Fika (pronounced fee-ka) is a Swedish custom, a kind of social coffee break where people gather to have a cup of coffee or tea and a few nibbles. Fika is such an important part of life in Sweden that it is both a verb and a noun. Do you fika? If so, tell us more about this delicious-sounding tradition!
Having never experienced fika in person, I am by no means an expert. But what I can gather from friends and especially from the photo blog of the wonderful Sweden-born, Berlin-based artist Sandra Juto, fika is close to what we would call a coffee break here in the States but with some key differences.
Unlike British tea, fika can happen at any time of day. It seems to be a social event, too, something you invite people to join you in. It usually involves coffee or tea but can be cold drinks like lemonade. It can be taken at home or in a cafe.
Having accompanying treats is an important part of fika. Breads, coffeecakes, croissant, muffins, cookies, cake — any of these treats are appropriate fika fare. You can also indulge in the savory side, with slices of cold meats, cheese and bread, hard boiled eggs or a small sandwich. I've seen small platters with vegetables like radishes and carrots, plates of pickles and smoked fish. It seems like fika is mostly finger food, with the occasional fork thrown in.
What I like most about fika is that it's about pausing in the middle of your day to enjoy a little something with friends. This gathering together to nourish the body must also nourish the heart as well. The closest I come to this here in the States is an occasional coffee with friends. Close, but not quite the same thing. Somehow having fika be a part of a culture seems to bring another element to it. We don't 'coffee' here, after all!
Are any of you familiar with fika? Did I miss anything here? Let us know in the comments.
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I'm from Sweden, so naturally I'm very familiar with 'fika.' For me, the important part is not eating or drinking something, but socialising with my friends. We can meet up for a fika and sit for hours at a café, just chatting. I always drink coffee, but I don't often eat something. When I do, however, it's usually something sweet (i.e. cake, cookies, muffins, and such) or a simple open faced sandwich. I've never ever eaten pickles or vegetables and smoked fish for fika though. Nope. Maybe some people do, but for me that's definitely not fika.
Also I don't know why but seeing Swedish traditions brought into the spotlight always makes me sort of happy. :)
Oh yes, fika is great !!! I love Sweden, been there 4 times and the fika places, not really a tea room, not really a bar, not really a restaurant, are awesome places... Such a civilized & pleasant custom.
I don't understand what the "key differences" are from fika and a coffee break or "grabbing a drink/coffee". I do with with my friends all the time here in Canada, and it usually involves some kind of snack
:)
To me, it seems like the Swedes have one word, Fika, that sums up the following: "let's meet up at xxam/pm and have coffee/tea/bubble tea/smoothies and some snacks" It would be cool if we can use just one word in the English language to sum it up like that. It could be a coffee break but I tend to associate that with work hours and coworkers rather than friends.
I'm a Swede and I live in Sweden. 'Fika' is definitly a big part of most people's lives here, including mine. Either you meet up in a café or you invite people to your home. I can call my friends, parents or sisters and say `Hey, you wanna come over for a fika?`, simply because I'd like to see them. In those cases I usually bake a simple cake or take some cinnamon buns out of the freezer.
When it comes to what the 'fika' should include people have different opinions. For me 'fika' can be either sweet things like cakes and cookies, or simple sandwishes (always coffee or tea though). My boyfriend thinks I'm wrong calling a sandwish 'fika'. When he says 'fika' it always means something sweet.
Either way, it is something to sit down and enjoy in company of others.
I am of Dutch heritage and coffee at 10-ish am and tea time around 2-3pm for whoever's home are fixtures among our friends and family. It's a good time to drop by unannounced - they're typically taking a break and can be hospitable without whipping up a whole meal. Now that I've started my own family I've lost this habit...but I think I need to make it part of the routine again! It's such a cheerful part of the day :)
My Finnish family does something pretty similar...it's not uncommon for a relative to show up mid-afternoon, at which point the only acceptable thing to do is put some coffee on and sit down for a chat. My mom/grandmothers always have some sort of pastry on hand, or at the very least in the freezer, so that there's always something to nibble on. I think it's really nice! It's weird to me that my friends won't come over for a little while in the afternoon ever.
I think the key difference between fika and our idea of a coffee break is how seriously it's taken. Fika is a scheduled part of many work and school days and seems to be recognized by most employers as an important, productive part of the day -- not just an acceptable period of "slacking". I once had a teacher explain to me that it was during fika that they often discuss how to deal with problematic students or share teaching ideas in a more informal setting. Swedes (and Europeans in general) are just better at stopping and enjoying breaks and meal times, whereas we are constantly "on", probably attempting to multitask and just end up stealing minutes here and there talking to coworkers or browsing on the internet -- as I'm doing now :)
Oh, and one more story:
A few friends and I once stopped by unannounced at another friend's apartment in Sweden. Within minutes, there was a pot of hot coffee and a tray of cookies, complete with doily.
