1,000 Foods To Eat Before You Die: A Food Lover's Life List (92 page)

Where do the sausages come into the equation? As one is not supposed to eat for a couple of hours before saunaing, hunger builds up. The solution: As guests steam and roast, so does this meaty, ginger-spiced sausage made of fat-edged pork in Sweden and of a pork and mutton mixture in Finland. If placed directly on the hot stones, the sausage sizzles and sputters, annoying those who long to roast in complete silence. For those participants, the sausage is wrapped in aluminum foil, in which it can steam to maximum plumpness in relative silence before being spiked with sharp mustard. (Perverse types who scoff at sausage can take respite in a spread of herring, tomatoes, cucumbers, bread, and cheese.)

Whether the feast is consumed right in the sauna room, in an adjoining dressing room, or outdoors in the long summer evenings, utensils are generally not in attendance. It’s fingers all the way.

One works up a thirst quickly in a sauna. The beverage of choice for the post-bath meal is cold beer swigged directly from the bottle. Also on offer in Finland is
sima
, a special ciderlike mead fermented with yeast and sweetly soured with a mix of lemon, white and brown sugars, and a molasses-like syrup.

Further information and recipes:
The Sauna Cookbook
by Tuula Kaitila and Edey Saarinen (2004);
saunascape.com
.
Tip:
In lieu of Finnish sauna sausage, Polish kielbasa (see
listing
) works almost as well.

While salt-cured beef and pork are hardly unusual in many countries, cured lamb is something else again—except for use in sausages, lamb meat is generally eaten young and fresh. But in Norway, where grazing grounds are sparse and so are best suited to sheep, and where harsh winters have long made preserved foods a necessity, lamb and mutton are salt-cured in the style of ham.

The category of dried meats known as
spekemat
may have begun as an ancient necessity, but over time it’s become a preferred choice. Whether prepared with young lamb or older mutton,
fenalår
—salted, brined, dried, and smoked to a rich mahogany brown—has a unique flavor not to be missed by anyone who has the chance to try it. As with ham, the cured leg is wrapped in cloth and hung in a cool, well-ventilated room. As with all cured meat, it must hang free. Any part that touches a wall or other surface will rot.

After four to six months, the firm but supple meat is trimmed, thinly sliced, and eaten cold and uncooked just like the Italian prosciutto. Possible accompaniments range from crispbreads (see
The Nordic Bread Basket
) or the Norwegian
lefse
or
lompe
breads to boiled buttered potatoes, creamed spinach, or scrambled eggs. The scraps and bone of fenalår are saved to enrich soups.

Where:
In Oslo
, Fenaknoken, tel 47/22-42-34-57,
fenaknoken.no
.
Mail order:
scandinavianfoodstore.com
(search willy’s fenalaar).

The early-bird special, harborside.

If you’ve never had shrimp for breakfast, you have probably never been to Oslo. It is almost unimaginable that anyone visiting that mountain-rimmed seaside capital would not hurry down to the harbor, just across from the stately town hall square, to buy breakfast from the shrimp boats before the day’s supply gives out.

From 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. every day except Sunday, the dock is jammed with boats whose crews have caught shrimp during the night and then boiled them as they sailed toward the harbor. Crowds of waiting gourmands buy paper bags full of these small, sweet, rosy specimens. Then they loll around the docks shelling the shrimp one after the other, sucking the rich fat from their heads and devouring the supple tail meat just as compulsively as one might down salted peanuts. Shells are tossed back into the harbor, where gulls swoop down for their own breakfast, instantly cleaning up the mess. The larger the crowds, of course, the sooner the shrimp supplies give out. (Keep this in mind if there during the summer high tourist season.)

These delicate little creatures, which run about thirty-five to a pound—not as tiny as the Danish
rejer
(see
listing
)—offer a revelation in flavor. And because they have not been chilled, they retain the delightful, gentle sweetness of the sea air. Nobody but a latter-day Jacques Cousteau could hope to enjoy a fresher catch.

Where:
Oslo harbor, Rådhusbrygge 3 (Pier 3).
When:
Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Further information:
visitoslo.com
(search fishing boats with fresh shrimp and fish).

If you are lucky enough to be in Sweden on a Thursday night and to be invited to an old-fashioned dinner in a home or at a very traditional restaurant, expect to find a main course of
ärter med fläsk
: a volcanically hot yellow pea soup that is as thick as a stew, soothingly scented with onion, marjoram, ginger, and perhaps a hint of cloves. At the bottom of each substantial portion will lie thin slices of tenderly pink salt pork glistening with edges of nicely saline fat. If the golden pea soup is served on its own, the pork may appear as a second course, along with boiled potatoes and a dab of good Swedish mustard.

It’s a custom that dates back to 1577. On a certain Thursday night sometime during that year, King Eric XIV was poisoned by his brother—yellow pea soup being the murderous vehicle.

