Read Fika: The Art of The Swedish Coffee Break, with Recipes for Pastries, Breads, and Other Treats for Free Online Page A

even crisp.
    Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until dark golden brown around the edges. Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet until they are hard, then carefully transfer them to the counter.
    When fully cooled, store in an airtight container to keep the cookies crisp.



CHAPTER 2
    modern-day fika
    i n many places in the world, such as the United States, coffee is often equated with speed–we drink it to wake up, we grab a latte on the go, and if we need an afternoon pick-me-up, we reach for the office coffeepot that has been sitting on the “warm” setting all day.
    In Sweden it’s practically the opposite, more commonly representing a pause in the day, a time to slow down. Breaking for coffee is an excuse to enjoy a break from what you’re doing; it’s important to make time to enjoy life. Certainly, coffee is consumed for breakfast in many Swedish households, but a cup of coffee isn’t just a means to waking up; it’s an important moment in the day, be it at work or with friends on weekends. Life is for living, which means life is fueled by fika.
    fikaat work
    In most Swedish office spaces you’ll find a fikarum , the “fika room.” This is the break room, often with a pantry and kitchen, intended for taking a fika break and also serving as the proverbial office water cooler. Coffee brings people together, and in Sweden fika—even at work—is a reason to socialize.
    If you’re a good coworker, you might even bring homemade kanelbullar to work one day. You’re sure to have the favor returned the following week; a chance to see what someone else can do with cardamom. And when one of your coworkers shows up with fika goods purchased from the local supermarket, you can feel the home bakers raising their eyebrows in moderate disdain. Baking is such a part of Swedish culture that even the busiest of people will make time for a home-baked cinnamon bun or chocolate cake.
    “ska vi fika?”
    While coffee drinking is a long-standing Swedish tradition, the more northern custom of dark, black filter coffee served in porcelain cups has given way to the influences of southern European coffee culture, which tends to favor espresso drinks. While you will still find the classickonditori in Sweden, serving iconic cakes and fancy pastries in a more traditional setting, modern cafés are sleek in a Scandinavian minimal aesthetic (think lots of white walls, well-placed plants, and cool textile designs on the curtains) and cosmopolitan in their menus.
     

THE MEANING OFMYSIG
    The Swedish word mysig loosely translates to “cozy,” but the meaning is larger: a warm kitchen to welcome you inside after you’ve been out in the winter snow; Friday night curled up on the couch with a cup of tea; a cute café with big cups of coffee and oversize chairs. The goal is to create a moment that’s mysig and, so often, mysig and fika go hand in hand.
    The word is derived from mysa , which originally meant “to smile with contentedness” but has come to be used as a verb indicating enjoying, relaxing, and even cuddling. It’s a good word, and you can see why it’s a perfect partner to a warm drink like coffee or tea. Whether it’s a rainy day in March or a sunny afternoon in July, creating a space that’s mysig is almost as essential to enjoying your coffee as serving a delicious baked good. Sometimes it’s the setting—the perfect spot on a granite cliff overlooking a lake. Other times it’s the serving—your grandmother’s antique set of porcelain coffee cups coming out in honor of someone’s birthday. If you’re going to do Swedish fika right, make sure it’s mysig.

     
    Kaffe lattes are the go- to drink of girlfriends out for an afternoon fika, and they pair well with oversize muffins piled in breadbaskets atop the café counter. Espresso, cappuccino, and even Chemex—you can find it all in a modern Swedish café. But the good old classic is still strong bryggkaffe (drip coffee), with påtår , the Swedish word