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The inns of Skåne By Sanna Töringe

The flag is flying and even at long distance you can hear a certain buzz and a promising low murmur from the dining room. Skåne’s inns are like the country inns of France. They are well worth a detour and people sometimes drive miles to get there. Many of the restaurants have a cuisine that combines an optimum mix of Skåne’s traditional cooking with new culinary ideas. For the inhabitants of Skåne, the inn also provides a sort of reassurance that stays with them from cradle to grave. This is where they want to hold their weddings, christenings, Mother’s Days, birthdays and funerals. The Christmas dinner table – groaning with herrings and ham, and lots more besides – are naturally an extra special event. In some of Skåne’s inns, it is also possible to spend the actual days of Christmas in peace and quiet.

Huge anticipation of the mealThe glasses are shining and the tablecloths are spread, crisply pressed, on the table. The guests are full of anticipation, with knives and forks already getting acquainted around the good things in life. It is never wrong to eat herrings as a starter at an inn in Skåne. But then, they have to be herrings from Skåne of course – preferably mustard marinated herrings or tasty pickled herrings in their vinegar marinade with allspice and bay leaves.

What comes next? That depends a little on just where you find yourself. All inns in this part of the country, of course, serve the Skåne egg cake, which is like an extra thick, tasty pancake. If it isn’t on the menu, you must complain – the cook will then definitely go out to the hen-house to fetch some eggs. Egg cake should be served with plenty of crispy roast pork and bottled lingonberries. Sweet and savoury things are such a good complement to the mildness of the eggs.

Skanörs gästgivaregård. Photo: skane.com©sydpol.com

However, if I happen to find myself in the Hammenhög Inn at lilac time, I naturally prefer to eat roast young rook with cream sauce and jelly. The rook is a bird that nests in the high trees round about the village. If, instead, I am at the Skanör inn on a misty Sunday in November, just as obviously, I will be ordering roast goose, with all of the accompaniments. That’s how you can continue, month after month and inn after inn. Eels in the dark days of autumn in Åhus, served in the most delicious, surprising way; roast wild boar in Brösarp or pheasant in Margretetorp…and then of course there are the uniquitous smörgåsbords, with a little of everything, and all tasting delicious. A Swedish smörgåsbord contains all you can think of in the form of different types of herring, smoked salmon and ‘gravad lax’, cold meats and sausages … a Skåne smörgåsbord contains lots more even than that! In Skåne here, we are spoiled, but those of you from elsewhere should particularly sample the salt-cured smoked ham cut wafer-thin, the dark rye-bread and then, of course, the sweet, yellow ‘spettekaka’

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cake which always rounds off the meal at all the best parties in Skåne. The basic ingredients of this feather-light treat are made up largely of sugar and eggs. That’s why it is such a ‘melt-in-the-mouth’ delicacy. You cut the tall pyramid-shaped cake into large slices using a sharp knife, and then eat it accompanied by a glass of sweet wine or a cup of coffee. The greediest among us will have jam and cream with it too.

Comfortable beds and beautiful walksBefore going to lie down after the meal, people often like to enjoy a short spell outdoors in the fresh air. You can walk in a tranquil setting among the box hedges or venture right out into the wilds. The beech wood is just around the corner, with its babbling brook, making you so drowsy that you will soon want to turn back. Staying the night at an inn is a pleasant experience – you can indulge yourself with a glass of ‘bäsk’ (spiced snaps) to accompany herrings and a good red wine with saddle of venison. And then, of course, there’s the romance of it all – what could be more romantic than a country inn. Often the beds are comfortable and the rooms small, but really cosy. Once you have awoken from your afternoon nap, it is just a matter of filling your time until supper. Then, if you are lucky, you might learn some cultural history from the innkeeper himself who’ll talk about the history of the inns.

Margretetorp Inn serves a smorgasbord every day. Margretetorp Inn. Photo:skane.com©sydpol.com

The history of Skåne’s innsTo understand the history of the inns, you first have to try and envisage a traveller from times gone by. You should be aware that the carriages had no springs. Often, travellers got blisters - in this place and that. They were freezing cold, tired, bored and frightened of highwaymen. Salvation from all of these evils came in the form of the inns, of course.

Inns have existed in Skåne since the Middle Ages. Margarete, Queen of the kingdom united by the Union of Kalmar, or ‘King No-trousers’ as she was also called, had business to attend to in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. On her travels, she demanded that there should be inns always within reach. In Sweden, by the year 1279, Magnus Ladulås had decreed that noblemen and soldiers were no longer allowed to force the farms along their route to provide them with hospitality. There were to be special lodging places where travellers could eat, sleep and rest their horses. The people travelling about in those days were mostly the king’s men, people on pilgrimages and noblemen with their retinues.

