Joey may have Italian ancestry but his mania for not sharing food is more swedish than anything else. A custom that many of us were unaware of but that has just gone viral in Redditwhen a user has asked “what is the strangest thing you have had to do in someone’s house because of their culture or religion?”.
The most surprising answer was given by another user, saying that when he was little and was at a Swedish friend’s house, his mother called him for dinner and he had to wait in the room while they ate. Something so strange that it has become a viral thread, with many others confirming this custom.
“I went to sleep at a friend’s house. When I woke up, he told me he was going downstairs for a few minutes. After a quarter of an hour I went down to see what he was doing and they were having breakfast. He saw me and told me that he was almost done and now he was going up”.
Not here to judge but I don’t understand this. How’re you going to eat without inviting your friend? pic.twitter.com/bFEgoLiuDB
— Seeker (@SamQari) May 26, 2022
It is well known that we cannot believe everything we read on the Internet. That’s why in Direct to the Palate they have turned to an expert who has been living in Sweden for ten years. She has told how this conversation has also become very viral in the Nordic country, where They do not understand why we see it as strange to not offer food to the guests.
“They did not understand why the Mediterraneans, Asians, Africans, Arabs were in shock.”
The reasons behind this custom
It’s not because they’re stingy, crappy eaters, or gluttons who don’t want even a piece of their cake taken away. There are various cultural reasons behind this practiceas the experts of Direct to the Palate.
Among them, the country’s past poverty stands out, but also the feeling that “they see any offer as a contract binding to which they will have to respond in the future. You put them in a compromise and it’s super violent for them to accept,” says the source.
If they don’t invite you to dinner when you’re at home, much less do they consider the possibility of common and shared meals, such as tapas or a barbecue with friends. In fact, that idea of tapas dinner and appetizers starting to sink in now in their little Swedish heads, considering themselves something of hipster and modern.
Photos | iStock, Unsplash.