julbord Hot Dishes
Meatballs, Janssons Frestelse (creamy potato casserole), Prince sausages (cocktail wieners), honey-braised ribs, hot-smoked salmon, brown cabbage, Dopp i Grytan (vörtbröd dipped in ham broth)

Julbord Dessert/Sweet
Ris a la Malta, julgröt/Christmas rice porridge, saffron buns-Lussekatter, saffron cake, all sorts of cookies, ginger snaps/gingerbread cookies

Video on how to roll a cute Lucia cat (Lussekatter)

Christmas Drinks & Spirits
Julmust/Swedish Christmas Soda, Svagdricka (A sort of Swedish root beer), Snaps/Aquavit, Beer and Glögg!

Christmas Candies
Ischoklad/ice chocolate, knäck/caramels, chokladbollar/chocolate balls

Where to Buy Christmas Table/Julbord or Easter Table/Påskbord Essentials in Canada

After much research, as well as word of mouth, I bring you my list of where to find the essential ingredients to “duka upp” your own Swedish Christmas table at home in Canada. This was no easy feat, as Canada is huge! Unfortunately, this list doesn’t cover Montreal or Quebec, as my French is far too limited to peruse the French sites. If you’d like to add to this list for that region or anywhere else I haven’t covered, feel free to email me and I’ll gladly update this page!

Pretty much most of the ingredients can be had from regular grocery stores. I will list those ingredients that need to be bought at a specialty store and where to find them.

Get Your Christmas Ham On!

A Swedish-style ham is a raw, un-smoked ham that has been cured in salt brine for at least 24-48 hours. Swedes then take it home and bake it until it is cooked. It is glazed with a sweet mustard and coated with breadcrumbs to finish the ham off in the oven.

Many butchers in Canada call this Gammon ham (from the Brits) or green ham, and many butchers can provide this type of ham on special order. Tip, make sure that you ask for a round cut of ham if your ham is on the smaller side. Also, ensure that the ham is NOT SMOKED. If your butcher claims not to have it, ask them if you can order a raw ham and either you can cure it yourself or get them to cure it. Just tell them to skip the smoking part. You will have to get a brine recipe either online or even ask your butcher if they can give you a recipe. Some places even have brine kits. It is very easy to do, but it just takes some prep time if you really got to do it the true Swedish way.

Also, check out this mustard glaze recipe to finish the ham. You can then try making Dopp i Grytan with the ham juices and eat it with vörtbröd if you want to really be Swedish!

Note: The following places have the Swedish-style ham already cured. To help the store better understand your Swedish ham, use the terms in parentheses ( ) for that particular store. All these stores have asked that you place your order 1-2 weeks ahead of the planned pick-up time and especially if that is right before Christmas.

Vancouver

Oyama Sausage (Swedish Christmas ham) Johnston Street, Granville Island Public Market, 604-327 -407

Victoria

Glenwood Meats (Gammon ham/boneless), 1245 Park Dale Drive, Langford, BC 250-478-6328

Nanaimo

Piper’s Meat Cleaver Ltd. (Gammon ham/boneless), 2139 Bowen Road Nanaimo, 250-758-3611

Calgary

Illichmann’s Sausage Shop (cured ham, not smoked), 1840 36 St SE Calgary AB, 403-272-1673

Toronto (GTA)

The Friendly Butcher (Green ham), boneless, local ham. 3269 Yonge St. (accessible by Lawrence subway station and a 5-10 min walk). Please make sure you give AT LEAST 1 week before pickup time.

Florence Meats (Swedish Christmas ham), boneless, partly cooked, 2136 Speers Rd, Oakville, ON, 905-842-2066

Denninger’s (pickled ham, raw), boneless, multiple locations in Oakville and Burlington

Butcher’s of Distinction (Gammon ham) in East Downtown Toronto.

The Butcher’s Son (green ham) in multiple locations in Toronto.

Cumbrae’s (special order raw, cured, but not smoked) in Midtown Toronto/Leaside area

More Swedish resources in Toronto can be found on my Swedish Food in Toronto page!

