Swedish word of the day: wallenbergare
Today’s word is a Swedish dish thought to be based on the Swedish equivalent to the Rockefellers.
Svenska Akademiens Ordbok, ‘The wordbook of the Swedish Academy’, lists wallenbergare with the definition, ‘A Wallenberger is a pannbiff [another Swedish burger dish] where the minced meat consists of finely ground veal. It should be fried very lightly and be light inside and only light brown on the surface.’
That is a rudimentary explanation, one describing merely the meat part of the dish. A perhaps better explanation is that a wallenbergare is a sort of burger where the mince consists of finely ground veal, cream, egg yolks, salt, pepper, nutmeg and fresh breadcrumbs. The wallenberger should be served with mashed potatoes, lingonberry jam and green peas, and quite often you have pickled slices of cucumber as well. To finish the dish you top it off with clarified butter.
You may also have come across a dish known as havets wallenbergare, which are made with fish (usually cod) rather than meat.
There are a couple of explanations for the name of the dish. Some say it is named after the banker Marcus Wallenberg (1864–1943), others that it is after his wife Amalia Wallenberg (1890–1943). Amalia Wallenberg might be a good bet since her father, Charles Emil Hagdahl, was a cookbook author. The creation of the dish is more straightforward, it is attributed to Julius Carlsson (1898-1976), who was the chef at restaurant Cecil in the Norrmalm area of Stockholm.
The name Wallenberg is one of Sweden’s most famous. The Wallenberg family are noted as bankers, industrialists, politicians, bureaucrats, and diplomats. It is one of Europe’s most successful families, and they have even become part of Swedish popular culture in the famous Swedish Jönsson-ligan films, where they inspired the name of the arch-rival of the Jönsson gang, Wall-Enberg.
The wallenbergare is a dish which is not too hard to make, is delicious, and with which you will surely impress your Swedish friends. You can find a great number of recipes for the dish online, and the ingredients should be readily available in a well-stocked local supermarket.
Example sentences
Julia lagade wallenbergare till oss i lördags, sååå gott!
Julia made us wallenbergers last Saturday, it was sooo good!
Är det svårt att laga wallenbergare? Nä, det är hyfsat lätt.
Is it hard to make wallenbergers? No, it’s fairly easy.
Villa, Volvo, Vovve: The Local’s Word Guide to Swedish Life, written by The Local’s journalists, is now available to order. Head to lysforlag.com/vvv to read more about it. It is also possible to buy your copy from Amazon US, Amazon UK, Bokus or Adlibris.
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Svenska Akademiens Ordbok, ‘The wordbook of the Swedish Academy’, lists wallenbergare with the definition, ‘A Wallenberger is a pannbiff [another Swedish burger dish] where the minced meat consists of finely ground veal. It should be fried very lightly and be light inside and only light brown on the surface.’
That is a rudimentary explanation, one describing merely the meat part of the dish. A perhaps better explanation is that a wallenbergare is a sort of burger where the mince consists of finely ground veal, cream, egg yolks, salt, pepper, nutmeg and fresh breadcrumbs. The wallenberger should be served with mashed potatoes, lingonberry jam and green peas, and quite often you have pickled slices of cucumber as well. To finish the dish you top it off with clarified butter.
You may also have come across a dish known as havets wallenbergare, which are made with fish (usually cod) rather than meat.
There are a couple of explanations for the name of the dish. Some say it is named after the banker Marcus Wallenberg (1864–1943), others that it is after his wife Amalia Wallenberg (1890–1943). Amalia Wallenberg might be a good bet since her father, Charles Emil Hagdahl, was a cookbook author. The creation of the dish is more straightforward, it is attributed to Julius Carlsson (1898-1976), who was the chef at restaurant Cecil in the Norrmalm area of Stockholm.
The name Wallenberg is one of Sweden’s most famous. The Wallenberg family are noted as bankers, industrialists, politicians, bureaucrats, and diplomats. It is one of Europe’s most successful families, and they have even become part of Swedish popular culture in the famous Swedish Jönsson-ligan films, where they inspired the name of the arch-rival of the Jönsson gang, Wall-Enberg.
The wallenbergare is a dish which is not too hard to make, is delicious, and with which you will surely impress your Swedish friends. You can find a great number of recipes for the dish online, and the ingredients should be readily available in a well-stocked local supermarket.
Example sentences
Julia lagade wallenbergare till oss i lördags, sååå gott!
Julia made us wallenbergers last Saturday, it was sooo good!
Är det svårt att laga wallenbergare? Nä, det är hyfsat lätt.
Is it hard to make wallenbergers? No, it’s fairly easy.
Villa, Volvo, Vovve: The Local’s Word Guide to Swedish Life, written by The Local’s journalists, is now available to order. Head to lysforlag.com/vvv to read more about it. It is also possible to buy your copy from Amazon US, Amazon UK, Bokus or Adlibris.
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