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Meatballs and beetroot sallad: A Swedish classic Posted by on Aug 20, 2010 in Culture

As Marcus so rightfully pointed out here, Swedes loves condiments in tubes. Anything you can put in a tube goes in a tube, basically. I must admit, I can’t stand most of the tube stuff and if you come near me with a tube of Kalles kaviar, I might have to hit you hard. Even harder if you offer me this:

Crayfish cheese. (crayfish = kräfta cheese = ost) How weird is that? Honestly? I’m a huge seafood lover, but you have to draw the line somewhere, even as a Swede!

Anyway. Moving quickly on to something much yummier and something I have craved for all week until I realized that is easy as pie to make it yourself. I did it yesterday and I have had it three times already; with meatballs for dinner, on a roll for breakfast and with some mackerel for lunch today. So what is this super food I’m talking about? Beetroot salad (rödbetsallad) of course!

Anyone who has celebrated Christmas in Sweden probably had tonnes of this, since it works really well with our Christmas food. But beetroots works fantastically well with lots of things and I dare anyone who likes beetroots to try this recipe and have it with whatever food you might like. And please share if you discover a new taste sensation!

Time: 15 min tops
Serves: 6-8 portions

600 grams of pickled beetroots
1 decilitre of mayonnaise
1 decilitre of creme fraiche
1 teaspoon of mustard
1 red onion
2 red apples
salt, black pepper

Mix mayo, creme fraiche, mustard, salt and pepper in a bowl. Chop the onion and the apples and add it to the mix. Chop the beetroots and add them as well. Stir until you get a lovely pinkish colour and leave it in the fridge for a bit before serving.

The beetroot salad itself might not be Swedish at all, but if you eat it together  with meatballs on a piece of rye bread, you are most certainly chewing on a Swedish classic. Heavenly, I tell you!

Happy eating!

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Comments:

  1. adde:

    the beetroot salad is swedish

  2. Erik Nor Cal:

    Okay what is it about Sweden that all food comes in tubes??? Here in Nor Calif nothing comes in tubes except tooth paste Fresh food vs food that needs to be preserved because of a short growing season in order to get through the winter.I get that whole concept. I have had Kalles cavier etc (thank you IKEA) Is there any really fresh food in Sweden? Surstroming Gravlaks, pickled herring etc. This is an admitedly biased view from the interweb

    Peace and love

  3. Rastik:

    Kräftost you mentioned is not bad at all. I prefer Kalles kaviar if I want some taste of Sweden, but Kräftost (and other -ost) doesn’t have to be stored in a fridge. With a package of knäckebröd it is good when travelling.

  4. Camilla:

    I draw my line at kalles kaviar with banana. blä!