Sweet Christmas tradition: Why you should eat Swedish rice pudding on Christmas Eve

Even though many families in Germany have a simple culinary tradition on Christmas Eve, with potato salad and sausages in all sorts of variations, you should still have something special this yearcook.

Not because it's the tastiest thing you'll ever eat. But because the tradition associated with it is simply incredibly sweet. We're talking about Swedish rice pudding, the so-called Julgröt (literally translated as Christmas porridge). It's not just Swedes who eat ittraditionally (for breakfast and sometimes dinner), but also Finns, Icelanders, Norwegians or Danes.

The real highlight of rice pudding is that there is exactly a single, peeled almond in the pot. And whoever finds it and can present it to the other guests in one piece (and not chewed) is not only the lucky person of the day, but is also promised a rosy future.

If you stick to Iceland, Norway, Denmark and Skåne (southern coastal region of Sweden) in superstition, then the almond finder will receive a small extra gift. If you follow the tradition and superstition in the rest of Sweden and Finland, then the finder can expect his or her own wedding or just a lot of luck next year.

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Recipe for Julgröt (Christmas porridge)

But no matter how you (or fate) reward the almond finder, a tradition like this brings fun and a little extra excitement to every table. And if you are now convinced of it, this is exactly the right thing for you, then here is the traditional Swedish recipe for Julgröt.

Ingredients for 4 people:

• 200 g rice pudding or short grain rice
• 300 ml water
• 700 ml milk
• 1 Zimtstange
• 1/2 pinch of salt
• 1 almond (peeled)
• to serve: milk, cinnamon and sugar

Preparation:

1. Mix the rice of your choice with water, the cinnamon stick and the salt and boil it briefly. Then turn down the temperature, put a lid on it and let everything cook on low heat for 10 minutes.
2. Now add the milk and boil the whole thing again briefly. As in the first step, reduce the heat, put the lid on it and let everything simmer for 30-40 minutes. Stir briefly every now and then so that nothing settles at the bottom of the pot.
3. Once the Julgröt has the consistency of your choice, remove it from the heat and pour it into a bowl. And don't forget, before you put it on the Christmas table, you have to hide a peeled almond in it.

The Julgröt tastes best when you pour it over with a sip of fresh, warm milk and season it with cinnamon and sugar. Smaklig måltid!

We hope you like our recipe and wish you a lot of fun cooking, baking and trying it! Feel free to write to us tooInstagramor onFacebook: We are always happy to receive suggestions and recipe requests!

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