Lightly sweetened and dusted with cinnamon powder, risgrynsgröt is a traditional Christmas rice porridge served in Sweden. Enjoy a comforting hot bowl of this sweet rice porridge for breakfast on Christmas morning and feel like you’re celebrating Christmas in a Scandinavian winter wonderland.
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Swedish Christmas foods
Sweden may not top the list of countries with the most renown foods, yet there is more to traditional Swedish cuisine than just meatballs and potatoes. Christmas is one of those occasions when the Swedes really show off when it comes to food. Meatballs and potatoes are of course featured on the Christmas menu, along with some other seasonal favourites. Pickled herrings (inlagd sill), a special ham, saffron buns… I personally adore Swedish Christmas foods, and always get very excited when restaurants start serving Christmas food buffets from the end of November.
Julbord, that’s what the Swedish Christmas food buffet is called, is a fantastic combination of all those seasonal flavours that I adore. My local friends enjoy these with their families on Christmas Eve. Some may have an earlier taste if attending Julbord with their work colleagues, as it is quite common for companies to take their employees for Julbord as a business lunch or dinner. In Sweden IKEA serves Julbord during Advent, and it is one of the cheapest options to get to taste these foods without wanting to go to a more expensive restaurant.
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What is risgrynsgröt
Risgrynsgröt is a compound word that literally means “rice grain porridge”. I will not deny that it took me a few attempts to memorize and consequently correctly pronounce it. This rice porridge is made with round grain rice, which is a variety of rice very rich in amylopectin, the starch that makes certain types of rice sticky. This is the kind of rice that you want to use for sushi, for example. To make the Christmas rice porridge round grain rice is cooked in milk until it gets this lovely creamy texture.
A fun fact about this Christmas rice porridge is that risgrynsgröt is the Swedish Santa food. Just like American kids leave cookies and milk out for Santa on Christmas night, Swedish families will leave a bowl with rice porridge out for the Christmas elf. I’ve been tempted for quite some time to make this tradition mine depite not having children. I like the idea of leaving out a small bowl of cooked rice in the garden. My risgrynsgröt may summon a hungry fox or deer rather than the Christmas elf, but that’s okay. Wild animals always have a harder time finding food in the winter when everything is covered with snow.
Ris à la Malta
Rice porridge is not only made for the Christmas elf, though. Risgrynsgröt is an essential element of the Swedish Christmas menu. It is usually prepared in advance and served cold, together with whipped cream and some fruit jam or semi-thawed berries. Going by the name ris à la Malta, this sweet rice porridge with cream and fruits is the true star of the Swedish Christmas desserts. Fun fact: despite its name, this rice preparation has nothing to do with the country Malta. Ris à la Malta is a corruption of risalamande, the name of the Danish Christmas rice porridge. Risalamande is itself a corruption of French , almond rice.
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That almond reference is not casual. Traditionally, an almond should be mixed into the Christmas rice porridge. One lucky guest will have the honour of finding it in their serving of risgrynsgröt. In Sweden, it is believed that he or she will marry within a year. Make sure to let your guests know there is a hidden whole almond in their rice pudding if choosing to go with the tradition, to avoid choking hazards. Alternatively, chop the almond and sprinkle it on top as decoration.
How to make the Christmas rice porridge
In order to fix yourself a bowl of this delicious Swedish Christmas delicacy, you ar going to need the following ingredients:
- 80 g round grain rice
- 150 ml water
- a pinch of salt
- 300 ml milk
- 20 g butter
- 2 tbsp sugar
- cinnamon and almonds for decoration
Add the water, rice and pinch of salt to a saucepan large enough for the rice to swell and cook without spilling out. Set the pot on medium heat and cook for about 10 minutes, lid on. Aside, warm up the milk. When the rice has been cooking for about 10 minutes and most of the water has been absorbed, add 250 ml of the warm milk. Lower the heat to minimum, give it a good stir and let cook covered for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
When the milk has been absorbed, add the sugar and the butter and stir until it’s all melted and combined. Pour in the remaining warm milk and cover. Let the porridge simmer another 10 minutes, always on the lowest heat. Risgrynsgröt should have a thick and creamy texture, so let it simmer uncovered for a couple of minutes if the final product is too runny. Sprinkle some cinnamon on top and add aditional (shaved) almonds.
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More Swedish Christmas food inspo
Make some Swedish Christmas desserts this winter season and travel vicariously to Sweden through some classic flavours:
- Ischoklad – melt in the mouth chocolate pralines made with coconut fat.
- Saffron panna cotta – mostly used in sweet breads, saffron adds great flavour to panna cotta, too!
- Peppermint buttercream cupcakes – did you know that red and white peppermint candies are Swedish?
And here’s the review of an old-fashioned Christmas market in Dalarna.
This recipe was updated in November 2019 for better content and a recipe card.
Source: https://electricbluefood.com/risgrynsgrot-christmas-rice-porridge/
