Pea Soup and Pancakes

There's a large lunchroom in our building with ~10-12 tables, 8 microwaves, 3 full fridges, a stove (or 2?), etc. Everyone eats around noon so the place is busy. Everyone either brings their lunch or cooks lunch in the lunch room. Eating out in Sweden is expensive - and the cafeterias at the KI are too. I'm also told that the food at the cafeterias isn't too good.

There is one exception, however. That is Thursday - pea soup and pancake day at the cafeterias. Sounds gross, right? I was really skeptical this morning. I figured I'd give it a try, especially since I had a sandwich sitting in the fridge just in case. But, it's actually good! You don't eat the soup and pancakes together (I was picturing people using pancakes to sop up the soup). Pea soup is the main course and pancakes are for dessert. The soup is actually Swedish yellow pea soup. It has ham in it and it's served with a dallop of mustard in the middle. The pancakes are thin, like crepes, and are served with berry preserves and whipped cream.

While looking for the picture of the soup for the blog, I found out that pea soup and pancakes isn't just a KI cafeteria thing on Thursdays. There's actually a history! Apparently, pea soup was popular with the poor in Sweden, since before the Vikings. Pea soup was the traditional meal for Thursday dinner when Sweden was converted to Catholicism. People ate the soup and pancakes on Thursday to prepare for fasting on Fridays. Although Sweden is no longer Catholic (since 1530), the tradition remains. (www.soupsong.com/rartsopp.html)
Picture - http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europe/Sweden