THIS HOMEBOUND holiday season, while many will embrace the concept of fun– the Danish way of cozy comfort – Swedish mediocre maybe more of the moment. It can also be key to making a better drink.
While there is no exact translation of lagom (pronounced log-ohm), it is generally interpreted as “not too little, not too much” – a state of mind where everything you have is the perfect amount.
“It’s being satisfied with what you have and not wanting it to be anything else,” says Selma Slabiak, owner of Selma’s Bar in the Ridgewood neighborhood of Queens, NY, and author of Spirit of the North, a cocktail book focused on around Scandinavian drinking traditions. Although Ms. Slabiak is from Denmark and not Sweden, she understands lagom well, especially when it comes to making potions.
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‘You may not have a large liquor cabinet, but it’s lagom as it is. You have everything you need, ”she said. Likewise, a drink can be lagom. “When I was a younger bartender I thought you had to keep adding things to make your cocktail stand out and be special,” recalls Ms. Slabiak. ‘But a Negroni is lagom. It has three ingredients. It’s perfect the way it is. ”
In her book ‘Live Lagom: Balanced Living, the Swedish Way’ from 2017, author and Swedish-American Anna Brones describes the folk etymology of the word. “It’s a romanticized version of the Lagom roots, a story of the Vikings pulling around a horn of mead,” writes Ms. Brones. “Laget om, or ‘around the team’, meant that the mead had to reach everyone’s lips, meaning that each Viking had to take only one swallow enough so that there would be something for everyone.”
Lagom also includes environmental sustainability – taking what is needed from the earth, no more – minimizing waste and embracing food in season. And it’s about being moderate and mindful in everyday life, writes Ms. Brones, taking what you need, but leaving enough for others to be happy.
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Is it possible to find that balance in the current, always-on, home-working greenhouse of pandemics? Yes, Ms. Slabiak insisted, if that’s the mindset you choose. “You’re in a situation and you say, ‘It couldn’t be better, it’s perfect the way it is’,” she said.
If that sounds like a big commission, Ms. Slabiak’s Svalbard Sling will certainly help. The epitome of lagom, it’s an easy-to-drink highball with just an ounce of aquavit (gin or vodka will work too) flavored with a no-cooking, no-wasted citrus that uses the whole fruit, skin and all. festive bubbles, it is neither too strong nor too weak, equal parts sweet and tart. Barely enough.
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Ingredients
- ½ cup of fresh lemon juice, plus squeezed fruit zest (about 4 lemons)
- ½ cup of fresh orange juice, plus squeezed fruit peel (about 2 medium oranges)
- ½ cup of super fine sugar
Travel directions
- Mix juices and sugar in a pot or bowl until the sugar is completely dissolved. Add peels. Cover the container. Leave overnight or up to 2 days.
- Sieve before use. Can be kept refrigerated for up to 1 week. To extend the shelf life by at least 1 week, enrich with ½ ounce of over-solid clear spirit.
“I wanted to make a winter drink that is still refreshing, and I thought of the arctic beauty of Svalbard,” close to the North Pole, said Ms. Slabiak of this drink’s eponymous archipelago. The liqueur uses both the juice and zest of citrus fruit at its seasonal peak. Letting the juice rest with the skins enhances the flavor exponentially. Use gin if aquavit is not available. Or omit alcohol for a carbonated lemonade-like drink.
Ingredients
- 3 ounces of seltzer
- ¾ ounce citrus hearty
- 1 ounce Linie Aquavit
- 1 whole star anise, for garnish
Travel directions
- Pour into a tall glass filled with ice, seltzer, liqueur and then aquavit.
- Garnish with star anise.
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