If you look at the most common dishes a regular autumn week, it doesn't seem like much has happened over the past 30 years. Stroganoff, fish gratin and pancake are some of the dishes mentioned most times in our review of the food banknotes.

According to Eva Sundberg, an expert on food and meals at the Swedish Board of Agriculture, these are dishes that are particularly suitable for cooking in large quantities.

- About two million meals are served every day to children and young people around the country, there will be large quantities to be served for a short time and it is inevitable that there will be some warmth. We have learned what works. Pea soup will never be as good at home as when you do it in a 300-liter pot, she says.

Both old and new on the menu

According to Eva Sundberg, the biggest change in recent years is that the school restaurants have introduced large salad buffets and many more dishes to choose from. At the same time, traditional home cooking such as cabbage pudding, lard and sausage live side by side with newer influences such as Pulled Pork, Tandoori and Tom Kah Gai, shows SVT's survey.

During the week we examined, soup was clearly the most common on Thursday and when tacos were served it was mainly on Friday. Monday had a slightly higher proportion of meat and pots, but very few soups.

Freshest fish on Tuesday

On Monday, only a few fish dishes were also served. Instead, it was clearly the most common on Tuesday and Wednesday.

- This has been the case for all 40 years of working with school restaurants. There is a practical explanation for not serving fish on Mondays. The fish is not fresh then, because those who fish are usually free on Sundays. It's about our math history and you might not always think about it. I think it is important that we safeguard our food history and food culture. The school meal is a great opportunity to talk to the children about where the food comes from and the history of different dishes, she says.