Ottawa

The Sausage Kitchen (cured ham, not smoked), 5 Byward Market Square, Ottawa, ON, 613-241-6358

Prince Sausages (Cocktail Weiners/Sausages)

Prince sausages are basically cocktail wieners or small sausages that taste like regular hotdogs. They are a quintessential item on the Julbord. The following brands are found all across Canada. But if you don’t want to go through the trouble, simply use regular-sized hotdogs and cut them in 2 inch or 5 cm pieces and fry them in butter to brown them a bit and give it a nice glisten. You can also find cocktail wieners at Polish or Russian ethnic grocery stores or delicatessens.

Across Canada

Baldwin St. Cocktail Frankfurters

President’s Choice Cocktail Smokies (these aren’t exactly the same flavor, as these are a little bit smoked, but they are very tasty and a good substitute!)
(Found at No Frills, Loblaw’s, Real Canadian Superstore all across Canada)

Toronto (GTA)

Yummy’s multiple locations in Toronto/Vaughan

Starsky Foods multiple locations in Missisauga

Denninger’s (some locations will have it on special order), multiple locations in Oakville, Burlington

Nortown Foods has it. This is a Jewish grocery store found at multiple locations in Toronto.

More Swedish resources in Toronto can be found on my Swedish Food in Toronto page!

Swedish Meatballs

Swedish meatballs are a must on the Julbord, whether you’re vegetarian or not. Many Swedish families make their own using old recipes passed on through the generations. My husband actually doesn’t bother making them and is perfectly fine with eating IKEA meatballs (surprise!). This is an awesome Swedish recipe for meatballs, if you want to be Master Chef during your Swedish Christmas party.

Anchovies/Herring/Fish Products

Swedish-style anchovies (also called Sprat Fillets) and herring are marinated in a sweet, salty and spiced brine (with notes of allspice and bay leaves) and come in a variety of flavors. Some popular ones are mustard, garlic, dill and anchovy-spiced. To make your Julbord even more authentic, you should have AT LEAST two varieties at your table and many more if you want to delight your Swedish guests! And to make the classic Janssons Frestelse (Jansson’s Temptation) potato casserole, you will need to get Grebbestad’s Swedish anchovies to make it.

You can find a lot of different pickled herring varieties at Russian, Eastern/Central European, Baltic countries’ shops, as herring and fish are quite common in those regions as well. Here are a few places that specifically sell Swedish fish products, like Abba and Klädesholmen. You can also order herring and the Swedish anchovies at Viking Imports to ship across Canada.

UPDATE:  I got a great tip from a Swedish IKEA Saleswoman to substitute IKEA’s brand of Matjes Sill at the Swedish Food Market for Abba Grebbestads Ansjovis Original in Janssons Frestelse (Jansson’s Temptation potato-anchovy casserole). I taste-tested this because I couldn’t find Abba in San Diego where I was last Christmas. It tasted really nice. Now I don’t have to hunt down Swedish Ansjovis (don’t substitute with the Italian anchovies one used on Caesar salad, it’s not the same flavor). By the way Jansson’s Temptation is also served at the Easter Table along with many egg dishes, which is coming up very soon! 

Victoria

Charelli’s Delicatessen, 2863 Foul Bay Rd., Victoria 250-598-4794, Abba sprat fillets (Swedish anchovies) and herring jars, Kalles Kaviar

Nanaimo

Columbia Bakery, 2151 Bowen Rd, 250-758-7219, Abba sprat fillets, Kalles Kaviar

Nellie’s Dutch Delicatessen, 500 Rock City Centre, 250-729-7044, Abba sprat fillets (Swedish anchovies), Abba and other pickled herring

Vancouver

Sechelt Fish Market, 5688 Cowrie St. #103, Sechelt 604-885-7410, Abba sprat fillets (Swedish anchovies), Klädesholmen Swedish herring,

