| Sunday, August 24, 2008 |
| Stockholm Diary #13: Food |
A guest blog by Joe
As I mentioned in my previous post, Swedes love to eat fish. Their palates are not limited, though. One of the things I love about Sweden is the korvkiosk - hot dog stand. There's one on every other corner, ready to serve up a grilled frank or kielbasa for about $2. They're good hot dogs, too - Sabrett-style, not Hebrew National (although I like both). You can have the hot dog on a regular bun or, for a buck extra, wrapped in a tortilla-like thing with mashed potatoes. Yes, mashed potatoes. I haven't tried that yet, but I plan to.
For a couple dollars more, you can get the hot dog in half a hollowed-out baguette. That's called a French hot dog. That creamy white stuff in the picture? Mayonnaise! Yes, mayonnaise on a hot dog. That's one thing to watch for in Sweden - mayo in strange places. The first week I was here, I went out to lunch with my coworkers. We went to Texas Beef Co., a hamburger place in a local food court. I ordered a regular burger - nothing special. What was on it? Mayo! What the--? From then on, I've been vigilant.
The best korv I've had so far was in Skåpafors, the village where my mother-in-law was born and raised. We spent a weekend there, and the only store in the immediate area is a korvkiosk. (It also sells newspapers, milk, and a couple other staples.) It wasn't the hot dog that was so great, though - it was the French Fries I got with the hot dog. I'm not sure how they were prepared, so I'll assume they were fried in yummy sauce & sprinkled with tasty salt (probably MSG). So savory! Sue even tried some and agreed with me. I got the first batch on Saturday, and kept raving about them so much, we went back on Monday before we left to get another batch.
Lest you think I eat nothing but junk, I will describe my dinner Saturday night at Falkholts, a converted schoolhouse near Dals Långed, not far from Skåpafors. The restaurant prides itself on using local ingredients, and offers a "Wild Menu", three dishes made from local wild animals. Since it was unlikely I'd have the opportunity again any time soon, I set right to that.
We were celebrating my father-in-law's birthday, and first up was an amuse bouche of crayfish soup, a caper, and a slice of moose heart. My first course was wild boar carpaccio with goat cheese and a lingonberry vinaigrette, topped with an apricot & fig compote. Stunning - all of it. The compote was sweet, and the boar was strong, but complemented perfectly by the sourness of the cheese. The second course was smoked beaver on a bed of herb-infused cottage cheese. The beaver was in chunks the size of a baby's fingernail, and was, well, smoky - not much of a specific taste to it. I don't like cottage cheese, so that went to my father-in-law.
The entree was moose in a red wine & chanterelle sauce with mashed parsnips and white asparagus. Several others at the table were having the same dish, with veal instead of moose. The moose's gaminess reinforced the sourness of the sauce in a way the the veal couldn't. While the parsnips were bland, the asparagus (a recently acquired taste) was delicious - fresh and crisp. All in all, a delicious and rare dining experience, thanks to the very generous birthday boy.
On the way home from Falkholts, Sue's mom asked if I wanted to stop at the kiosk for French fries. I declined. There's only so much fine dining one can take.
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posted by 125records @ 7:12 AM  |
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| 4 Comments: |
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I didn't notice the byline on this entry until after I read "Sabrett-style, not Hebrew National (although I like both)" and got a little wigged out. Fortunately I was sufficiently on-the-ball to note this is a Joe contribution before I got to the moose heart part.
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It's Smart Dogs or nothing for Sue.
I tried the hot dog/mashed potato combo (not a dance, though it sounds that way). Not very good - mashed potatoes just aren't an on-the-go food for me.
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Do the Swedes put mayonnaise on their french fries? When you order pommes frites in Benelux countries, you need to expressly specify "no mayonnaise".
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I have yet to encounter mayo on French fries here. Do they actually pour it right on the fries in Belgium? I really love the aioli (i.e. fancy garlic mayo) they serve with the fries at Gregoire (fancy east bay takeout place), but it's in a cup on the side.
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Name: Sue
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I didn't notice the byline on this entry until after I read "Sabrett-style, not Hebrew National (although I like both)" and got a little wigged out. Fortunately I was sufficiently on-the-ball to note this is a Joe contribution before I got to the moose heart part.