Vendace roe (Kalix löjrom) ◆

Œufs de corégone (Kalix löjrom)

What it is

The Bothnian Bay is brackish enough to turn the eggs orange — the same fish in fresh water gives yellow roe — and that colour, with the feed behind it, is what the 2010 protected designation on Kalix löjrom actually defends. The whole year's catch comes out of a five-week window opening around 20 September, and a good share of it goes to the Nobel banquet.

In the kitchen

Keep it away from heat and from vinegar entirely: build it cold on the plate with sour cream, finely diced raw red onion and dill, and salt nothing further. If it was frozen, thaw it overnight in the fridge — a fast thaw bursts the eggs and leaves a milky pool.

Goes with

Crème fraîche Red onion Dill Potato Butter Rye berries Lemon

Same species

Whitefish (féra)

In season alongside

Artichoke Avola almond Belon flat oyster Borlotti bean Brown shrimp Butternut squash

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