Archive for the ‘scandinavian food’ Tag
Hot dogs certainly are considered an all-American food, but they’re equally popular in Scandinavia. And they’re served more creatively.
While in Sweden we never had a chance to try a West Coast Special. This version features mashed potatoes, mustard and shrimp on a mound of mayo. Our timing was always off. We’ll do better on our next visit.
In Copenhagen, we made it a point to have hot dogs, known as polsers. We noticed most of the hot dog carts, found throughout the city, featured two options: the Ristet or the Fransk The former is known as a red frank. It’s topped with sweet pickles (think bread and butters), crispy fried onions and a choice of sauces; I went with remoulade. Ketchup, mustard and mayo are other possibilities.
The Fransk is a long dog that’s inserted into a hallowed out bun and extends a few inches over both ends. I never did figure out how condiments are added.
The fried onions and the pickles provided texture to the Ristet; the remoulade, something I associate more with crab cakes than hot dogs, added a sense of sophistication. The meat itself was juicy and it was too good to worry about possible additives.
At home, I usually only eat hot dogs at baseball games. It seems an appropriate thing to eat at such an all-American sporting event. It was fun in Copenhagen to hop off our bikes and stop for a hot dog. That, apparently, is a typically Danish thing to do.
Panoramic views of Gothenburg (on Sweden’s west coast) competed with high-wow factor platings at Heaven 23. The majority of the dishes coming out of the open kitchen featured the King Size Deluxe. This is a monster serving of shrimp piled tall on greens, hard boiled egg, slices of cucumbers all hiding what must have been a scoop of mayonnaise topped with dill. Oh yeah, this all sat on a thin piece of bread.
Four of the six at our table ordered this house specialty, which is a spin on the open-face shrimp sandwiches sold throughout the region. None of those versions come close to Heaven 23’s in size, presentation or flavor combination. According to our server, each serving contains 200 grams of the hand-peeled arctic shrimp; that’s almost half of pound! Ironically, the large portion was inspired by the U.S, where almost anything is available in a super size.
The menu describes the shrimp as prawns, but these are small, slightly sweet and remarkably tender. We had two renegades at our table: one ordered the risotto and the other the lamb. I tasted the former, which was chewy and rich with asparagus. The plate for the latter was in danger of being consumed because of the desire to eat every last bite.
Our experience was enhanced by the friends with whom we shared our meal. Good conversation tested our efforts to leave as little of the shrimp as possible. This was, indeed, quite a challenge, but a very tasty one.
Heaven 23
Four-and-a-half Plates
Gothia Tower
Massans Gata 24,
Gothenburg 412 51, Sweden
The Blue Page Special 