St. Lucia Saffron Buns Recipe, Swedish Lussekatter Rolls (2024)

FAQs

Why is it called lussekatter? ›

Why is it called Lussekatter? It is thought that the buns were originally modeled after a sleeping cat (the S-shape being the curled up tail), believed to ward off the devil.

If visiting Sweden in December, you will see curled saffron buns everywhere you go. These are lussekatter and they're not just for eating; they were once believed to ward off the devil. These traditional treats are associated with Luciadagen (“Lucia Day”).

In the 19^th century in western Sweden, young women on the large farms would dress as an angel with a wreath of candles in their hair and serve the breakfast before sunrise. It is thought this is where the origin of lussekatter, the saffron buns, came to be.

Every year, on December 13, golden-hued saffron buns bake in ovens across Scandinavia. Eating this sweet bread—known as lussebullar or lussekatter in Sweden and Norway, luciabrød, in Denmark, and lucia-pullat in Finland—heralds the celebration of St.

In Sweden, Lucia symbolizes the coming end of the long winter nights and the return of light to the world. Learn more about the Lucia legend and celebration in Sweden.

Alongside Midsummer, the Lucia celebrations represent one of the foremost cultural traditions in Sweden, with their clear reference to life in the peasant communities of old: darkness and light, cold and warmth. Lucia is an ancient mythical figure with an abiding role as a bearer of light in the dark Swedish winters.

Despite being the world's most expensive spice, saffron is widely used in Swedish food. It features heavily around Christmas time in saffransbullar (saffron buns), but it is also used in a number of other sweet and savoury dishes. It is used both because of its bright yellow colour and its distinctive flavour.

In America, cinnamon buns are covered with a thick coat of sugar icing, but in Scandinavia they are eaten plain or sprinkled with a little pearl sugar. It's also common to see a 'knotted' variety of the bun in Scandinavia along with the more typical snail-like shape.

The semla – a small, wheat flour bun, flavoured with cardamom and filled with almond paste and whipped cream – has become something of a carb-packed icon in Sweden.

The nation's best-known species is the gorgeous but endangered Saint Lucia amazon parrot. Other species of conservation concern include the pencil cedar, staghorn coral and Saint Lucia racer. The racer, confined to the nine-hectare island of Maria Major, is thought to be the world's most threatened snake.

What nationality is Santa Lucia? ›

Lucy was a young woman from a noble family who lived in Siracusa, Sicily. Sicily had been a very important Greek colony for hundreds of years. It was the home of Archimedes the celebrated Greek mathematician and engineer.

Legend states that French sailors were shipwrecked on the island on 13 December, the feast day of St. Lucy, and therefore named the island in her honour. A globe in the Vatican from 1520 shows the island as Sancta Lucia, indicating that the island was instead named by early Spanish explorers.

Food plays a central role in St. Lucia's Christmas celebrations. Families gather to prepare and enjoy traditional dishes such as “green figs and saltfish,” which consists of green bananas and salted codfish, and “black cake,” a rum-soaked fruitcake.

Families observe St. Lucia's Day in their homes by having one of their daughters (traditionally the eldest) dress in white and serve coffee and baked goods, such as saffron bread (lussekatter) and ginger biscuits, to the other members of the family. These traditional foods are also given to visitors during the day.

Lucia Day – also called Saint Lucy's day – can be traced back to the 4th century. A Christian feast day, it commemorates the martyr Lucia of Syracuse, who, as legend has it, brought food to Christians hiding in Roman catacombs, lighting her way with a candlelit wreath on her head.

A Lussekatt is a Swedish saffron bun with raisins that is baked and eaten at the 13th of December as part of the St Lucia tradition.

The national tree of Saint Lucia is Calabash, where as the national plant is Bamboo.

Etymology. Saint Lucia was named after Saint Lucy of Syracuse (AD 283 – 304). Saint Lucia is one of two sovereign states in the world named after a woman and is the only one named after a human woman (Ireland is named after a goddess).

Burst the Bamboo

This local tradition involves filling the hollow end of a bamboo cane with rags that have been soaked in kerosene. Once they are lit, the bamboo canes burst and pop loudly, just like a firecracker would.