Market Classic · Open Sandwich

Räksmörgås (Shrimp Sandwich)

📷 Closely related photo — Photo via Pexels/Unsplash — free for commercial use

Sweden takes it seriously enough to give it a national holiday — October 14 is officially Räksmörgåsens Dag, Shrimp Sandwich Day.

An open-faced sandwich piled with hand-peeled cold-water shrimp, mayonnaise, egg, lettuce and a squeeze of lemon on buttered white bread or crispbread. A fixture at fish markets and harborside kiosks along Sweden's west coast.

Why it's made this way: Built around the sweet, cold-water shrimp caught off Sweden's Bohuslän coast, it turned an everyday catch into a fast, no-cutlery lunch that fishmongers could assemble to order at the counter.