Scandanavian Hot Dog Progession

Previously, when I thought of hot dogs, I thought of New York. I have discovered, however, that the Scandanavians have taken the traditional hot dog to new levels (highs and lows).

Executive Summary

From a simple mustard and ketchup combination, to an overladen disaster complete with shrimp salad and mashed potatoes, my degree of enjoyment of various hot dog varieties in Denmark and Sweden can best be summed up in the following chart:

Discussion

The first option is the traditional mustard and ketchup combination. The bread is slightly warmed on a grill and the sausage is also grilled. I found it tastier than a new york dirty water hot dog as I prefered the meat grilled.

Moving up from the traditional, is what's called a French hot dog. The only change here is that the sausage is inserted into a baguette through a circular hole rather than placed in between a sliced bun. There is no discernible change in taste, it's just a little less messy to eat.

Moving on is the first step in a range of swedish hot dogs: the addition of deep fried onions. The addition of the crunchy onions gave a nice constrast to the soft bread and things were looking up. From this level, numerous toppings can be added as set out below in the menu that graces many hotdog stands in Sweden.

The next option is the danish ristet hotdog, topped with mustard, ketchup, remoulade, fresh onions, fried onions and pickles. At this point, I believe the hot dog as peaked. It was delicious, perfect balance of sweet and salty and my favourite.

I skipped over the next intermediate levels of hotdogs that the Swedish have invented as set out in the below menu and went straight for the grand-daddy of them all.

In short, I hated it more than I thought I would. A nicely warmed piece of flatbread was then topped with cold shrimp salad, hot mashed potatoes, salad, mustard, ketchup, lettuce and tomato. I could not understand the logic behind this combination and found the entire concoction inedible.

Before wrapped up

An aerial view of the completed "hot dog"

Conclusion

After sampling the last "hot dog", I only had one question: "why?". Lesson learned: know when to stop adding hot dog toppings for the sake of it and the only potatoes that should be near a hot dog shoud be fried.

Stockholm, Sweden

When in Sweden, one must have a smörgåsbord, a buffet of traditional swedish dishes. I chose to have mine at the Grand Hotel overlooking the harbour and it was superb.

Upon being seated, I was handed a brochure (see below) that outlined the suggested way to "smörgåsbord" and I generally followed these suggested guidelines working my way from the herrings to to the desserts and cheeses.

The view from my table

It's one thing to take a photo of a plated dish at your table, it's entirely another to walk the length of a buffet line, holding up the patrons behind you, trying to get the perfect shot of each offering so I have only included a few snapshots. The buffet was extensive; there were six types of pickled herrings, five types of smoked or cured salmon, numerous salads, the best cauliflower soup I've even eaten (and asked the chef for the recipe), cured meats and cooked hot dishes (including, of course, swedish meatballs). In addition to finish there was a cheese platter, a large variety of tropical fruits and of course, cakes, tarts and mousses.

Although I maintain that the world's best buffet can be found at Cafe Two at the Island Shangri-La in Hong Kong for it's sheer variety of foods from all cuisines, the smörgåsbord at the Grand Hotel was truly exceptional and a wonderful way to sample traditional Swedish cuisine.

Before my lunch, I spent the morning cruising around the lake and perhaps my touring plan was a little inconsidered as that left the afternoon free for a visit to Stockholm's themepark Gröna Lund. Of course, I decided to tackle "Insane" (pictured below), a terrifying rollercoaster where your seat spins on its own axis 360 degrees whilst moving along the track. In hindsight, riding Insane less than an hour after finishing your six course buffet lunch was not the wisest decision.