Skoaling

In Scandinavia, dining at home can be particularly ritualistic, with an etiquette to be observed for skoaling and another for speech-making.

With their aquavit the Scandinavians observe a lovely ritual called skoaling, or "toasting." Skoaling is more formal, however, than toasting is in our country. At a dinner party the host always skoals first.

It is a far cry from the traditional Scandinavian drinking ritual of skoaling, in which glasses are repeatedly filled with Akevitt, preferably the Norwegian brand of Linje Akevitt.