REPORTAGE

The taste of Skellefteå

Västerbotten cheese. the Bureburger Calskroven. Just the names of Skellefteå's local delicacies evoke warm feelings in many of us. This is the story of the Skellefteå region's contribution to Swedish gastronomy. About random harvests, the ice hockey World Cup and baked french fries. Bon appétit!

Most people know that Skellefteå has grown considerably in recent years. So too the food offer in the city. Today, Skellefteå is a multifaceted food city, with top-class restaurants and a wide range of food from many of the world's cuisines. Of course, this has not always been the case throughout history. In a municipality long characterized by agriculture, for a long time people ate mostly what the farm provided.

- They grew and slaughtered at home on the farm. There were potatoes and meat from cows, chickens and pigs. Offal was also a natural part of the diet. They ate sausages and pork sausages. Pâtés and such were indulged in at Christmas," says ethnologist Asta Burvall, who works at Skellefteå Museum.

Butter and cheese were also made at home on the farm. But in the mid-19th century, dairy experts came to Sweden. Dairies were opened that bought milk from the farms or were owned by the farmers themselves. For example, a dairy was established in Burträsk, 38 kilometers southwest of Skellefteå. And here we come to the story of one of the most successful food exports from Västerbotten.

- Västerbottensosten was actually a mistake. There are exciting stories about the dairywoman behind it, says Asta Burwall.

Mistakes, yes. They have laid the foundation for some of the world's most important discoveries. Penicillin, for example, was discovered after carelessness in a laboratory in 1928, as were X-rays. And, according to legend, carelessness was also the basis for Västerbottensosten, the beloved local delicacy.

The story begins in 1872 at the dairy in Burträsk. Dairywoman Ulrika Eleonora Lindström worked alone in the dairy. It is said that she forgot about a cheese that was only supposed to ripen for a few days. When the cheese was discovered a few months later, it had undergone a transformation. It had developed the distinctive flavor profile and crystal-like texture that is the hallmark of Västerbottensost. Today, the cheese is a beloved symbol of Swedish cheese tradition, as much a part of the Midsummer buffet as it is of the Nobel celebrations.

The Bureburger has perhaps not had quite the same impact. But mention that name to a native Skellefteå resident, and the likelihood that the person gets something dreamy in the eyes is imminent. So what is a Bureburger? Well, a burger with both dressing and cucumber dressing plus onions, iceberg lettuce and cheese. It's on the menu at the hamburger restaurant Max in Skellefteå and at the legendary street food restaurant Krysset, located at the southern entrance to the city (also part of Max). However, the original Krysset, which is an institution for many Skellefteå residents, burned down in January 2016.

"It went BANG. The next day we started selling an incredible amount. It was an immediate boost"

One person who knows the whole story of this local delicacy is Eric Mårtensson, originally from Bureå, two miles south of Skellefteå. It all started at Max in central Skellefteå on May 3, 1987. A date that is forever imprinted in Swedish sports history. It was the day that Sweden won the Ice Hockey World Cup. The result of the final game against Canada was the almost improbable 9-0 to Sweden. But how does this relate to the creation of the Bureburger?

- I was working at Max that day and therefore couldn't watch the final. I was on my way to lunch and had already tried everything on the menu. So what should I get? I stood there and pondered. Then I thought: What if I put a hamburger and a cheeseburger together? So I took all the burger ingredients and all the cheeseburger ingredients. The hamburger dressing combined with the cucumber dressing made it delicious," says Eric.

Later that day, all his friends came over to celebrate the gold.

- My friend Patrick Nordström, who also worked at Max, was the last one standing and said: "Make me a good burger! So I tried this new burger on him. He came up later and asked what it was. I explained what I had done. It was his suggestion that we give it a name. So we named it Burecheese.

Weeks went by and the new specialty burger became a thing within Eric's group of friends and soon in wider circles.

- One day the manager from Krysset called and asked what a Burecheese was. They had started getting orders there. Krysset was a pilgrimage site for many Skellefteå residents in the 1980s and 1990s, and it was there that Burecheese became the biggest thing.

- "It became a thing to go to Krysset and have a Burecheese. The people who worked there knew how to make a real burger. Everything was much better at Krysset in those days," says Eric.

Over time, Eric's creation became a real Skellefteå classic. In time, it ended up on Max and Krysset's official menus, then under the name Bureburgare.

To this day, the Bureburger lives on at the Max restaurants in Skellefteå. And Eric is certainly proud to have created such a classic.

- "The Bureburger was my contribution to world peace, my '15 minutes of fame'. Imagine if they had taken royalties on it. But it's great that it became such a thing!

Across town from Krysset, in the northern parts of Skellefteå is Erikslid. A stone's throw from the hospital area and a few kilometers outside the center. Here is a health center, a grocery store and a kiosk. And this is actually historic ground for pizza lovers.

"Pling" it says when we open the entrance door to Restaurant Tre Kronor on a quiet afternoon. A dish was invented here that evokes emotions from Smygehuk to Treriksröset: Calskroven. A hull meal complete with burger and fries, wrapped in a pizza, owner Rahim Ezatinia is the man behind the iconic dish. As with Västerbottensosten and Bureburger, Calskroven was born by chance. It all started one hot summer day in 2006.

- We had some working class guys who always used to have lunch here. One of them used to joke that it was good, but not enough food. Rahim says.

Rahim decided to take the customer's feedback seriously at one point.

- He ordered a calzone. I said: throw a burger and fries in the calzone and see what he says!

And that's how the very first Calzones crowd came about.

- We went back and forth to see how he reacted. He started laughing and showed his friends, "A hamburger in my calzone!" After a couple of days, he came back with his friends and they all wanted a pizza with a hamburger in it. We said: We were just kidding! But they really wanted it.

A classic was born.

- A few days passed, and more people wanted the same thing. One day a woman from Norran came here. She said: "We want to look at the pizza with hamburgers. Can you bake it so we can take pictures? The whole town is talking about it!"

Norran wrote about the new dish, and suddenly Tre kronor had a sensation on its hands.

- It went BANG. The next day we started selling an incredible amount. It was an immediate boost," says Rahim. Then Aftonbladet called. And then Swedish Radio. Everyone wanted to tell about Calskroven.

And over the years, the dish has come to mean a lot to Rahim and Tre kronor.

- People have come from Stockholm just to eat Calskroven! We've had guests from Norway, from England, and from all over Europe. Many also come from Northvolt and want to test.

Before we leave Tre kronor, there is one thing left: To taste it. I order and a moment later it appears on the plate in front of me. The knife goes through the dough, and inside, the outlines of a hull meal are revealed. Just dig in. The burger is surprisingly juicy and tasty. Eating the whole pizza, however, is not on the map. I soon have to admit defeat with more than half the Calskroven left on the plate. However, the overall impression is surprisingly positive, and I step out of Tre kronor an experience, and several calories, richer.

It's hard to predict what will be the next big food export or innovation from Skellefteå. But ethnologist Asta Burvall believes that local products and specialties will stand strong in the future.

- For example, at the recent Nobel celebration, they were very careful to highlight lingonberries from Mockträsk. It's a way of making it unique and special. For foreign visitors, it sounds as exotic as can be. We have probably become a little tired of everything being more standardized. We want to be able to treat ourselves to something a bit more special. It's more in keeping with the times," she says.

Text: Olov Antonsson

Photo: Jonas Westling