In the 17th century, when Sweden was a great power in Europe, the country was visited by many prominent foreigners, such as diplomats and scientists. Everyone who came overland travelled through Skåne and the requirement for inns increased. Queen Kristina, who was herself an experienced traveller, tried in her own way to instil a little order into the situation. She demanded that every place should have three separate departments – one for the nobility, one for burghers or honourable people, as she described it, and then the rest all had to

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squeeze into one room. In 1690, Skåne had 33 inns and the distances between roadside inns were not allowed to be any greater than 20 kilometres.

Let’s imagine one traveller. Anders Tideström was one of the apprentices of Carl von Linné (Linnaeus). He travelled through Skåne in the mid-18th century and wrote down everything he saw. In the Saxtorp Inn, outside Landskrona, he came across a prosperous innkeeper. Indoors, there was a welcoming long table and a tiled cast iron stove. It had a brewery and a pig-sty, a still to make ‘snaps’ in, a neat stone-paved courtyard and borders of lavender outside the bedroom window.

It was lucky that he gave such a precise description of the inn in Saxtorp, because the whole lot burned down, but that was much later. During a wild wedding party, the guests made their own entertainment by using pistols to shoot through the windows; this made the thatched roof catch fire and everything was consumed by fire within just one hour. According to the eyewitness, the innkeeper was also one of those quite happily indulging in the entertainment.

Spången Inn. Photo:skane.com©sydpol.com

Reputations for tasty sausages and eery ghostsThere are lots of anecdotes and stories about food and incidents at Skåne’s inns. Then and now, travellers from far and near have sung the praises of Skåne’s good food to the rest of the country. The widely travelled customers were able to describe with real feeling the tastes of Östarp’s liver sausage and the delicious bream in Höör. A large number of these ancient things are still going strong.

But there are also lots of eery stories about violence and sudden death. So watch out for room number fourteen in Höör – it’s haunted. That was also the case in the Fjelkinge Inn when Fru Margareta Barnekow once intended staying overnight there back in the 18th century. At the stroke of midnight, she was awoken by some floorboards being broken up and a bloodied head was to be seen asking for help to find its murderer. The next day, Fru Barnekow called for the county sheriff, who broke up the floor and discovered the body. The innkeeper himself confessed to the crime and was condemned to death, while the ghost’s body was buried in the churchyard.

There are inns left all over Sweden, but the ones in Skåne are the most famous. This is surely because of the riches and generosity of the well-laid tables and maybe also because the very walls are still imbued with the atmosphere of the Danish period. Today there are around twenty inns left in Skåne – many of them dating right back to the 17th century. They are all intertwined with stories, and many of them have particular specialities to offer. So, please, help yourselves!

Sanna Töringe, an author from Österlen, where she writes about food and gardens but also one or two children’s books.

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The inns of Skåne:Anderslövs gästgivaregårdlies beside the old highway, midway between Ystad and Malmö. It dates right back to the 16th century, when there was an inn here called Anderslevs Kirkekrou. In 1767, a drink here cost one Swedish öre! Things are a bit dearer now. Landsvägen 49, Anderslöv, +46(0)410-21200, www.gastgivaregarden.nu

Broby gästgivaregårdis a manor-house beautifully situated in the middle of the village. An inn has existed since the 1600s, but the original building itself burned down and was rebuilt. That has been the case with most of the inns. Torget 1, Broby, +46(0)44-400 04, www.brobygastis.se

Brösaps gästgivaregårdis well-known for all of its famous guests. Apart from Carl von Linné, King Carl Gustav has also had a good time here. Behind the courtyard there is a brook with its very own water-horse - a dangerous fabled creature, which can disturb the sleep of the overnight guests.Albovägen 21, Brösarp, +46(0)414-736 80, www.brosarps-gastgifveri.se

Brösarp Inn. Photo:skane.com©Anette Åberg

Dalby gästgiveriMany a student from Lund has cured his self-inflicted headache with a ‘hair of the dog’ and a generous helping of food at the Dalby Inn. Lund is within walking distance of Dalby and, for many years, the inn was the destination of a popular excursion for students.Tingsgatan 6, Dalby, +46(0)46-20 00 06, www.dalbygastis.com

Hammenhögs gästgivaregårdis tucked in among high leafy trees. Rooks nest in the trees – these birds are hunted in the early summer. They are roasted in butter and served to lucky guests with a cream sauce and jelly.Ystadsvägen 34, Hammenhög, +46(0)414-44 02 88, www.hammenhogs.nu

Herrestad gästgifvaregårdPart of the building was previously used as a jail. Many of Skåne’s inns have been used as district courthouses. It would certainly have been practical also for locking up horse-thieves and troublemakers.Landsvägen 32, Stora Herrestad, +46(0)411-55 20 36, www.storaherrestad.com

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Hurva gästgivaregårdwas, in its time a haunt of horse-thieves. Nowadays, you can stop here without a care for an open sandwich with herring, and more. Hurva, +46(0)413-315 15