Superior Fish Market Ltd, Trenant Park Sq., 5229A-Ladner, 604-946-2097, Abba sprat fillets (Swedish anchovies), Klädesholmen Swedish herring Wine, Dill and Matjes

Nester’s Market, 80063 – The Hub 9000 University High, Burnaby, 604-298-1522, Abba Anchovy sprat Fillets, Dutch Boy herring

Calgary

Edelweiss Imports Ltd, 1921 20 Ave NW, 403-282-6600 Abba Dill Herring Abba sprat fillets (Swedish anchovies), Hero lingonberry jam

Toronto

Viking Imports, 31 Railside Rd, Toronto, 416-696-7011, Abba sprat fillets (Swedish anchovies), Abba herring

Denningers, multiple locations in Oakville, Burlington, Abba sprat fillets (Swedish anchovies), Abba herring, 6.99-7.99 large jar 600g

Yummy’s, multiple locations in Toronto/Vaughan, Abba sprat fillets (Swedish anchovies), Abba herring, Klädeholmens by weight/no brine

Starsky’s, multiple locations in Missisauga, Abba sprat fillets (Swedish anchovies), Abba herring

More Swedish resources in Toronto can be found on my Swedish Food in Toronto page!

Ottawa

Pelican Fishery and Grill, 1500 Bank St, 613-526-5229, Abba herring

The Sausage Kitchen, 5 Byward Market Square, 613-241-6358, Abba sprat fillets (Swedish anchovies)

Swedish Gravad Lax (Gravlax), Dill Cured Salmon

Gravad lax is another popular fish dish served at the julbord. This is one that my husband must do homemade. It is not difficult, but you have to make this a few days before your julbord. Gravad lax uses northern Atlantic salmon (not Coho) and is not smoked, but cured in salt, sugar, spices and dill.

You can sub for the widely available gravlax but sometimes you can buy an authentic one by Dom Seafood at many chain stores or make this recipe for gravad lax.

Cold Cuts/Liver Sausage/Specialty Cheese

In addition to the fish dishes, there’s a wide array of cold cuts and cheese that range from traditional (pressylta/headcheese, liverpate, Herrgård cheese and salami) to imported (Mortadella, Whisky Cheddar, and Manchego just to name a few). These items are widely available at regular grocery stores, delicatessens and cheese shops across Canada, so I will only mention the name brands to look out for. You can call each company’s customer service to locate the closest retailer.

Unfortunately, due to heavy regulation of dairy products into Canada, Swedish cheese is both rare and expensive. Your best bet is to try other local cheeses for your Julbord.

Dofino Arla Havarti cheese (A Danish cheese that tastes like Hushållsost)
http://www.arla.com/en-us/our-brands/brands/arla-dofino/havarti/

Beemster Dutch cheese
I got a tip from someone saying this is a good cheese to replace Västerbotten cheese. Beemster is a Dutch cheese available at most specialty cheese shops and larger retail chains in Canada. Västerbotten is used a lot in Swedish quiche, so you can use this on your Julbord as a nice cheese or for paj on your julbord!

Brandt Liver Sausage (similar to leverpastej in Sweden)
http://www.brandtmeats.com/pate.html

Pressylta (Headcheese/Saltison) usually available at most specialty delicatessens and Central/Eastern European shops like Yummy.

Gingerbread Cookies or Ginger Snaps/Pepparkakor

These are also popular to eat during North American Christmas, so you can find Anna’s Ginger Snaps and Nyåkers Pepparkakor in many larger retail shops like Whole Foods, Loblaw and Real Canadian Superstore, as well as European/specialty shops across Canada. IKEA even sells a pretty good tin during Christmas, we think.

Otherwise, try your luck making ginger crisp cookies at home the Swedish way using brödsirap (sub with Lyle’s Golden Syrup), molasses and this recipe right here!

Rice porridge/Julgröt

You can use a white, short-grain rice, such as Arborio, or British porridge rice if you’re making your own Christmas porridge. It is basically a rice porridge boiled in milk and spiced with cinnamon.

