The table of an 18th-century Swedish bourgeois family revolves around simple and nourishing dishes: a cereal porridge (gröt) in the morning, dried or smoked fish and rye bread at midday, wild berries and dairy depending on the season. No starter/main/dessert division, but a succession of hearty meals designed to withstand the long Nordic winters, complemented by coffee, a new fashion from the continent.

Linnaeus, first and foremost a botanist, saw in the berries of Lapland and Sweden at once a food, a remedy, and an object of study. The lingonberry and the wild strawberry are the tart signature flavor of his table.