And this was a 19-year-old GUY. And no, he did not live with his parents.
Hannersk, I hope you took off your shoes ! That's another very important habit of swedish life, which I found also very civilized, even at a 19-year-old GUY apartment...
Most Canadians would also take our shoes off when entering the house!
I feel like this is sounding a lot like what happens with my friends and I. Perhaps not daily, but I have friends who drop by to chat (mostly on the weekends when people are home). When they do, I'll offer whatever drinks they want and put out snacks like bread and cheese, or fruit. We go out to cafes where there's a variety of snacks and drinks... I still don't understand the difference...? And I don't know why it's so surprising that a 19 year old guy would be hospitable to guests.
Also from Canada and yes, taking shoes off is normal when you enter someone's home. Leaving them on is inconsiderate and presumptive.
Sorry, Carrotsticks, I work with college students and while the sentiment of hospitality is not unusual in a teenage boy, the attention to detail and presentation is. I mean... doilies?
Growing up in a German household , this was practiced all the time. I called them tea parties. Every day after school I would go to my Oma and Opa's and have milk tea and an open faced sandwich on Rye bread (made by my Aunt next door)! Amazing memories!
My cousin married a German fella named Norman who delighted us all at a week long family reunion by introducing a similar concept.
"Oh, dinner will be in an hour or two? I'll make the coffee and set out the cookies."
"Sorry, you'll do what now?"
"It's what we do. Just a bit of sweet or something to tide you over."
I don't know why the idea seemed so novel and charming, but it was a scheduled thing that we all looked forward to.
Afternoon cake and coffee before dinner--yes! Odd, but irresistible. My (Swedish) husband's mom serves one or two of the following: Prinsesstårta, chocolate balls, mazariner (tiny marzipan pies), biskvier (omnomnom), and of course cinnamon buns (no frosting! just pearl sugar). I find it touching to see how "fika" in Sweden so often brings adults, children, and senior citizens together at the same cafe. Hence the doilies! Sometimes it's whole families, or you'll see seniors sitting at one table and younger men at the next. Music is low (or off) so you can talk. Every little town seems to have a top notch bakery (everything made fresh on site) with plenty of seating, but my absolute favorite one is in Stockholm (Vete-Katten). I can also vouch for Chicago's Swedish Bakery. Their pastries are just a touch sweeter than the real Swedish ones, but they are on the whole a decent approximation. Sadly (and tellingly) they have no seating.
Spending my sabbatical in Sweden this summer I was introduced to fika. Yes, it is similar to a coffee break in the States or elsewhere. The big difference is how essential it is in Swedish culture.
At the university, each of the departments has a "fikarum" - ours has a kitchen with espresso machines, dishwashers, etc. Adjoining the kitchen is a huge room with tables, chairs and couches, tons of plants, and windows. Certain times during the day almost everyone comes to have a fikapaus (2:30pm, for example). At my home university in the US, a coffee break is either french press in the office or a trip to a coffee shop - not very conducive to interaction across the whole department.
To me, Swedish fika is a great example of the interest in quality of life here. Yes, we could all get coffee whenever we want, individually, from whatever source we choose. But investing in the sense of community in the department and encouraging regular breaks and communication is a much better idea.
I think it's interesting to note the differences. During years of reading american blogs I've seen countless DIY projects for takeaway coffe cozies, for example, and travel mugs. Here in Sweden? Hardly such a thing, and I think one might apply that to the social importance of fika. If you're really late for work, maybe you show up just in time for fika and you still join the others and sit down and have your cup of coffe. You don't grab it on the go on your way to work unless you're actually traveling in your work. Skip fika and you may or may not miss out on important work information. Most of the time, fika for me does not involve eating, or perhaps only a fruit. Fika occurrs at least twice a day, often 3 times, which would yield a whole lot of eating cakes and cookies if one were to have them every time. My grandmother always has something to go along with her cup of coffe for fika, as most elderly people do.
I'd say sandwhiches are borderline fika. It's almost a meal, while fika is not a meal. Savory things can pass if they go well with coffe or tea, IMHO.
When I think about it, it's kind of funny that if I'm on my own and have a cup of tea and a cinnamon roll, it's a fika, but without the roll, it's not. If I had company, it's fika with or without the cinnamon roll if it's in between breakfast and lunch or in between lunch and dinner, but just a cup of tea with company if it's later than dinner and there's nothing to nibble on.