Yeah... this might be the reason...

As a Swede living here in Japan, there is a few foodstuffs that I miss, fortunately for me I am no big fan of Kalles Kaviar or salty liquorice that generally is quite popular among Swedes and can be difficult to find outside of Scandinavia. However, I am a big fan of Swedish crisp bread and since Ikea here in Japan stopped carrying it due to some vague claims about the humidity here making it too difficult for them to keep (most likely out of cheapness if I know those cheapskates right), I had to find other ways to procure this staple food of mine. After a little research, I managed to find a supermarket that ships to countries outside Sweden (if there any Swede expats here you might find it interesting, look here). Through that site I stocked up on some essential stuff (and some not that essential...). I do recommend them, but I question their rationale in putting all the light stuff like potatoe chips and crisp bread at the bottom of the package...

For some reason I am not myself quite sure of, as I browsed their selection, I came across a can of Norrlands Pölsa and in a brief moment of nostalgia I thought that would make a great purchase. Today I thought it would be a great idea to have some Pölsa together with pickled red beets, fried eggs and some crisp bread; basically as Swedish you can be in terms of cuisine. However, as I checked the ingredients list for the Pölsa I suddenly got a bit wary... Among the highlights I can mention lard, beef heart, beef kidney, beef liver and pork meat...

As I opened the can and saw the gray porridge like mass and the smell hit me I realized that my nostalgia had been completely misdirected and that there is a strong reason why this food is not commonly eaten now in Sweden when cuisine from other countries is actually readily available...

I think this is the reason why there are so few Swedish restaurants, not only abroad, but they are also a dying breed locally in Sweden... I had pasta instead and hopefully I will remember this if I get another sting of nostalgia in a few years and think that it would be a good idea to order me some Pölsa...