I am a Swede but never heard of this at all and haven't seen it. Seems like something that is happening far up in the north? Maybe something new for the hipster coffee shops to try.
Swede here. Yes, I've heard of it and have witnessed it, but I'd say it's extremely uncommon (bordering “unheard of”) among people under the age of 80. In Sweden it's practiced mainly in the north.
Highlighting some ancient ritual and making it sound like it's a part of everyday life is typical for this kind of journalism.
As a fellow Swede: having grown up in northern Sweden, I have both heard of this, and have personally witnessed cheese especially made for this practice in regular stores, but I have never tried it myself.
I’m an American, but I lived a year in Kiruna (up north, mining town, part of Lapland) and it was a common thing among my friends from there. Common enough that I brought the tradition back to the US and enjoyed a cup of coffee-cheesed coffee just yesterday.
Wow. How was your experience there? Even as a native Swede, that’d be quite a cultural challenge, as well as harsh to deal with the total darkness during the winter.
I grew up in Norrbotten (north of the gulf of botnia, northernmost part of Sweden). This was (and still is a thing). Anyway, my mother is from the province of Hälsingland (in the middle part of Sweden), there one eats ”ostkaka” (cheese cake), which is almost the same thing, but heated in the oven and eaten with jam. I therefore suspect these to be ”relic-dishes” and that this type of dairy product was once more widely spread.
And for those who have neither heard or eaten kaffeost, the most similar thing I can think of is Halloumi, though unsalted and made from predominantly cow's milk.
As a Dane, I feel like if it's coffee with cheese, shouldn't it be ostekaffe? Kaffeost suggests it's a cheese with coffee flavour. Though, I have never heard of this either.
I spent some time in northern Sweden, have seen and tried this. It seems pretty common for people who take coffee to work, on hikes, camping etc. I’ve never seen it in a cafe.
To me it’s just an much easier to transport milk alternative.
They did specifically mention the Sami in the article
| Though it may be an unlikely pairing to some palates, among the Sami people of Lapland and other regions around northern Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Russia, sharing a mug of kaffeost is a welcome and welcoming ritual.
Apropos salt in coffee, the way I heard it when growing up was that coffee brewed (or rather boiled) on meltwater didn't quite taste right, add some salt and presto! Having tried that myself I can easily believe that, meltwater doesn't taste the same as well-water. For the record, I tried myself, and yes, when boiling instead of brewing some salt will work, in brewed coffee though, not!
My brother's wife is no Sami, just a regular fin, and she, and her mother and sisters, actually use salt in coffee. To me as a regular Swede it's sort of insane.
