Now that you know a lot more about the Danish language and can recognize many cognates, skål (skoal) should immediately be recognized as closely related to the English word “skull” or shell. If you believe the first purported origin of the toasting tradition (Viking victory fest drinking out of the skulls of their slaughtered enemies), you may find the whole affair a bit repulsive and cannibalistic. The second theory presents the custom in a much more pleasant light as simply a useful implement to help in presenting a fond farewell to a dear departed one or offering good wishes and luck and health.
The skål tradition ranges from individual toasts in succession and a collective skål shouted out by all those present and drinking or by diners. As one might imagine, in a series of individual skåls in which everyone salutes each person individually, one tends to become rather intoxicated by the end. At some cordial get-togethers, people will frequently improvise their own extended speech or toast, especially when celebrating a marriage, anniversary, birth of a child or another major life event. It is the equivalent of cheers, le’chaim, salud, sláinte, prost or bottoms up.
Let me introduce this chapter with the warning that my tastes focus on a few traditional, hardy staples of the Danish diet and that I never dined at an expensive gourmet restaurant during the seven years I lived in Denmark. My plebeian tastes are simply presented as a starting point for a first-time visitor who, no doubt, will receive many words of good advice from tourist guidebooks, hotel managers, and gourmet-loving friends or relations who know the country well.
First, as with any gustatory adventure, one must approach an introduction to Denmark’s cuisine with the proper mindset. Danish food is a delight because it whets, tickles and tantalizes and fulfills the appetite. However, it is not the food items themselves but the whole food culture, the hygge atmosphere and intimate and cozy milieu in which the diners socialize with each other, that distinguishes the Danish dining culture, the object of which is to ENJOY.
Danish cuisine features the products most suited to its cool and moist northern climate: barley, potatoes, rye, beetroot, greens, berries, and mushrooms. Dairy products are a world-class specialty. The products of modern Danish agriculture and the fishing industry supply the country and provide for a large surplus of food exports that made Denmark an especially desirable target in the rivalry between Great Britain and Germany in two world wars.
The Swedish culinary term smörgåsbord should not be confused with the Danish smørrebrød tradition. The former is the world-celebrated Scandinavian buffet meal with multiple dishes of various foods on a table usually prepared in connection with a celebration during which the guests may freely pick and choose a variety of both cold and hot dishes. The equivalent Danish feats is called the large cold table (det store koldbord).
The Danish smørrebrød (originally smør og brød, for “butter and bread”), commonly translated as “open sandwiches,” usually consists of a piece of buttered rye bread (rugbrød), a dense, dark brown sourdough rye bread, and pålæg (literally “on-lay”), the topping. This topping can be simple or elaborate, decorated homemade cold cuts, pieces of meat or fish, cheese and spreads. A slice or two of pålæg or several shrimp/herrings are placed on the buttered bread, and then pyntet (decorated) with the right toppings to create a tasty and visually appealing item. A lunchbox with three or four (or more) of these tasty tidbits was traditional working-class fare but the more elaborate and pricey ones are now featured at exclusive dining spots or for tourist consumption.
Danish bread is a very important part of the Scandinavian table and the polar opposite of sliced American white bread. It forms the basis of smørrebrød. The simplest and most common ret (serving) is leverpostej (liver paste). Many Danish kids grow up on this and become addicted. The simplest koldebord offers bread, butter, cheese, herring and several types of liqueurs, but smoked salmon, sausages and cold cuts are also served. This was originally considered an appetizer for a gathering of people and eaten while standing before dinner. Eventually, restaurants stopped serving them as appetizers and presented them as a main course. They are still a popular feature of sea cruises and were part of the tradition of the old ferries between different parts of Denmark.
Traditional Scandinavian delicacies of meat and fish favored smoking, pickling and other food preservation techniques that prolong the storage life of products. The island geography of Denmark meant that before industrialization and advances in refrigeration and transportation, it was difficult, time consuming, and costly to travel great distances or to ship products. These factors have thus helped mold the traditional eating habits of the Danish people.
