They set the table for four. There would be the herring and pork and potatoes, and two kinds of vegetables. And marinated pears for dessert.
‘He doesn’t eat dessert,’ said Sophia nervously. ‘And he doesn’t eat vegetables either. He calls it grass. You know that.’
‘Yes, I know,’ Grandmother said. ‘But it looks nice.’
The Summer Book, Tove Jansson (translated by Thomas Teal)
We don’t celebrate midsummer in Australia – it falls mere days before Christmas, so has long been overshadowed by tinsel, turkey, and paper hats – but since moving to the UK, and spending midsummer with my half-Swedish family, it’s become one of my favourite culinary holidays. From my first summer here, I fell in love with it: a midsummer pole in the garden, a rich cheese tart in the oven, floral garlands in our hair, and bottles of freshly made elderflower cordial on the table.
In Queensland, summer days are not that much longer than winter ones, and so my early experiences of the changing seasons were very much to do with temperature, rather than light. But in Northern Europe, the longest day of the year is something that deserves to be marked. It’s not only the most light we’ll see all year, but a quiet reminder that the days will now start to get shorter as we head towards autumn, and then winter.
This is even more tangible in Scandinavia, where the endless nights of winter mean there may be less than an hour of light each day, a contrast to their summer days, when the sun never quite vanishes beneath the horizon. It’s why the days in Tove Jansson’s The Summer Book feel bright, and endless, and full of possibility – because, quite literally, they are. Even in England, when the sun sets around 10 p.m., scenes of midsummer parties feel magical: the long lunch and dancing in Sarah Perry’s The Essex Serpent or the glorious wedding in Cold Comfort Farm. It’s also the day that The Amber Spyglass’s Lyra and Will promise to spend on a bench in Oxford each year, remembering their time together. In short, midsummer is a day worth celebrating. In our house, that means a smörgåsbord spread, served late in the afternoon, which covers the whole table. Nothing hot from the oven, just crisp salads, herring, and my favourite: that famous cheese tart.