Räksmörgås (Swedish Shrimp Sandwiches)

Bite Sized Bay Shrimp Sandwiches with Citron Mayonnaise and Dill

When my mother came to visit me in Sweden, we were on the ferry between Helsingborg and Helsingør when I asked her if she wanted a snack. Fearing the worst kind of vending machine ferry food that you'd expect to find in the states, she was astonished when I returned with an open-faced sandwich piled high with sweet, fresh shrimp, a dollop of tart lemon mayonnaise and a frosty Tuborg to go with it.

These sandwiches are scrumptous.

Since then, this has been the anecdote that I use to explain the difference between Swedish and American expectations of food. Admittedly, the US ferry system is really trying to up it's cafe quality but I don't think they serve anything that would inspire a foreigner to write a blog post about it. Unless it was the bad kind of post, I suppose...

Sliced Bread
Fresh, steamed bay shrimp or pink shrimp - the smaller the better
1-2 Tbl lemon juice (adjust to taste)
1/4 Cup mayonnaise
Fresh Dill
Butter

Lightly butter the bread
Mix the mayonnaise and lemon juice (optionally add finely chopped fresh dill)
Put a dollop of mayonnaise on the corner of the bread
Pile as high as you can with shrimp.
Poke dill sprigs in as a garnish, or chop the dill and sprinkle on top

Optionally you can add flat slices of hardboiled egg, cucumber and lettuce under the shrimp but I think it competes too much with the delicate flavor of the shrimp and lemon.

The full-size, fork-and-knife version