Does the continuing custom celebrate his death or mourn it? The answer is unclear, and the same uncertainty applies to the course that follows. Hard to say how the tiny, thin Swedish pancakes known as
plätter
(see
listing
) came to be the traditional Thursday night dessert, but we can be thankful nonetheless. Our gratitude goes out to the light egg, milk, salt, and flour batter that is fried golden brown in the circular indentations of the classic iron plätter pan, and to the lacy, crisp-edged pancakes that emerge. (Thanks are due as well for the dab of unsalted butter, the sprinkle of confectioners’ sugar, and the topping of fresh, stewed, or lusciously preserved lingonberries that adorn this beloved Thursday night treat.)

Where:
In Stockholm
, on special days, Den Gyldene Freden, tel 46/8-249-760,
gyldenefreden.se
;
in New York
, Aquavit, tel 212-307-7311,
aquavit.org
.
Mail order:
For Swedish split peas,
scandinavianbutik.com
(click Food, then Vegetables, then search lars own yellow peas); amazon.com (search yellow split peas).
Further information and recipes:
Aquavit
by Marcus Samuelsson (2003);
epicurious.com
(search scandinavian yellow pea soup).
See also:
Lingonberries
.

When it comes to the humble brown bean—in France, the United States, Italy, and Latin America alike—every cook has his or her own secret recipe. For Sweden’s tiny baked brown beans, or
bruna bönor
, four elements are essential
before improvisation can even be considered. First, the exactly right, tiny brown kidney beans available in many Scandinavian food shops; then, a precise kind of Swedish corn syrup with molasses-like overtones; next, plain distilled vinegar to add bite; and finally brown sugar.

Some cooks insist on powdered mustard, pepper, an onion buried in the center, and perhaps even some diced salt pork scattered into the soaked beans as they are transferred into the crock; the meat contributes a silky texture and an extra dimension of robust flavor. The beans can be simmered on top of the stove or baked in the oven, the latter making for a more intense, richer result in which the soft but still-intact beans absorb the sweet-tart-spicy overtones of the sauce.

Standard accompaniments include fried slices of salt pork, ham, or meatballs, along with red cabbage and lingonberry preserves. (Of course, if the beans are being served as part of one of Sweden’s infamous smorgasbords, the list of accompaniments goes on and on.)

Where:
In New York
, Aquavit, tel 212-307-7311,
aquavit.org
; Smörgås Chef at Scandinavia House, tel 212-686-4230,
smorgas.com
(click Scandinavia House);
in Chicago
, Ann Sather at multiple locations,
annsather.com
.
Mail order:
scandinavianbutik.com
(click Food, then Vegetables, then search brown beans).
Further information and recipes:
The Everything Nordic Cookbook
by Kari Schoening Diehl (2012);
scandinavianfood.about.com
(search swedish brown beans).
See also:
Boston Baked Beans
.

The humble potato meets a very clever knife trick.

Roasted to buttery softness with a golden brown crust of bread crumbs and Parmesan, these potatoes are luscious favorites in Sweden, where they often accompany grilled or roasted meats and poultry. What makes them so special is the scoring, which allows the little oval potatoes to fan out slightly, absorbing the butter and also developing rows of crisp edges as they bake.

Serves 4 to 8 as a side dish

8 small oval potatoes, about 3½ inches long and 2 inches wide, such as California whites or russet baking potatoes

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

½ cup fine dry bread crumbs

¼ to ⅓ cup freshly grated Parmesan

1.
Peel the potatoes. Each will have to stand level, so if necessary, trim a thin slice from the flattest side. Using a sharp knife with a thin blade, score each potato, making parallel vertical cuts crosswise, a little less than ¼ inch apart and cutting about two thirds of the way down through the potato. Do not cut through the bottom. If this proves difficult, place a potato in the bowl of a wooden spoon and then slice downward; the edge of the spoon will prevent the knife from going all the way through to the bottom of the potato. The potatoes can be prepared to this point up to 2 hours before baking. Place the potatoes in a bowl and add enough water to cover them completely.

2.
Preheat the oven to 400°F.

3.
Pat each potato very dry with paper towels. Select a baking dish just large enough to hold the potatoes close together without cramming them into the dish. Arrange the potatoes in the pan, scored side up, and baste them with the melted butter. Sprinkle the potatoes with salt and pepper to taste.

4.
Bake the potatoes until you can slide a skewer almost all the way through a potato, about 30 minutes. Baste the potatoes again with the butter in the baking dish and sprinkle each with bread crumbs and Parmesan. Bake the potatoes until a skewer easily slips all the way through, 15 to 20 minutes longer. Serve the potatoes at once.

Further information and recipes:
scandinavianfood.about.com
(search hasselback potatoes);
epicurious.com
(search hasselback potatoes).
See also:
Pommes de Terre, Four Ways
.

Say the word
meatballs
and almost everyone thinks Italian. Everyone, that is, but those who have known the gustatory pleasure of the Swedish mini-meatballs that make regular appearances on smorgasbord tables far and wide. That’s not the only place you’ll find them in Sweden, however—in a slightly larger size, they become a main course for lunch or dinner.