1976 Swedish Flying Jacob: Retro Recipe Roulette
This monstrosity has chicken, bananas, and chili ketchup, so naturally I've wanted to make it for years
I came across this truly upsetting recipe in my online travels, probably on Gastro Obscura, but I’ve seen it mentioned in a few places since then, and every time I see it, I tell myself I’ve got to make it. It sounds horrible. Here’s the original magazine page from Hell Allt om Mat, 1976:
Somebody proofread my Swedish.
—Flying Jacob—
Serves 8
4 pre-cooked chicken breasts
1 tsp Italian seasoning
4-5 bananers (I’m going to spell it that way from now on, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.)
4 1/2 deciliters whipping cream I think? (A deciliter is about 3 1/2 oz or bit under 1/2 c.)
2 1/2 dL spicy ketchup/ chili ketchup
2 slices bacon
1 dl peanuts
Preheat oven to 425-ish. Basically, you layer in the sliced chicken (topped with the seasoning) and bananas, mix the chili sauce+whipping cream, and pour it over. Bake 20 minutes, top with cooked chopped bacon and peanuts. It’s traditionally served with rice and salad.
I mean, nothing is more American than chicken strips and ketchup, and King Elvis himself blessed us with the glory that is the peanut butter, bananer, and bacon sandwich, but mixing all those things together is like crossing a bald eagle with a football concession stand — all the components are familiar, but surely it ain’t gonna fly.
Gastro Obscura has such a great write-up about the how and why of this recipe here, but in short, much in the way the United States did at the time, Sweden embraced new ingredients from other parts of the world in the 1970s without any real context about their traditional use, but from within their own culinary context of frequently pairing fruit with meat. In addition, there were some government policies that made bananas more available and affordable than other tropical ingredients. Without much previous experience with authentic dishes prepared with those ingredients, people tried using them in all kinds of combinations that sound crazy now that we’ve all had actual Pad Thai or Chicken Vindaloo.
Reportedly, a guy who was working in air shipping, Ove Jacobsson, was attending a neighborhood dinner party and hadn’t had time to plan what he would bring, so he literally threw together some ingredients he had on hand, baked it up…and happened to serve it to the editor of Allt om Mat, or “All About Food”. The name comes from Jacobsson’s name and occupation, and the rest is dubious cuisine history. Supposedly this is still common cafeteria fare in Sweden, and most households have their own take.
I’m going to follow the original, though. The Swedish professor of food interviewed in the article linked above advised Heinz chili sauce, so I got the last dusty bottle off of my local grocery store’s shelf. I had never had it before, so I tasted it before adulterating it with chicken and bananas. It is less tomato-pastey and a little more textural than other spicy ketchups, so I’m glad I tracked it down.
It could not be easier to assemble. Just swallow your pride, layer your cooked chicken*, Italian seasoning, bananas, and heavy cream mixed with chili sauce, and bake. Then, top with cooked bacon and crushed roasted peanuts. Best to put on chain mail and a riot shield before serving it to guests.
I’m making just 1/4 of this recipe because seriously, no one else in this house is going to touch this, and also I don’t want to ruin more than one banana. They are the angels of the fruit kingdom and don’t deserve this shoddy treatment.
I’m not gonna lie — I actually shuddered when putting the banana on top. This collection of ingredients goes against every instinct I have. A lot of recipes call for a tablespoon of ketchup in a sauce, and that often works well to add some layers of flavor, but if you were making the whole recipe, it would have just over a cup of spicy ketchup in it!
It smells revolting, but after that brief stint in the oven, I’m a little more optimistic…until I get it plated up and the ketchup hits my nose. I’m transported back to the Heinz Ketchup Rosy Apple Pie I made a while back. Still, although the scent there was really upsetting, it actually tasted great.
It just sounds and smells horrifying, no big deal.
Plated up, it looks rather nice. I took as many photos as I could, but no more delays — I’ve got to take a bite.
Okay, it’s bad, but not irredeemable. I kind of get the appeal; it’s not in the same neighborhood as sweet and sour chicken, but it IS in a parallel universe. I think the flavors would be more cohesive with pineapple instead of bananas, but after meditating for a while to partially separate my perceptions from my karma, I decided the main problem, rather than flavor, is actually texture management. I chopped up my chicken a bit, but with the big banana slices, you get bites where it’s basically all ketchup and bananas. Although purifying our past karma can help us take big strides, we also have to accept the limitations of the body. In my current state as a human with a mouth, I don’t think any amount of meditation on emptiness is going to help me enjoy a big mushy bite of warm bananer and ketchup. Chopping the fruit into small pieces and shredding the chicken even more would go a long way towards unifying the eating experience here, and really, don’t we all just want to be one with everything?**
*RD notes: I have chosen frozen, ready-to-heat chicken because as your friendly neighborhood dietitian, I want to encourage you to consider choosing minimally processed foods (appropriate for your own health conditions of course, so check with your doctor and dietitian) that will make it more likely that you will make something quick at home rather than grab takeout again.
Remember, when you shop, you are not comparing your grocery item choices to the ideal healthy and Instagram-worthy diet, you are comparing them to what you will actually eat if you don’t have something easy and affordable at home. It might be a bit healthier and less expensive to cook your own chicken, so that you can control the salt and fat and preservatives, but frozen sliced chicken is going to be healthier than your average reconstituted ultra-processed protein nugget. The one shown is a product from my beloved HEB (full disclosure — I used to work for them as a contract dietitian and will always love them but do not benefit financially now), and it contains only chicken, water, and seasonings. If you are watching your salt, you would need to control it in the rest of your meal components, but again, if it’s not perfect but better than what you would eat otherwise, it’s a win.
**Zen teacher notes: I have a shortcut for you. You already are one with everything. All you have to do is realize that, no bananers required.
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