If you’re lazy, Kozy Shack has a Rice Pudding that tastes a lot like Julgröt. Just sprinkle a bit of cinnamon and serve it cold. Julgröt is a favorite Christmas Day breakfast in Sweden served with the leftover Julbord ham and other cold cuts. Yes, Swedes eat sandwiches for breakfast!

Swedish Christmas Soda/Julmust

This is extremely difficult to find in Canada and not as difficult to find in the U.S., as there is a good importing company in Chicago that gets a lot of Swedish stuff and distributes it all across the U.S. Swedish Julmust is sometimes available at Viking Foods during November/December. The only other option is to drink IKEA’s Julmust, which is perfectly fine if you’re not so picky about it.

Swedish Chocolate & Christmas Candies

Swedish candies and chocolate are available here in Canada and if you must have Marabou, it is available at IKEA and at Viking Imports. You can even buy directly from Viking and get it shipped to you anywhere in Canada, as they have started importing it. If you want Marabou sold in your part of Canada, just talk to your local specialty grocery store and tell them to contact Viking Imports, as they sell wholesale to other businesses. They have the regular and several other varieties of chocolate bars, as well. Viking is now getting the chocolate boxes like Paradis on a seasonal basis.

As far as Christmas candy, it is a tradition to make Swedish caramels called knäck. A really great recipe in English can be found here. Also, if you need the candy cups to make knäck or even ischoklad (ice chocolate), I found it at McCalls in the GTA, but I am sure they will ship across Canada.

Saffron

Saffron is an expensive herb/part of a flower used to color and flavor the typical yellow saffron buns (Swedish lussekatter) and desserts served during Christmas, especially on St. Lucia day. I have a really nice Lussekatter recipe that is translated in English so you can try it out!

You can find this herb at Whole Foods (by the spices) or at big stores that sell ethnic groceries. I found saffron cheap at my local Farm Boy grocery store in the Middle Eastern food aisle!

Iranian/Persian, Moroccan and Spanish people use saffron a lot in their cooking. It usually comes in threads or powder form. Note, you may have to get someone to help you find it as it is usually in a small capsule in paper packaging.

One such place you can find it pretty cheap is at Khorak Supermarket (an Iranian grocery store). You’ll also spot Saffron threads at Bulk Barn near the cash registers. Call your local Bulk Barn to see if it’s in stock before heading out!

Note, you should grind the saffron threads with some sugar in a mortar and use the pestle to grind the threads until it is a fine powder to get even more of the nice golden hue found in lussekatter. In Sweden, their saffron is usually already ground for your convenience.

Bread

Bread is the essential accompaniment to the Julbord. You need a good variety of crisp bread (or cracker-like rye crisps) and soft breads to serve with almost every dish. One bread that is popular during Christmas and is served with Dopp i grytan (or “dip in the stew”), which is basically the ham juices mixed with some broth that is boiled with some white peppercorn, bay leaf and onion. You then dip vörtbröd in this broth. Vörtbröd is a special-spiced Swedish rye loaf that is quite strong in flavor and difficult to make. But if you have to do it the Swedish way, be my guest! I have an English translation of the Vörtbröd recipe here.

Crisp bread is spread with butter or margarine and served primarily with the herring and fish dishes. It is available everywhere by Wasa or FinnCrisp, as it is quite popular for the non-Scandinavians alike. You can find it near the crackers section at your local grocery store. If you are lucky and live in the GTA, you can buy Leksands crisp bread (a Swedish brand) at Yummy’s or Viking.

Soft rye bread is also available all across Canada, but unfortunately, it tastes nowhere near as good as Swedish rye bread (limpa), in my opinion. Swedish rye bread is slightly sweet and nutty tasting, has a dense, chewy and moist crumb and has a somewhat “shiny”, dark and smooth crust. I find most of the rye bread you find (by Dimpflmeyer for example) tastes a bit too sour, too spiced (like pumpernickel) with caraway and/or is more like Russian rye bread (on the dry side). You can opt to make your own bread instead. If you just aren’t a baker, I have found the closest available bread in our area is Rizhsky Russian rye bread (at Yummy’s). Again, most rye breads available in Canada are spiced with caraway, so some, like my Swedish husband, don’t care for that flavor!

