Wallenbergare

The story

Wallenbergare comes from Stockholm's restaurant world rather than from a farmhouse kitchen. The usual credit goes to Julius Carlsson, head chef at the restaurant Cecil on Norrmalm. According to the Swedish business site Dagens PS, two bank directors, Marcus 'Dodde' Wallenberg and Richard Julin, sat at their regular table, number 37, sometime in the 1930s and complained that Sweden had nothing like a chopped veal steak they had eaten on the continent. Headwaiter Gustaf Litzén passed the remark to the kitchen, and Carlsson answered with finely ground veal beaten with egg yolks and cream, rolled in breadcrumbs and fried in butter. Which Wallenberg gave the dish its name is still argued over: some point to the banker Marcus Wallenberg Sr., others to his wife, Amalia, daughter of the 19th-century cookbook author Charles Emil Hagdahl. The traditional plate is mashed potatoes, small green peas, lingonberry jam and browned butter poured over at the last moment, though Carlsson himself is said to have objected to the lingonberries. Keep every ingredient cold, and fry the patties only once the potatoes are mashed and the peas are hot.