Kräfta is straightforward to translate: it means “crayfish” and is a particularly important word in August, when Sweden’s crayfish season (kräftsäsong) gets under way. If you’re lucky you’ll get invited to a kräftskiva (crayfish party) not too long after the kräftpremiär (crayfish premiere – the date when you’re allowed to start fishing). The flodkräfta (European crayfish, noble crayfish, broad-fingered crayfish or, in Latin, astacus astacus) is considered the finest, but is today a threatened species, squeezed out by the North American signalkräfta (signal crayfish or pacifastacus leniusculus).