The scent of wood and warmth
In the run-up to Christmas, many households engage in baking. In the past, people burned all the wood they could find on the island, including juniper bushes, as well as driftwood that had washed ashore during the year, in large ovens and baked lots of cakes – hard and soft, sometimes with spices that had been saved throughout the year. The smell of freshly baked bread spread across the farmyard and mixed with smoke from the chimney.
Bagebrö and its recipe varied slightly between households; some baked thin ‘bönner’, while others baked bagebrö that was not pounded as much as others, which meant that it fermented and grew a little more than others. Sugar, wheat flour, yeast, butter and water are the ingredients found in most recipes. The wort, on the other hand, has a completely different list of ingredients. There are recipes where the water is replaced with Christmas must or weak drink, for example.
In the past, cakes were placed in special ‘baking covers’ to keep them soft over Christmas, and baking was a time of both work and anticipation. Nowadays, these baking covers are usually used for the first few hours after the bread comes out of the oven, before it is divided up and portioned into bags for storage in cupboards or freezing.
On Rörö, Christmas baking was more than just cooking – it was a gathering point, a way to share warmth and community when the winter darkness was at its deepest. On Christmas Eve, families gather to share food – herring, potatoes, salted ling, bagebrö and vörten, meatballs, ham and perhaps dip in the pot.
Christmas on Rörö is peaceful, intimate and marked by the presence of the sea – a time for reflection and togetherness before the new year begins.