Torskerogn, or cod roe, is in style throughout all of Scandinavia. It’s unfold on rye bread in Danish daycares, squeezed from toothpaste-like tubes in Sweden, and harvested as a seasonal delicacy through the Norwegian winter months.
Torskerogn is an unassuming however attention-grabbing meals, with a wealthy and lengthy historical past rooted in Scandinavia’s Viking previous.
Discover out about Scandinavia’s love affair with cod roe, from what it’s to tips on how to prepare dinner it:
A quick historical past of Scandinavian cod
For over a millennia, cod has been culturally and commercially vital in Scandinavia. Dried shops of Atlantic cod sustained Norse seafarers as they adopted the cold-water fish from Norway to Canada through Iceland and Greenland.
The Vikings had been the primary to arrange the Europe-wide cod commerce, bartering boats-full of the flakey chicken for spices, wines, and different international items.
In latest historical past, disputes over cod fishing rights resulted in a decades-long confrontation between Iceland and the UK.
These collection of maritime collisions often called the “Cod Wars” led to 1976 with a victorious Iceland increasing its fishery zone from 50 to 200 nautical miles across the island.
The Guardian, 2 June 1976: Cod Wars
Whereas all of Scandinavia has cod, Norway is dwelling to the biggest shares of the “white gold” on the planet. Cod has been credited with shaping the nation and king amongst them is the migratory skrei – a Norwegian-Arctic cod that travels from the Barents Sea to the Lofoten Islands to breed.
The title comes from the Norse phrase for “wanderer” and displays the 1,000-kilometer journey that the skrei takes between January and April yearly. When the skrei arrive it’s a time for celebration. They’re caught by the tens of millions and exported for his or her prized meat, liver, and, after all, cod roe.
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What’s code roe?
Apart from scrumptious, laborious roe is the unfertilized eggs of a feminine cod, and smooth roe is the sperm (I do know, however stick with us) of a male cod.
The delicacy is usually confused with caviar, however caviar is made utilizing sturgeon eggs that should be cured or salted and packed to realize the moniker, whereas roe can come from any variety of fish (on this case cod) and is extra prone to be boiled, smoked, and fried – and even eaten contemporary.
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How one can eat cod roe
Cod roe shouldn’t be bought as free eggs like caviar or tobiko. It’s harvested in an intact ovarian sac and has the same construction and look to sweetbread and different organ meats. Torskerogn is eaten in a wide range of methods throughout Scandinavia however typically, it’s both smoked or boiled in parchment paper earlier than being sliced, battered, fried, chilled, or whipped right into a Nordic-style taramasalata.
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Left: Kalles Kaviar on cheese and rye bread in mattress. Proper: freshly boiled cod roe, with hand-peeled Greenlandic shrimps, home-made mayonnaise, lemon and dill at Restaurant Kronborg, Copenhagen
In Denmark, contemporary torskerogn is a winter specialty that’s served as a smørrebrød with Greenlandic shrimp, mayonnaise, dill, lemon, and rye bread.
In Sweden, cod roe is famously eaten from a toothpaste-like tube, as Smörgåskaviar.
The blue and yellow Kalles Kaviar tube has been a Swedish pantry staple for the reason that Nineteen Fifties and is often squeezed over sliced hard-boiled eggs and bread.
Wasa creacker with butter, egg and kalles kaviar. Picture by Martin Löfqvist
Kalles Kaviar is the equivillant of Marmite or Vegemite. Swedes find it irresistible, however for the remainder of us, it may well take some getting used to. In actual fact, ABBA, the producer of Kalles makes use of this as a promoting level of their commercials, with the tagline: “A really distinctive Swedish style.”
Whereas cod roe spreads are additionally in style in Norway, the true delicacy is a nose-to-tail dish from a Norwegian-Arctic cod known as mølje. Historically a fisherman’s meal, it’s made by boiling the cod roe, liver, and meat with potatoes in a single saucepan with water and nothing else. Modern mølje is way extra concerned and consists of salt, pepper, and spices, along with a souring agent like buttermilk, vinegar, or lemon.
When is the perfect time to strive Scandinavian cod roe?
Canned torskerogn from main manufacturers like Kalles Kaviar, Amanda, or King Oscar is on the market in grocery shops all yr spherical in Scandinavia. Recent cod roe might be served in eating places through the winter, from January – March. If you happen to’re after a style of the Norwegian-Arctic cod skrei or møjle, this could be the perfect time to go to Norway.
How one can prepare dinner cod roe?
The most straightforward manner is to poach it, which provides you the bottom ingredient for loads of pleasant dishes. Wrap the contemporary sacks loosely in baking paper and poach them gently in salted water with slightly vinegar for roughly 10 minutes. Drain and permit the cod roe to relaxation till barely cool. It may now be lower into slices, eaten scorching as a dinner dish, fried in butter, or used as a topping.
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