Swedish Toast Skagen
A few summers ago, I had the pleasure of spending a few weeks in Sweden. I spent my days and nights getting to know Stockholm, Nynasham and Gotland. Needless to say, I loved everything about the place. From the cleanliness of the city to the bucolic beauty of the countryside.
But what I remember most vividly are the tasty toast skagen sandwiches that were the staple of every cafe and restaurant we went to. The dish is quite simple. Sweet seasoned shrimp + baltic toast + red caviar = toast skagen. Add in a tasty lager and it’s a great way to while away the afternoon.
Back here at home in New York, we’re currently in the middle of Maine’s sweet shrimp season. They’re tiny and sweet and can be eaten raw. They’re delicious and are the equivalent of candy in the crustacean world. And they’re, more or less, exactly like the shrimp used in Swedish toast skagen.
I took the 4 train to Grand Central and went to Wild Edibles in the market there. Wild Edibles is one of the few vendors here in the city who sell these sweet buggers in season.
Today, they only had the peeled variety which was fine by me. Less work. Read the fine print in the photo above - “Just half a minute in boiling water.”
Folks, that’s IT. They don’t need a second more of cooktime.
I boiled a pot of heavily salted water. In there, I threw in a few bay leaves and peppercorns. And then I plunged the shrimp in for a quick 30 second bath.
After the bath, I put the shrimp on ice in my fridge to cool them quickly.
While they cooled, I diced half a red onion and finely chopped about a teaspoon or so of fresh dill.
After about fifteen minutes in the fridge, I took the shrimp out and, in a mixing bowl, combined them with the dill, red onion, about a tablespoon of mayonnaise, juice of half a lemon and some salt and pepper.
A few minutes later, I was enjoying an incredible home-made toast skagen. 
I used a sunflower rye for one and a challah for the other piece of toast. I know traditionalists may scoff at my use of non-white bread. But this is what I had handy and it didn’t disappoint. I also didn’t have any caviar but to me, that’s a secondary ingredient. The shrimp was the star of this show.
I ate happily while memories of the Baltic coast flooded my palate.
