Cook Club: Swedish sandwich opens up many wonderful options

In recent years Americans seem to be embracing open-faced sandwiches as a meal. Smashed avocado on a slice of bread is amazingly satisfying for lunch and this trend (with many thanks to Pinterest and Instagram) has now morphed way beyond its original. It truly is a simple yet beautiful meal. This doughy square topped with almost any protein, vegetable, cheese and spread you can imagine offers layers of possibility. In Sweden and throughout Scandinavia, though, the open-faced sandwich (known as smorgas) is a way of life, a standard lunch served in homes and in cafes. Given the rise in popularity of this type of sandwich in the United States we wanted to explore this country and the nuances of this traditional Swedish dish for June's Gazette Cook Club.

Sweden is one of the least densely populated countries in Europe and the land itself contains around 100,00 lakes and miles upon miles of rivers, not to mention being surrounded by the Baltic Sea on its Southern and Eastern coasts. You can even fish in the center of the capital, Stockholm, in the Strommen channel. It's no surprise then that the cuisine of Sweden reflects their great access to water - fish is a common part of many a meal. In fact two of the three most common topping combinations for smorgas in cafes contain fish, whether fresh or preserved. The three classic toppings are shrimp with egg and mayonnaise, eggs with anchovies or matjes herring and meatballs with red beet salad. Typically, these are all served on a slice of buttered rye bread which is a bread that holds up well and complements the varied flavor toppings.

Why the open-faced sandwich? This tradition most likely started with Scandinavian farmers in the Middle Ages when thick slices of stale bread were used as the plate and only the toppings were eaten as the meal. As time went on, though, it became obvious that the 'plate” was often the tastiest part of the dish as it soaked up the flavors of the toppings and soon was eaten as well. While it is unclear when this sandwich began being enjoyed by the masses its tradition probably spans 100 years.

Smorgas became a way to use leftovers from the night before and an easy meal to assemble for a quick lunch. The toppings are often as simple as smoked fish and onion or cold meat and pickles. In Swedish cafes and restaurants, though, you often see more layers and combinations presented in a dish that is almost too beautiful to eat.

For our Cook Club recipe we created an Egg Salad and Gravlax Sandwich. To build our sandwich we made a traditional Swedish bread called sweet limpa. It is a light rye bread with a hint of sweetness from brown sugar. We also discovered that the recipe we used (see below) is very forgiving for even the least experienced bread makers. So, even if you are wary of making your own bread we highly recommend this recipe because you really cannot get it wrong (even if you add too much flour and accidentally deflate the raised loaves like we did).

Once you have your bread made, it is time to build the sandwich. The first step is always buttering the bread. This is especially important if you are preparing this to be eaten later as the butter protects the bread from getting soggy. We then spread on our homemade egg salad which we made with mayonnaise, sweet mustard, capers and fresh dill which are other common ingredients used in some combination on smorgas. On top of this we chose gravlax (also known as gravad lax) which is thinly sliced salmon cured in salt, sugar and dill and is well-known in Sweden. We found it easily locally but smoked salmon would also be a fine substitute. On top of the salmon we chose a mini greens salad mix made by a farm in Kalona (found among the sprouts in the grocery store) for a bit of green. We topped it off with a squeeze of lemon before serving.

While it is more traditional for salmon to be served on sourdough bread we thought the lightness of the sweet limpa bread worked well in combination with the egg. This sandwich is versatile and fancy enough to be eaten with a fork and knife at the table or casually enjoyed on a picnic with your hands.

Beyond this recipe, we found that just introducing the idea of the Swedish sandwich opens up many wonderful options beyond the usual boring work lunch we often end up eating. In addition, it makes for a tasty and festive way to create a meal for company - just create a table stocked with bread and varied spreads, meats, fish, cheese and vegetables for your guests to build their own smorgas. It is your own summer 'smorgasbord” (a concept, of course, we can thank Sweden for) that all will happily enjoy.