Skagenrora

Brand: Rydbergs

Found at: Coop

Cost: 27.50KR for 200g, 47.50 for 400g

The history of Swedish Cuisine generally follows a very simple precept. Import a new animal, vegetable, or foodstuff. Add mayonnaise to it. If it works, keep it. If it doesn’t, ditch it.

I thought Japan was mayonnaise crazy, but Sweden built a country on it. It seems as though everything, from French-fries to meatballs, is served with a side of mayonnaise – or at least, a mysterious white sauce with a high-fat content. And while my midwestern Mother taught me how to properly stretch my definition of a “salad,” the Swedish supermarket has shown me how limited even her understanding was.

There is beet and apple salad (beets and apples in mayonnaise), shrimp salad (shrimp in mayonnaise), chicken salad (chicken in mayonnaise), and of course, Skagenrora – the ocean in mayonnaise.

And it’s amazing.

It’s lemon, dill, fish eggs, prawns, mayonnaise, and a number of other fishy off-cuts mixed up and served on a cracker. It’s as if my Northwestern and Midwestern heritage have come together in a beautiful fusion of creamy mayonnaise, sour lemon, fragrant dill, fishy goodness. I can literally eat this all day – and I would if my body did not need such wishy-washy things as “vegetables” and “fruits.”