Detroit, MI
If anybody in Detroit serves this Swedish dish, please let the Detroit Red Wings know
Toast Skagen the toast of Detroit Red Wings’ culinary taste in Sweden
Detroit Red Wings players on their favorite dish they tried while in Sweden, November 2023 in Stockholm.
Helene St. James
STOCKHOLM — Dylan Larkin stood in the hallway outside what had served as the Detroit Red Wings’ locker room at Avicii Arena trying to think of a name.
While hockey was the No. 1 topic during the 2023 NHL Global Series in Stockholm, food was a close second. To that end, Larkin was trying to think of the name of his favorite Swedish dish. “The shrimp toast,” he said. “What is it called …” A local arena worker yelled out, “Toast Skagen,” and Larkin joined in. “Toast Skagen,” he said, turning around to thank the woman. “It was really good. I liked it.”
The team’s lone active Swede, Lucas Raymond, was a superb host by all accounts. “Ray took us to dinner and the first night we had all the traditional meatballs and Toast Skagen,” Larkin said. “It’s like a spread, it’s really good.”
One by one, teammates named Toast Skagen as their favorite culinary local dish.
“I’d say the shrimp toast was probably my favorite,” Shayne Gostisbehere said. “I think it’s just a little different. They have a little more pure ingredients over here in Europe. It’s been nice eating over here, for sure.”
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According to the Visit Sweden website, it is a staple of Swedish cuisine: “Although the name and ingredients of this classic salad of fresh prawns, mayonnaise, dill and red onion would make you think it comes from Denmark or the west coast of Sweden, it was actually invented by Stockholmer and restauranteur Tore Wretman in the 1950s.”
Moritz Seider counts himself among those with a fondness for Toast Skagen, saying, “I think we had it the first night and it was pretty delicious. I’m into trying new things, even though they weren’t the best at times, but that’s part of the deal.”
Ben Chiarot named it as his favorite, calling it “great,” and David Perron echoed that, saying, “I liked it, too.” So did Alex DeBrincat: “I had the shrimp toast the first night. That was pretty good. I’ve tried a lot of stuff over here that I probably wouldn’t normally have tried, but, you know, you’ve got to try new stuff.”