Food news
HeritageThe National Museum of the Philippines Iloilo capped off its 2026 ‘Magbasá Kita: A Reading Program for Young Learners’ with an immersive storytelling session at the museum’s Book Nook on September 23, 2026. The activity introduced the localHeritage21st Sunchang Jangryu Festival to Welcome the World With K-Food and Cultural ExperiencesHeritage21st Sunchang Jangryu Festival to Welcome the World With K-Food and Cultural ExperiencesStreet foodMan dead, 3 in custody after shooting outside Piada Italian Street Food in Mayfield HeightsStreet foodBrick-and-Mortar Restaurants Need to Stop Blaming Street VendorsFarm and marketYour guide to Harvest Fair 2026 at Wisconsin State Fair ParkFarm and marketOct. 3 Harvest of Harmony Parade available to view in livestream broadcast during paradeFarm and marketSouthington Apple Harvest Festival kicks off tonightWorldBon Appétit editor-in-chief explores food’s role in culture, media at MSUFarm and marketDetroit Harvest Fest adds movies, more food trucks in year 6HeritageThe National Museum of the Philippines Iloilo capped off its 2026 ‘Magbasá Kita: A Reading Program for Young Learners’ with an immersive storytelling session at the museum’s Book Nook on September 23, 2026. The activity introduced the localHeritage21st Sunchang Jangryu Festival to Welcome the World With K-Food and Cultural ExperiencesHeritage21st Sunchang Jangryu Festival to Welcome the World With K-Food and Cultural ExperiencesStreet foodMan dead, 3 in custody after shooting outside Piada Italian Street Food in Mayfield HeightsStreet foodBrick-and-Mortar Restaurants Need to Stop Blaming Street VendorsFarm and marketYour guide to Harvest Fair 2026 at Wisconsin State Fair ParkFarm and marketOct. 3 Harvest of Harmony Parade available to view in livestream broadcast during paradeFarm and marketSouthington Apple Harvest Festival kicks off tonightWorldBon Appétit editor-in-chief explores food’s role in culture, media at MSUFarm and marketDetroit Harvest Fest adds movies, more food trucks in year 6
Thali

Next: 4 Aug to 3 Sept 2027

Crayfish party season

Swedes spend August evenings eating cold crayfish boiled with dill, in paper hats, with schnapps.

Kräftskiva hos "kräftkungen" Olle Hartwig på Häringe slott
Photo: Holger.Ellgaard, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What is eaten for Crayfish party season

For most of the twentieth century Sweden allowed crayfish to be caught only from early August, and the opening became a party. The law has gone but the custom has stayed. Friends gather outdoors on August evenings under paper lanterns shaped like the moon, wearing paper hats and bibs. The crayfish are boiled in salted water with crown dill and served cold. They are eaten with the fingers, noisily, with bread, a strong cheese or cheese pie, beer and schnapps, and a song before each glass.

The dishes

AkvavitSchnapps, with a song before each glass.Västerbotten cheeseStrong cheese, often baked into a pie for the party.CrispbreadWith butter and cheese beside the crayfish.

Also part of it, and being written: Crayfish as food (Boiled with crown dill and served cold.).

About this page

Written by the Thali desk with AI assistance. Background: "Crayfish party" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from family to family and place to place. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

The weekly plate

Every Monday: seven dishes you may not know, what the world is cooking this week, and one way of eating.