The Taste of Sweden, Kalles

This is not toothpaste. It is Daegual Spread.

If you often visit edit shops or grocery stores, you have probably seen this blue tube quite often. With its rather hip design that catches the eye, this blue tube is called 'Kalles'. It looks like toothpaste, but you should never squeeze it onto a toothbrush(!). It’s not toothpaste, but smoked cod roe sauce.

Commonly found in Swedish households and restaurants, the ‘Swedish national spread’ Kalles is made from cod roe harvested from the Norwegian Sea, potato flakes, tomato paste, and more. It is also a product certified by the Marine Stewardship Council, a nonprofit organization for sustainable fishing.

Every time I see a Kalles tube, I’ve always wondered: who is this little boy? It turns out he is the son of the CEO who created Kalles. ‘Kalle’ was also the most common boy’s name in Sweden at the time. It’s like ‘Cheolsu’ in Korean!

Now, it’s time to taste it. Like when you first use an ointment, pierce the opening with the tip of the red cap and squeeze it out to eat. The visual is pinkish, and you can see small opaque roe, similar to the tube of myeongran (pollock roe). But the taste is different. It’s closer to a dried squid spread than myeongran, and much saltier. You can’t help but say “Wow!” as soon as you taste it.

This super salty Kalles. Wondering what to eat it with, I tried it with crackers and boiled eggs, which are said to be perfect matches. And on top of that, since Koreans thrive on rice, I also made a rice bowl with Kalles.

Kalles + Crackers

I spread a small amount of Kalles on the mild canap? snack ‘Pita Cracker Thins.’ The combination of the savory cracker and Kalles tastes like shrimp chips and Jagalchi seafood snacks with a sea breeze flavor. It’s the salty and savory taste that calls for beer. Just spreading Kalles on crackers makes an excellent snack that goes down smoothly with beer, but if you want to make a more elegant canap?, try adding baby greens, cucumber, or cheese. Don’t forget to choose crackers that are not salty but mild and slightly bland!

Kalles + Boiled Eggs

Kalles and boiled eggs? At first, I was skeptical, but after one bite, I couldn’t help but nod in approval. The umami is much richer than just eating with salt. It starts with a salty taste like salt and finishes with a sea aroma. There is a slight fishy taste, but it’s not off-putting. Especially, it pairs wonderfully with the dense yolk. It would also be great to add it when making fluffy omelets, scrambled eggs, or rolled eggs. If you have Kalles sleeping in your fridge right now, immediately try adding it to your egg dishes.

Kalles Rice Bowl

Swedish people probably didn’t know this: Kalles goes well with rice too. Just like making a myeongran rice bowl, add scrambled eggs, a little seaweed flakes, and green onions, then squeeze Kalles to taste, and the Kalles rice bowl is complete. The taste is similar to a myeongran rice bowl. You can also enjoy it as an avocado Kalles rice bowl by adding avocado. However, since it’s not as smooth as myeongran mayo, if you want a taste similar to myeongran mayo rice bowl, I recommend mixing Kalles and mayonnaise in a 1:1 ratio to make a sauce.

Kalles, you are a versatile spread, aren’t you?

Photo by Bomi Kim

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.