Saturday, October 6, 2012

Kanelbullens Dag

On the way to work this week it smelled so good!  As I was walking down the street a sweet,  tangy, somewhat familiar scent was wafting towards me.  With the opening song of Beauty and the Beast playing in my head, I continued to walk down the street, guided and motivated by this wonderful smell.   The scent intensified as I passed the numerous bakeries along the way, and I realized that this sweet scent was cinnamon.  It smelled so good that I didn't really stop to think why ALL of the bakeries smelled so strongly of cinnamon until I came across a hand-written sign in Swedish that read, "Kanelbulle 3 för 20:-", and underneath was a picture of a beautifully glazed cinnamon bun sprinkled with rock sugar.  Ok, so now it was clear that these bakeries are making heaps and heaps of these delectable buns, but why?!  It was not until I got to work and checked my email that I realized that it was National Cinnamon Bun Day in Sweden.  Yeah, they have a day completely dedicated to cinnamon buns!!! Is this country amazing or WHAT!?! 
Kanelbulle
Apparently, October 4th is Kanelbullens Dag (literally Cinnamon Buns Day) in Sweden.  It is a recent holiday that was instituted in 1999 by Kaeth Gardestedt, the project manager of an association of yeast, flour, sugar, and margarine manufacturing companies.  It was initially an attempt to stimulate the yeast, flour, sugar and margarine consumption in Sweden and now it has become a bona fide cultural phenomenon.  It is also celebrated among expatriated Swedes in New Zealand. 

For me this was really cool, and also really dangerous!  I have already fallen in love with the bread and pastries in this country.  And now you tell me that there is an entire DAY dedicated to eating these carbs!?  What are you trying to do to me Sweden?  I am supposed to be studying the beneficial effects of exercise on the body.  I don't want to end up becoming a high-fat, high-sugar diet control experiment myself!! 

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