coffee

Short and sweet, fika keeps Swedes on an even keel

Short and sweet, fika keeps Swedes on an even keel

Posted on by Pat and David
In a country where the compound-noun penchant of the Swedish language makes many place names inscrutably complex for foreigners (think Fjäderholmarna or Malmskillnadsgatan) it's a relief to find short words that are nonetheless key to daily life. Take takk, for example, or hej. (‶Thanks″ and ‶hi,″ respectively.) Fika is just as important as a social lubricant. It's usually translated as ‶coffee break,″ but it is much more than a quick snack. It's an occasion — maybe even a ceremony — that happens at least once a day and usually involves socializing. Going for a fika essentially means catching up with a friend or colleague over a cup of coffee and a snack (usually sweet). Although Sweden doesn't begin to rival Finland for coffee consumption, Swedes...Read More
2024 update on bringing food through US Customs

2024 update on bringing food through US Customs

Posted on by Pat and David
One of our earliest posts on HungryTravelers dealt with bringing food home from another country. It was mostly a cautionary tale about the many prohibitions back in 2009. But the rules at Customs and Border Control (CBP) have become much more nuanced in recent years, based more on state-of-the-art science and less on xenophobic suspicion of ‶unAmerican″ foods. We're still going to have a hard time bringing home Spanish jamón ibérico or Italian prosciutto and we'd never try smuggling Uncle Guido's homemade country sausage, but the revised regulations are much friendlier. They are, however, far more detailed. Food that's okay coming from some countries is prohibited if coming from some others. Moreover, the green-light and red-light lists change frequently. Declare and present The first thing...Read More
Warming up with hot drinks in wintry Paris

Warming up with hot drinks in wintry Paris

Posted on by Pat and David
We were happy to go to the Paris sales in January and early February because the climate there is notably milder than our home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. But winter is still winter, and cold rain and mist can be even more chilling than drifting snow. While tramping all over the city (the transit strike had slowed the Metro), it was nice to duck in for something warm. True, there was an enterprising vendor near the north side of Notre-Dame who sold cups of vin chaud to go. But drinking mulled wine from a plastic cup on a crowded sidewalk turned out not to be quite as warming as we hoped. So we explored a few salons de thé, the undisputed queen of hot chocolate shops,...Read More