Tre Kronor
It begins with fish–lots of it. Tre Kronor offers nine variations on herring, and a boatload of other sea creatures as well, many accompanied by distinctive sauces. Inlagd sill is standard pickled herring, but there’s also herring in mustard, with herbs, in tomato sauce, curried, and with creamy orange mayo. Glassblower’s herring comes in a sweet and sour marinade of white onion and bright orange carrot. The matjes herring is fabulously dense and meaty; it’s caught young during spawning season and packed in oil (rather than vinegar), flavored with sandalwood, and topped with creme fraiche and green onion. All these herring dishes, we were told by a server, should be accompanied by a red potato. It’s also traditional to complement the meal with blasts of aquavit or other strong, clear liquor–and you might want to bring your own, because after the complimentary opening salvo of glogg (wine simmered with raisin, orange peel, cardamom, and other spices), the only spirit on hand is the holiday kind.
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Dessert is a sideboard loaded with tasties like creme brulee, chocolates, cookies, and rice pudding with lingonberry sauce. At this stage most diners are stuffed and bleary, but my Norwegian companion and I managed to try one of everything–and go back for thirds of the herring.
