7.6.6 Scanian Culture
Description
This article is from the Nordic countries FAQ, by Antti Lahelma and Johan Olofsson, with numerous contributions by others.
7.6.6 Scanian Culture
Scania is associated (mostly nationally) with certain hallmarks like some
types of food: the goose, the smoked eel ("rögad eål") and "spettkaka"
(Swedish spelling) that is a type of cake. Other associations many have (and
also used in the tourist business) are the clogs a lot of people wear even
today and the national costumes containing a certain distinctive pale yellow
color, with the men wearing pants reaching just below the knee followed by
white socks.
Lately, the Danish red sausage, the "pølse", has made it into the outdoor
food commerce. It was for a long time not allowed in Sweden due to the added
ingredients making the sausage red. When it finally became legal, this was
considerad a great success of the local politicians. Maybe because of the
Scanian habit of eating this sausage when visiting København, it has now
become very popular in Scania too. In Lund there is another sausage called
"lundaknake" that has reached fame, at least locally.
The willows that edges many Scanian roads give the landscape a
characteristic outlook. Scania is like Denmark very flat and without much of
forests (in fact, this was the natural divider before 1658 between Denmark
and Sweden). The willows are supposed to shelter against the wind in an
environment where no other natural shelters exist. Also, the Scanian mills
("möllor") are typical for the province. Often situated on hills, they too
characterize the horizon in the Scanian scenery.
Being a region containing one eighth of the population in Sweden, there
exist of course a great number of nationally famous Scanians, some of these
comedians and singers. There will not be a list here, but the maybe most
famous Scanian, the most Scanian Scanian will be mentioned. His name was
Edward Persson and was the main character and very much dominating
personality in a number of film comedies taken place on some farm in south
eastern Skåne, in Österlen. He more or less established the image of the
Scanian person: fat (!), slow, content with life, felling secure and of
course having the strong accent. He's dead since some years now.
Scanians have often got a bad reputation in Sjælland for going there to get
drunk. The background is different state policies when it comes to the
selling of alcohol. While this is harshly regulated in Sweden and only sold
in certain stores with high prices, it's cheaper and much more easily
accessible in Denmark. The result is irritation between the former fellow
countrymen.
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