SWEA Toronto Christmas Fair – Swedish Imported Food and Groceries

SWEA Toronto hosts a huge, annual Christmas Fair that not only sells Swedish design and Christmas decorations, they also sell a large amount of favorite, name-brand imported food and groceries that are listed in this post. This includes Marabou chocolate, candies, spices, coffee, baking ingredients, and much, much more! Many Swedes in the area stock up on Swedish hard-to-find essentials, so if you plan to be in Toronto on the third weekend in November, then stop on by!

Translation of spices and baking ingredients

Contrary to popular belief that Swedish food is bland, Swedes use a lot of different spices in their pickling juices, and especially in their baked goods around Christmas! Here’s a translation of the spices commonly used during Christmas (and a few notes).

Brödsirap or Ljussirap/Bread Syrup or Golden Syrup – If you can’t find Swedish brödsirap (bread syrup), you can use Lyle’s Golden Syrup. It can be ordered online like at Britshop in Canada or available at Candy Bar Toronto, Bulk Barn and bigger grocery stores like Walmart. You CAN use light or dark corn syrup, but it’s not very healthy and the consistency may not come out the same as Lyle’s Golden Syrup when making knäck. To make a darker syrup, use molasses to darken to the desired color. This is an essential ingredient to make Swedish rye breads, knäck/caramels and pepparkakor/gingerbread cookies.

Hjorthornssalt – Ammonium Bicarbonate (widely available as Aurora Ammonium Bicarbonate in the baking section near the baking powder and baking soda). It is used primarily to “crisp up” cookies and treats, such as in drömmar (crispy and dreamy sugar cookies).

Färskjäst – Fresh Baker’s Yeast is normally only sold to bakeries directly. If you find a friendly baker who would be willing to sell it to you, it is relatively cheap. You can store it frozen in your freezer for a long time, cut a piece you want to use from the chunk and let it thaw in the fridge until you use it. You can find it frozen at Yummy (a bit hard to find, so ask at the store for frozen yeast). You can also find it at ABC Euro Delicatessen in Scarborough (GTA). In Ottawa, you can also find it at Swiss Pastries, 1423 Star Top Rd, 613-749-3770. Just make sure you call ahead!

If you just can’t get fresh Baker’s yeast, here is a good conversion:
1 g fresh = 0.5 g active dry = 0.4 g instant

So 50g would be about 25 g of active dry, or three 8-gram packets of Fleischmann’s Active Dry Yeast. I 

Tip:  If you use active dry yeast in bread recipes, you should PROOF it. 

Kryddpeppar – Allspice
Kardemumma – Cardamom (in pods or powder)
Kryddnejlikor – Cloves (in whole or powder)
Ingefära – Ginger
Kanel – Cinnamon
Saffran – Saffron (in threads or powder)
Muskot – Nutmeg
Anis – Anise
Fänkålsfrö –Fennel seeds (in seeds or powder)
Kummin – Caraway (there is also cumin spice, but it is slightly different from svensk kummin)
Pommerans – Bitter orange, Seville orange, sour orange, bigarade orange – available at Herbie’s Herbs which is in Toronto but ships across Canada. It is in powder format and is often substituted with regular orange zest in many recipes.
Koriander – Coriander

Bread Spices

Bread spices are used to flavor certain Swedish rye breads like vörtbröd. If you can’t find the ready-made blends, you can certainly mix your own and use according to taste. You can use a coffee bean grinder to grind your own spices. These are quite strong seasonings, so use sparingly.

Traditional bread spices blend – Anise, fennel seeds, caraway

Special bread spices blend – Anise, fennel seeds, caraway, bitter orange (orange zest is often substituted), coriander

Good luck with your Christmas table/Julbord and hope these tips help you!