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.

Swedish Saffron Buns, also known as Lucia Buns or Lussekatter, are a traditional part of Swedish Christmas celebrations. These saffron buns are made with part wholegrain spelt flour, but otherwise follow a traditional recipe.

The Lucia celebrations also include gingerbread biscuits and sweet, saffron-flavoured buns (lussekatter) shaped like curled-up cats and with raisin eyes. You eat them with glögg, Swedish mulled wine, or coffee.

On 13 December, Sweden celebrates Lucia Day. The event symbolizes light in a dark winter. Celebrated annually in December, this historic custom is an atmospheric event involving Christmassy treats and a singing line-up of candle-carrying characters dressed (mostly) in white gowns.

When to eat it? The 13th of December is the day to eat a lussekatt but they are available in Sweden during most of December. The most common way to eat it is during the Swedish fika, you simply replace your normal cinnamon bun or cookie with a lussekatt instead.

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.

Embrace the differences of a traditional St Lucian Christmas dinner as you tuck into roast lamb with sweet potatoes, plantains or yams in place of the usual turkey and trimmings.

Serve warm with butter or clotted cream, or allow to cool and serve halved and toasted with butter.

It is unclear from where this cake's name came from! Another theory of the buns shape is that they represent the ancient pagan symbol of the sun. Superstitious tendencies towards the buns are still prevalent, it is common folklore that eating Saint Lucia buns on the winter solstice was a way to ward off the devil.

Lucia is celebrated throughout the world, and honored by many cultures. In Sweden, Lucia symbolizes the coming end of the long winter nights and the return of light to the world.

What is St. Lucia traditional meal? ›

The signature meal you should have in Saint Lucia is green figs and salt fish, the island's national dish. Locals boil unripe bananas and then add salt-cured boiled or flaked cod.

Today, traditional celebrations of Santa Lucia vary according to the region. However, this is still an Italian holiday, so you know that there will be feasting. Families across Italy typically gather together on December 13 for a delicious meal ofcaserecce (literally homemade pasta), roasted meats, and light sweets.

On 13 December, Lucia is venerated in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland in a ceremony where a girl wearing a white gown with a red sash and a crown of candles walks at the head of a procession of women holding candles.

In Scandinavia, where Saint Lucia's Day began, winter days are very dark during the solstice. Ancient pagan solstice celebrations included bonfires and ceremonies to ward off evil. When Christianity came to the region, people selected St. Lucia's feast day because of her association with light and vision.

Lucia would bring food and water to those who were forced to live in the catacombs of Syracuse. In order to free up her hands to carry the supplies, she wove a wreath for her head with candles to light her way in the tunnels. Eventually, she was caught, and even her noble lineage could not save her.

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.

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.