The Swedish Art of Taking a Coffee Break

There are plenty of Swedish traditions that probably seem a little strange to people who didn't grow up around them. Eating fermented herring, for example, is one that I can understand might require some explanation. But there's another Swedish tradition that I think almost everyone could get behind, and it involves doing something most people already enjoy: drinking coffee and eating something sweet.

It's called fika, and in Sweden, it's practically an institution.

At its simplest, fika is a coffee break. Usually there's something to eat, like a cinnamon bun, a pastry, or a biscuit, and ideally someone to enjoy it with. But calling it a coffee break doesn't completely explain it, because fika is as much about the time you spend together as it is about whatever you're drinking.

It's also not reserved for weekends or special occasions. Fika is a normal part of everyday life in Sweden, including at school, in offices, and at home. Some workplaces have regular fika breaks where colleagues stop working for a little while and catch up. It's perfectly normal to invite someone over specifically for fika, which is basically an invitation to sit down, have something nice, and talk.

The word itself has an interesting history. It's believed to come from an old Swedish word for coffee, kaffi, with the syllables reversed. Over time, fika became its own word, and today it can be used as both a noun and a verb. You can have a fika, go for fika, or ask someone if they want to fika. Swedish is pretty efficient that way.

And while coffee is traditional, you don't actually have to drink coffee to participate. Tea, juice, or something else works too. The important part is taking the break.

One of the most recognizable fika foods is the kanelbulle, or Swedish cinnamon bun. Unlike some of the enormous, heavily iced cinnamon rolls you find elsewhere, Swedish versions are often flavored with cardamom and topped with pearl sugar. They're also popular enough to have their own celebration: Cinnamon Bun Day, or Kanelbullens dag, on October 4.

I'm not sure there are many countries that take cinnamon buns seriously enough to give them a national day, but I respect it.

What I find interesting about fika is how ordinary it is. It isn't supposed to be a major event or something you have to organize weeks in advance. You can have fika with friends, family, classmates, or coworkers, and it doesn't need to last very long. It's just a normal part of the day where you stop doing whatever you were doing and spend a little time with other people.

That's something that can be surprisingly difficult when everyone's busy. Between school, racing, homework, travel, and everything else that fills a schedule, it's easy to treat breaks as something you take only when you've finished all your work. Which, realistically, doesn't happen very often.

Fika approaches the whole thing a little differently. The break is part of the day, rather than a reward for completing it.

Growing up with Swedish parents while living in different countries has given me an appreciation for traditions that are easy to bring with you. You don't need to be in Sweden to have fika, and you don't need a particular holiday or location. A kitchen table and something to eat are pretty much enough.

Of course, Sweden doesn't have a monopoly on sitting down with friends and enjoying a snack. Plenty of cultures have their own versions of that. But I like that Swedish has a specific word for it, and that people make an effort to include it in their routines.

It's a tradition I think more countries should borrow.

Preferably the cinnamon buns too.