Ägg Smörgås (Caviar and Egg Sandwiches)

Tiny Egg and Caviar Sandwiches
Front to Back: Lumpfish, Capelin, Smoked Herring (Kalles)

Eggs with eggs. Chicken with Fish. Funny how some things are food and some, condiments. These sandwiches are elegant and delicious, but not for the faint of fish. Despite its reputation, caviar can be delicious and affordable if you know where to look. Abba makes a perfectly respectful Lumpfish caviar (orange), and I found the most luciously rich Capelin caviar (black) at Cost Plus World Market, both for about $5 per jar.

The lumpfish is a bit sharper and fishier than the Capelin, which was unctuous and complex, but the surprise winner at the party was the Kalles smoked herring roe caviar, which comes in a toothpaste tube. It's a little like bacon, if bacon were made of fish, ground into a paste, salted heavily and squeezed from a tube. It's GREAT with boiled eggs.

The sandwich recipe is simple: butter the bread, slice the eggs and put a dollop of caviar on each. For a variation, mix the caviar with a little sour cream and finely diced shallot.

I like to use a variety of breads with these sandwiches and like all Swedish Smörgås, they're traditionally served open-face to be eaten with a fork and knife. For parties, making bite-sized versions is practical and beautiful.

Take-n-Bake baguettes from Fred Meyer, Homebaked Amish loaf

I love Caviar. Nothing photographs quite as beautifully.

Sillsalad Smörgås (Herring Salad Sandwiches)

Swedish Herring and Apple Salad Sandwiches

Swedish Sandwiches are served open-face, and eaten with a fork and knife. For buffets like a Julbord, it's easier to make them more like canapés, to be eaten in a couple of bites. This one is an interesting combination of tart, sweet and salty. And um... fish.

1 Cup Wine Pickled Herring
1 Tart Apple, like a Granny Smith
3 Hard Boiled Eggs
1/2 Sweet Onion, like Walla Walla

Finely dice all the ingredients and mix together. The proportions above are suggested only - aim for equal quantities of each, diced.



Add in a little pickle juice if you like it more vinegar-ey and let the salad sit in the fridge for 12 hours or overnight. Optionally, add 1/4 cup diced pickled beets but that will turn your salad kind of pink. Herring and apple salad is strange enough for Americans - I don't recommend an ungodly shade of pink to boot.

For tiny appetizer-sized sandwiches, sliced baguette works nicely. Lightly Butter the bread before putting the salad on it because it's a) traditional, b) keeps the bread from getting soggy and c) delicious. Garnish with a sprig of Dill, and Varsågod!

The full-size, fork-and-knife version.

Weirdity of the Week

Okay, I have NO idea how I managed to stumble across this video, but I guess that's the sort of thing that can happen when you're up too late screwing around on the intert00bs when you really should be sleeping because you've got work in the morning. In any case this one gets the prize for weird item of the week. And it's only Monday.



Suddenly I want falafel and baba ganoush and roast lamb with apricots. Can't imagine why...