Höörs gästgifvaregård is famous for its ghost story. People come here just to hear the truth about the noises coming from room number fourteen. Though some say that it is number thirteen, or twelve. Maybe they are all haunted?Gamla Torg, Höör, +46(0)413-220 10, www.hoors-gastis.com

Löddeköpinge gästgiverihas a reputation that it no longer lives up to. A long time ago, a writer described the place as a sea of snaps, an ocean of beer and a lake of blood. Things were pretty wild at Löddeköpinge Inn! But it sounds like a description that might fit any of Skåne’s inns in the 19th century. Malmövägen 2, Löddeköpinge, +46(0)46-70 95 94

Margretetorps gästgifvaregårdhas been visited by many authors. It is also the inn about which there are most stories. Queen Kristina is said to have dressed up as a man here, when she was on her way to Rome. You can spend Christmas here if you want.Hjärnarp, +46(0)431-45 44 50, www.margretetorp.se

Marieholms gästgivaregårdwas previously called Åkarp Inn. On the outside wall, there is a copy of an old board showing how far it is to the next inn. The orginal is in the Kulturen museum in Lund.Kvarngatan 1, Marieholm, +46(0)413-709 00, www.marieholm.info

Röstånga gästgivaregårddates back to Skåne’s Danish period. Travel here when the leaves are just bursting forth in spring and experience the beauty of the beech forest in the Söderåsen National Park. Röstånga, +46(0)435-297 00, www.rostangagastgivaregard.se

Sjöbo gästgifvaregårdis a copy of the Grand Trianon palace at Versaille outside Paris. It is said that Carl von Linné (Linnaeus) planted two trees in the garden. One of them might still be left. Take a trip there to see for yourself!Gamla Torg, Sjöbo, +46(0)416-120 75, www.sjobogastgifveri.se

Skanörs gästgifvaregårdis surrounded by a constant cackling. There are indeed both roast and living geese here. But then there are at all of Skåne’s inns. Although the ones in Skanör are probably the tastiest of all.Mellangatan 13, Skanör, +46(0)40-47 56 90, www.skanorsgastis.se

Skivarps gästgiverihas an interesting garden that was probably already established in the 18th century. There are several types of exotic tree here. Landsvägen 32, Skivarp, +46(0)411-305 51, www.skivarp.com

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Spångens gästgivaregårdis situated in Ljungbyhed. A famous Swedish movie was filmed here in the 1930s called ‘Kalle på Spången’ which was about just such an inn in Skåne.Ljungbyhed, +46(0)435-44 00 04, www.spangensgastgivaregard.se

Staffanstorps gästgivaregårdis the obvious meeting place for Rotary Club members in the region. But, of course, so are almost all of Skåne’s inns. There is a story here about an enigmatic stranger who came in one day and played a waltz for the inn. The waitresses applauded and wanted to have the music and words, but the man maintained that the waltz was secret. After that he disappeared forever. Stationsvägen 2, Staffanstorp, +46(0)46-25 40 02, www.staffanstorpsgastis.se

Tunneberga gästgifvaregårdserves fifteen different types of herring. That is reason enough to make the trip here. They also have a cook here who has prepared food for numerous Nobel Prize winners. Yet another reason for a visit.Jonstorpsvägen 16, Jonstorp, +46(0)42-36 74 81, www.tunneberga.se

Vellinge gästgifvaregårdonce employed a sloppy boy who was supposed to clean out the drain with lye. He confused the lye with aquavit and served it up in a snaps glass. The person who drank it never got up again. That story gave rise to the Swedish saying that advises caution before taking a drink of snaps at Vellinge. What that really means of course is that it is not advisable to become too fond of alcohol at all. But don’t let any bad stories detract from the pleasure of a wonderful dinner at Vellinge Inn.Malmövägen 2, Vellinge, +46(0)40-42 48 65, www.vellingegastis.lunchinfo.com

Åhus gästgifvaregårdserves eel in every conceivable way. But they also have comfortable beds and other food, as well as a beautiful view over the river. Part of the inn was previously used as a tobacco barn. Åhus is famous for its tobacco cultivation, its vodka and, of course, its inn. Gamla Skeppsbron, Åhus, +46(0)44-28 90 50, www.ahusgastis.com

Östarps gästgifvaregårdis famous both for its liver sausage and for the famous Östarp sausage. Take the opportunity to experience the Kulturen open-air museum after your meal. Blentarp, +46(0)46-802 29, www.ostarpsgastis.se

Östraby gästgivaregårdis the place for holding weddings, christenings and funerals. That is what the people of Skåne always use their inns for. Here at Östraby, they only take advance bookings. The beautiful house was built in the 18th century, taking fifty-four oaks and seven beech trees. Östraby, +46(0)415-400 01, www.ostrabygastis.se/pub/start