One of the biggest, if not the biggest, events in the food world happened recently over the last weekend in October organised by Slow Food — a movement started by Carlo Pertini in the 80s as a statement against multinational fast food replacing real, local, tradition, heritage and good food. The movement has gained strength and is now recognised world wide. It has regular celebration events in the form of large food fairs called ‘Salone del Gusto’ and ‘Terra Madre’ in the home of Slow Food, Turin, Italy. The aim is to disseminate knowledge about the world of Slow Food out there, and give people a chance to taste it all.
What has this got to do with Swedish Lapland? A land known as Sápmi — where the Sámi people live? A land of eight seasons, extremes of darkness and light, wilderness and self-sustaining food practices based on ages of tradition, knowledge and heritage? Quite a lot, actually. Slow Food have developed a system of acknowledging and honouring certain unique, heritage foods in the world. And the Sámi people have had their everyday reindeer ‘suovas’ awarded ‘Presidia’ status and were hence present and displaying their produce at the Terra Madre celebration. Why? Suovas is a unique product found only in Sápmi. And it encapsulates the Sápmi way of living with nature. Pure, traditional, beautiful, inspirational, balanced, sustainable living. But what exactly is this suovas?
Souvas is inner loin reindeer meat from animals who roam freely, forage in the wild, and are not treated with antibiotics. The meat is lightly salted and smoked for 10 days in a peaked hut. Eaten in slices with lingonberries and pickled mushrooms or wrapped in a typically Sámi soft flatbread on the go. To me, it reminds me of tender beef jerky but with a herb-laden gamey flavour of the forest. I speak with Lennart Pittja of Visit Sápmi. He tells me that “It’s not just a product. It’s much more than that. It’s nature, tradition, knowledge; It’s a way of looking at things — as a whole”.
I almost want to throw off my stilettos, give up the champagne lifestyle in Stockholm and immediately go live in Sápmi for a season; hunting, fishing, falling asleep on a reindeer fur rug in front of a log fire in a tipi; herd some reindeer, forget about makeup, pull on the cutest hand-knit sweater and gloves and wrap up in Sámi all-weather all-terrain, fur and leather gear. Then? Go reindeer sledding, dog sledding, elk spotting, fishing … whatever! It sounds like fantastic fun. I think that Swedish Lapland just might be the newest frosty hot spot.
With eight distinct seasons in their year, the Sámi live in harmony with what nature gives. This means that the foods you get in each season are very specific. Diet changes accordingly. Time to fish? Dry meat? Pick cloudberries? Depends on the Sápmi season. Traditionally food is cooked over and open fire. Preservation techniques are commonly smoking, curing and drying. But Sámi are very good at adapting. Coffee, for example, is no stranger to their daily life. But not without a touch of Sápmi in it. The Sámi like to drop a little bit of dried reindeer meat into it. First time for everything.