What makes a Swedish hot dog "Swedish"?
Let's break it down
I get asked this question all the time, and to be honest, it’s not a super straight forward answer. After all, when I started honing in on hot dogs through my Swedish food pop up, it wasn’t uncommon for most Swedes to actually be confused about what I was selling. I realized early on that this was because I was calling it the wrong thing. I realized this after panic ensued and I questioned my entire food concept. Typical semi-Swede born in the US over here!
From what we know, the first hot dog or frankfurter came from Frankfurt, Germany. Frankfurters first appeared in the 13th century and hot dog stands started popping up (ha ha) in the late 1800s. The first hot dog stand in Stockholm was said to open around 1912, and the addition of shrimp and mashed potato toppings to the hot dog is debated to have come on board between 1940-1960. Bay shrimp (the teeny ones) are an incredibly popular ingredient in Swedish cuisine, largely in part by the fact that Scandinavia is surrounded by cold waters, which make for easy sourcing.
While hot dog culture is huge in Sweden, there are many varieties of sausages available. Hot dogs or “korvs” are a part of most Swedish gatherings, not just summer BBQ’s or 4th of July like we have in the US. Sweden is a very large consumer of pork and most sausages are pork varieties, but there a ton of options. Typical Scandi hot dog toppings include ketchup, mild or strong mustard, pickled red onions, pickles, relish mayo, pickled beet salad and fried onions.
The “hot dog” I’ve been inspired by in Sweden is actually a type of Swedish street food called a “tunnbrödsrulle”, which roughly translates to “thin bread roll”. This dish is composed of pork hot dog, mashed potatoes, cold shrimp salad, pickled things, fried onions, and ketchup and mustard. All of this is rolled up inside a Swedish flatbread and intended to be eaten on the go with your hands.
To be fully honest, the tunnbrödsrulle needs a little bit of a remix. The unique flavor combination of the mashed potatoes and shrimp is so delicious, but the flatbread varies from stand to stand and usually leaves something to be desired. The shrimp salad can have more mayo in it than shrimp, and the mashed potatoes are nothing fancy. In it’s defense, it’s more of a late night food or something eaten when you’re in a hurry. It’s satisfying and tasty, but you’re not necessarily waking up in the morning thinking about it.
Video: An elevated tunnbrödsrulle from Korvbyrån in Solna, Sweden that uses tater tots instead of mashed potatoes, an up leveled shrimp salad, and a tortilla for the wrap. SO GOOD.
That’s why I set out to elevate this style of flavor combination and use a local artisan lobster roll from Rize Up bakery in SF instead of a wrap, elevated the shrimp salad to skagenröra, swapped the mashed potatoes for french cheese pull potatoes, and traded out the fried onions for fried shallots. My hope is that people walk away realizing how delicious shrimp salad and mashed potatoes are with a hot dog and celebrate the creative food combos that come out of Sweden. It’s not all dill, cardamom, and mayo! Which also happen to be three of my favorite things, but still…
Back to the point of this post - drum roll please! Overall, I think toppings, specifically the unique combo of pickled items, seafood and mashed potatoes, are what make a Swedish style hot dog “Swedish”.
I’m excited to continue to serve and develop more hot dogs inspired by the traditions and flavors of Sweden! It doesn’t need to be something that is engrained in history, it can be a combo of old and new and that’s my favorite thing about cooking.
Keep an eye out for a strawberry relish remoulade hot dog soon 🇸🇪
Thanks for reading as always 🍓
Amelia