What are Swedish Fish? I have a recipe calling for Swedish Fish and have no idea what they are. Thank you for answering such a stupid question.

 We've never gotten a stupid question, and you are not going to spoil our track record. But if you want to talk about stupid, look at our thought process as we tried to track down Swedish fish....

Our first thoughts went to herring, a Scandinavian staple, or turbot, the fish of choice in Sweden's fishing capital, Gothenburg. Another possibility, we thought, is sprat, a herring relative, which is sometimes called the Swedish anchovy.

We contacted the Swedish Trade Council, and they couldn't come up with a single type of Swedish fish that might suit your unspecific recipe. Indeed, their list was longer than ours, and included herring (in a jar or fresh), anchovies, eel, salmon, cod, white fish, perch, or pike.

When we finally came to our senses, we realized that your recipe must be for a dessert, and that you are looking for the "Swedish Fish" candy that is available in stores and movie theaters throughout the United States. Anneli M. Sumen of the trade group, says Swedish Fish are made by a Swedish company, MalacoLeaf, and are similar to gummi bears in texture and taste. They are larger, shaped like fish, and red. (You can also buy a Swedish Fish Variety Pack, which includes green, yellow, and orange fish, as well). Interestingly, Swedish Fish are only really popular in the US, and Malaco actually manufactures them in Canada for the US market (seems to us, they may have lost a bit of their Swedish heritage.)

So we'd say there's a 99% chance that you're supposed to garnish some dessert with Swedish Fish candies and perhaps a 1% chance that you should be tracking down some herring or turbot.

Submit your question
to Ochef