Leave eggs in carton, make smorgasbrunch

By Jane Black

Washington Post

DOMINIC BRACCO II / For the Washington Post

Brunch, Swedish style: Smorgastarta, a layered sandwich cake, cucumber garnish; pickled cukes; Jansson's Temptation, a potato dish; cured beef; saffron buns.

WASHINGTON - I've always thought that brunch is a lot like a first date. It has enormous promise, but it rarely pans out: Those tempting gingerbread pancakes turn out stodgy. The eggs are overcooked, and the hollandaise can be described only as bland. Like that perfect-on-paper setup, brunch usually leaves me cold.

I'm not the only one. "Fabulous prep time interrupted by eggs" is the way chef Gillian Clark describes brunch. A "punishment block for the B-team cooks, or where the farm team of recent dishwashers learn their chops," Anthony Bourdain wrote in Kitchen Confidential. New York chef Marcus Samuelsson says brunch is one of America's great contributions to culinary culture, but adds that "ultimately, it's one of those meals that should be eaten at home."

I called Samuelsson because the brunch at his Swedish restaurant Aquavit, in New York, is one of the few I actually crave. When I visited, it offered a traditional smorgasbord of hot and cold, sweet and savory dishes such as tandoori-smoked salmon, artichoke tart, cheeses, hams, and wild strawberries - unusual enough to be interesting but not so out-there to be off-putting. Sort of like that dream date.

To understand why the smorgasbord and brunch belong together, you first have to know why brunch so often stumbles. Bourdain is right: Restaurants hate brunch, not only because the chefs don't want to wake up early on Sunday. Brunch manages to be simultaneously creatively uninspiring and hard to do well.

Take eggs. Everybody orders them. And they get cold, and therefore unappetizing, very quickly. If brunch is busy, it requires a lot of staff. But as almost no one makes brunch reservations, there's no telling if the restaurant will be slammed or slow.

Diners also are very particular about their eggs. While many are not confident enough to criticize the duck with pumpkin cakes, they're not shy about their definition of "over easy." Try to steer them away from their weekly indulgence, and they're not happy, either. Eggs Benedict with fried green tomatoes instead of English muffins? OK. Bagel with avocado, pancetta and burrata? Maybe not OK.

Brunch at home can disappoint, too. Home cooks have the same egg problem as restaurant chefs, plus they probably would rather enjoy their guests than play short-order cook. Bagels and cream cheese? Cliche, and underwhelming. "If you're not cooking eggs to order, leave them out," says chef Clark, who offers a no-eggs, all-waffle brunch at General Store, her new restaurant in Washington. "If you're not in New York, don't bother with bagels."

By definition, a Swedish smorgasbord dodges most of brunch's pitfalls. Traditionally, guests make multiple trips to the buffet table to avoid piling sweet, savory and pickled on one plate. So the classic dishes - herring, cured salmon, cheeses, meats, salads, glogg (a Swedish mulled wine spiked with vodka), even the famous meatballs - are designed to keep well. Better, everything can be made in advance and served at the same time.

Some Swedish staples, such as herring, may break the nothing-too-challenging-before-noon rule. (My advice: Try them; you'll like them.)

The remaining dishes fall into that unusual-but-still-appealing category. In addition to the expected gravlax, I've added elegant cured beef tenderloin to the smorgasbord. Rubbed with black pepper, star anise, orange, ginger and mint, then sliced ultra-thin, it's a kind of Swedish carpaccio. For seafood, we suggest smorgastarta, a layered sandwich cake of bread, shrimp and salmon salads and dill. Normally, it's covered with a savory "frosting" of mayonnaise and sour cream, then garnished with cucumber and lemon. But I thought the colorful layers were beautiful unfrosted. (And who needs more sour cream and mayonnaise?) Also on the table: Jansson's Temptation, a traditional creamy potato casserole with onion and marinated sprats; pickled cucumbers; and warm homemade saffron buns filled with almond paste. Bake them right before guests arrive, and the house will smell wonderful.

The only thing missing: eggs. A classic smorgasbord does sometimes include hard-cooked eggs with a dab of salmon roe; a modern one could offer a winter quiche. Or just leave them out. You need to save something for the second date, anyway.