The Ikea Food Andrew Zimmern Simply Can't Stop Buying

It may be a furniture store, but Ikea is arguably just as well known for its meatballs, which are served at the in-store food court. Like most people, Andrew Zimmern orders the famous meatballs whenever he shops at Ikea, but as the celebrity chef shared during a YouTube Q&A, the hot dogs are also his go-to, though he prefers the regular to the vegetarian ones. Zimmern says he also shops Ikea's selection of specialty food items, but rather than lingonberry jam and Swedish chocolates, he opts for the Swedish creamed cod roe, buying at least four tubes at a time to keep up with his cravings.

"If you are what you eat, I'm 5% Swedish creamed roe," Zimmern quipped, explaining that he can easily go through several tubes of the stuff because it's his "favorite thing in the whole world." Clearly, Swedish creamed cod roe is a pantry staple in Zimmern's household, but what exactly is in this Ikea food product?

Though Ikea seems to be Andrew Zimmern's primary supplier of Swedish creamed cod roe, it isn't exclusive to the furniture store. Sometimes called Swedish kaviar, it's a condiment popular in Sweden and other Scandinavian countries. As you might assume, creamed cod roe is made from fish eggs, but they don't just get pureed into a squeezable paste — they're smoked first. In addition to the simplest kind, in which the cured roe is mixed with salt, sugar, and other spices, you can find versions seasoned with dill or interwoven with cream cheese. Tomato paste, vegetable oil, and potato starch are also incorporated, giving it its signature flavor and soft, spreadable texture.

The most popular brand of Swedish creamed cod roe is Kalles, the same one Ikea has sold in the past. Starting in 2011, however, the home furnishings store briefly offered its own version of the product (as well as a crab paste). For whatever reason, the name-brand roe returned at some point, but the product seems to have been erased from the Ikea website. You can find Kalles roe online. However, if you want a taste of the exact kind that Zimmern considers one of his favorite foods, you'll have to venture into an actual Ikea to try and get your hands on a tube.

Though you might expect Swedish creamed cod roe to taste overwhelmingly fishy, that's surprisingly not the case at all. Instead, savory, smoky, and salty are the prevailing notes, making the flavor somewhat comparable to the much more well-known British spread Marmite. Like Marmite, the roe is also served during breakfast and used as a light spread on crackers and toast. According to an interview with Yahoo! Life, celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson, who grew up in Sweden, treasures it as a breakfast food. He's a big fan of using Kalles Kaviar to accentuate scrambled eggs.

Though the flavor of this Scandinavian delicacy is distinct enough that it can be served plain, it's also common for people to pair it with cucumber and squeeze some over hard-boiled eggs. It can also be used as a sandwich spread, but it's usually limited to sandwiches with eggs or cheese. As for what Andrew Zimmern prefers, the celebrity chef revealed in his Q&A that he typically enjoys his Swedish creamed cod roe without any accompaniments, spread directly onto a cracker.