Nordic Tacos

The weekend was deliriously exhausting: a wedding, Mother's Day, and Saturday afternoon hoofing blini when I joined a few vendors (including Mike from Gamle Ode) for the big spring sale at Ingebretsen's. I love the old Scandinavian grocery and specialties store, especially the glass butcher case that lines the back wall. Every time I walk in, the smell of smoked meats reminds me of shopping with my grandpa for pork roast and meatball mix, and the menthol-spiced licorice he kept in a candy dish.

I flipped blini for customers and convinced a few kids to try the roe butter topping. The blini comes from a tried and true recipe (with the addition of fresh dill to compliment Gamle Ode Dill Aquavit), but the roe butter was inspired by one of the best meals I had last summer. Tilia serves a beautiful plate of gravlax and rye bread slathered with their version of roe butter. I borrowed their idea to stir up a pretty topping for the rye-dill blini. We billed the samples as Scandinavian blini, but several customers rolled their yeast pancakes around the good butter and coined the treat "Nordic Tacos."

Roe Butter
1 1/2 cups butter, room temp
1 small shallot, diced fine
1 ounce each red and black flying fish roe (or use your favorite inexpensive roe)

Place butter in a small mixing bowl, and place the bowl inside of a larger mixing bowl. Add enough hot water to the larger bowl so that the water just comes up the sides of the smaller bowl. Gently whisk butter as it melts and replace water as needed.

Transfer just-melted butter to medium-sized bowl and very gently fold in shallots and roe. Transfer to small container and chill until ready to serve.