We Are Not an Island

By Elisabeth Fondell

I studied in Sweden during my undergraduate years and return as often as possible to visit friends. Upon each return, the one food item I absolutely must eat is not köttbullar with lingon, knäckebröd, or pickled herring, but kebab pizza, a rather unlikely Swedish delicacy.

Pizza hit Sweden around the 1940s when many of the first Italian immigrants arrived, and pizzerias soon became the favorite fast food business to open quickly and operate inexpensively. As new people groups immigrated to Sweden from Turkey, Somalia, Bosnia, and Afghanistan in the 80s and 90s, the pizzerias continued to evolve. These pizzerias now serve an Italian-Turkish fusion pizza which more accurately depicts the diverse population of Sweden today.

The standard kebab pizza is comprised of pizza crust, tomato sauce, onions, kebab meat, and kebab sauce. It comes paired with pizza sallad, a concoction of chopped cabbage in a peppered oil and vinegar dressing, contributed by the Bosnian immigrants and now a standard side dish at all Swedish pizzerias. The Tre Kronor pizza at Evergreen Pizzeria in Jönköping, Sweden is not to be missed – it comes complete with kebab meat, kebab sauce, and French fries on top.

In the changing political climate of the late 2010s, I hold on to this story of an evolving immigrant-driven food landscape. As we contemplate the question of national identity, patriotism, and home, we should remember that many of our food traditions came from somewhere else, migrated from other lands, and connect us to the rest of the world. We are not an island.