Förlorade Ägg Med Anjovis

This recipe hails from 'Praktisk, illustrerad kok-bok för Svenskarne i Amerika', published in 1889 in Minneapolis for Swedish immigrants seeking both comfort and familiarity in their new American homes. It reflects the adaptation of classic Swedish flavors—eggs, anchovies, and hearty bread—using ingredients accessible in America at the time. Eggs cooked 'förlorade', or poached, were a cherished dish in 19th-century Sweden, and serving them with anchovies or sardines layered over sturdy toast hearkens to both frugality and festive presentation. The tangy sauce of egg yolk, oil, and vinegar rounds out a dish designed to feel both nourishing and celebratory.

In a late 19th-century kitchen, one would use a cast iron frying pan to crisp the bread and a deep saucepan for gently poaching the eggs, likely over a wood-burning stove. Fine kitchen knives would be needed to fillet the anchovies or sardines and remove the backbone neatly. To create the sauce, a sturdy ceramic mortar and pestle or the back of a spoon could be used to mash the yolks, while passing the finished sauce through a hair sieve (hårsikt) ensured silky texture—an essential detail in finer cooking of this era.