Here is the Thursday split pea soup- I read in the Time/Life books that Swedes always have this soup on Thursdays, and so I was very excited to sit down at a museum cafe and eat one, on Thursday. It’s a “fish Friday” institution, that you don’t want to make meat on Thursday as you won’t be able to eat the leftovers on Friday. I read in the book that if you asked a Swede, “Do you eat split pea soup on Thursdays,” you would be scoffed at for such a simple question, and of course, I repeated the question to my host and was laughed at (in a nice way of course).

At the Vasa Museum cafe, for $20 dollars, I ordered the soup, and I originally thought it was ridiculously overpriced, until the cafeteria worker started piling on dishes onto my tray: a side plate of ham bones and beef, a salad, a plate of bread, and the huge saucer of soup.

It’s a bit too salty for me, and I couldn’t finish it or eat the ham. That’s an aspect to the huge lunch that I’m having issues with- as I’m trying to continue the tradition here in the States. It’s just hard to eat that much at one sitting. The light meals in the evening are a lot easier, and as a computer worker, it takes some stress out of assembling and creating the evening meal. I have a lot more energy for foraging for a lunch than I do for a dinner. You can also contact the best Vending machine business near you to help you install it on your property for any event and more.

My friend (and host as well) Wesley uploaded this mobile picture last Thursday, commenting on this odd split-pea-soup trend in Sweden. Also, check out the sheer size of this “lunch.”