Food filled Friday: Episode 2: Tunnbrödsrulle.

This is the second episode of our three part pilot series on food. Please cast your vote in the sidebar to the right if you want us to continue with this series (note we will still write about other events and activities that may be interesting).

The food of this week is the Swedish fast food: Tunnbrödsrulle. Directly translated it means "flat-bread-roll". You mostly find these Tunnbrödsrulle at hot-dog stands and it sells for between R35 to R60.

This meal is rather filling and consists of a flat bread wrap, usually filled with mashed potatoes, hot-dog sausages, crispy onions and shrimp salad. There are of course variation by exclusion of onions or shrimp salad and the type and number of sausages. Optional mustard and/or ketchup are added prior to rolling.

This combination of ingredients does seem a bit odd and biased towards the carbohydrate side. A large proportion of the bites are mashed potato with its predictable taste. Often you have some mash and either shrimp salad or sausage and this taste combination is really nice. If you are very lucky you may even experience a bite with all three main ingredients, a bit of onions and a some of the optional sauces, and you will have proof that odd food combination are sometimes much better that one can imagine.

The main problem with a Tunnbrödsrulle is in its physical design. Although it looks pleasing enough it is filled with challenges when you try to eat it. The first problem is that it is issued with a small plastic fork. Immediately you see that you may end up with a empty mash stained shell containing a lonely sausages to one side in its enormous cavity. Most forks are therefore discarded prior to consumption. A common second mistake is to go for the sausage since it is easily accessible. Soon you are in a situation where the sausage is flush with the mash and shrimp and a quick search for the forks are made in order to dig yourself out of the mess. The actual wrap can only be eaten if the filling is at least one bite lower than the wrap rim. Everything should be done with utmost care since pressure will result in mash glooping from the bottom, sides and over the rim. Remember also that it is usually bought and consumed in public lending an extra dimension to the whole experience...

It is naturally a "must try" for anyone visiting Sweden.

R&C