Stunning dill sauce
Jan Jungstedt is stunned that Australians have taken to his Swedish Dill Sauce sauce the way they have.
Hail back to 1993 and Mr Jungstedt had just moved from his Swedish homeland to the epicurean city of Melbourne. Three years in and memories of his favoured dill sauce dogged him like the plague. Craving a traditional dill sauce to put on his smoked salmon and seafood, he took matters into his own hands.
"The only reason I started making it was because I couldn't find it anywhere. I tried all the supermarkets, gourmet delis - no one knew what I was talking about," he says.
"I sourced the recipe from Sweden and started making my own dill sauce but it wasn't until a friend convinced me to sell it at a Christmas fair that I realised people actually liked it.
"I was amazed - they bought it all. I was convinced people would dare not try it, so when they did, I was stunned."
Mr Jungstedt moved to Perth in 2000 and started making the sauce as a full-time venture from a factory in Malaga. His recipe is based on a combination of fresh dill, mustard, oil, fresh herbs, a little sugar and vinegar.
"Really, the perfect companion for dill sauce is smoked salmon or seafood but it can work well with chicken or lamb. I don't know why but the sauce seems to work better in summer, even though I eat seafood all year round," he says.
About the time Mr Jungstedt moved to Perth, he met another fellow Swede, Jonas Edner, who was doing interesting things with beetroot salad. The two started a partnership and produced Viking Delicatessen Swedish beetroot salad ($6.25 per 250g), coleslaw ($6.35 per 500g) and potato salad ($6.99 per 500g) also based on traditional Swedish recipes.
Swedish Dill Sauce ($6.95 per 200g jar) is available at many independents or specialty markets such as Swanbourne Market IGA X-Press, Nedlands Supa IGA, Kakulas Sister Fremantle, The Herdsman Churchlands, Mr Fresh Carine and Eat the Rich Midland. Alternatively visit vikingdelicatessen.com.au or phone 0412 076 385.