Although Americans are fond of their “Danish,” they are amused to find out that such pastries in Denmark are called Wiener-brød meaning bread from Wien, i.e., Vienna. In the last half of the 1800s, unemployed young bakers from Vienna were offered jobs in the Copenhagen area, because there was a need for bakers at the time. They brought with them their formula for a special sweet bread, where the dough is folded a number of times with extra butter, using a very time-consuming technique. After the Viennese bakers left again, the new “sweet bread” had become so popular among Danes that the Copenhagen bakers continued to develop the new dough process, eventually turning it into the delicious Danish pastry known today all over the world.
The Traditional Danish Herring—Historical Staple
Due to its control of the Sound and Kattegat, separating the Danish island of Zealand (where Copenhagen is situated) and the Swedish coast (for centuries this southernmost area of Sweden, known as Skåne, was part of the Danish kingdom), at one time, Denmark had a monopoly on the entrance and exit to the Baltic from the North Sea and was master of the enormous herring catch throughout these waters.
The long familiarity with the excellent varieties of herring found in this area and skilful preparation made this delicacy a staple product on the table of Danes for centuries. As a first course or visit to the buffet table, the consumer will enjoy varieties of marinerede sild (pickled herring). The most common herring is marinated either in a clear, sweet, peppery vinegar sauce (white herring) or in a seasoned red vinegar (red herring). It may also come in a variety of sour cream-based sauces, including curry or mustard sauce.
The preferred base and toppings are buttered, black rye bread, topped with white onion rings and curry salad (a sour cream-based sauce, flavored with curry and chopped pickles), and served with hard boiled eggs and tomato slices. Fried herring in vinegar (stegte sild i eddike) offers additional variety. For extra festive occasions, a prepared silderet (herring dish) features the herring pieces in a serving dish along with sliced potato, apple pieces, onions and capers topped with a dill sour cream or mayonnaise sauce.
Specialty Retail Food Stores: The Osteand Fiskeforretninger
One charming and quaint (at least for most American visitors) aspect of the Danish urban picture is the continued presence of many food retail specialty shops that sell just cheese (or fish, or pastry and bread products). Supermarkets have spread far and wide and the number of such specialty shops has decreased, but they will undoubtedly persist in spite of the competition and lower prices offered by the big supermarket chains. The cheese (osteforretninger) and fish specialty stores are my favorite. Yes, you can smell them from the distance. Danes love cheese, almost all of which has a much stronger taste than the cheeses that are popular in the United States. Go into one of these osteforretninger and you will be offered a few samples that are sure to convince you to take something home.
Most of us recognize Danish Blue (the cheese) as a specialty dessert to be enjoyed with liquor or coffee. This is a light blue, veined cheese that is semi-soft, in drum or block shape, and with a white to yellowish, slightly moist, edible rind. It is made from cow’s milk and has a high fat content (25–30 percent). It takes eight to twelve weeks to age. Rods are used before aging to pierce holes and distribute the mold. It was invented by Marius Noel, a Danish cheesemaker who wished to imitate a Roquefort-style cheese. It has a milder flavor characterized by a sharp, salty taste. Danish Blue is often served crumbled on salads or as a dessert cheese with fruit, but the Danish way of eating it is on bread or biscuits.
The other Danish specialty cheese many foreigners know and love is havarti, a washed curd cheese that doesn’t have a rind, and is smooth with a cream to yellow color. It has small and irregular openings and a buttery aroma. It can be somewhat sharp in the stronger varieties but still has a sweet taste and is slightly acidic. It is typically aged about three months and when left at room temperature the cheese tends to soften quickly. Flavored variants of havarti that are more and more popular include garlic, caraway, dill, jalapeño (a great example of multi-culturalism), basil and coconut. It is popular with chardonnay, sauvignon blanc and pinot noir wine, accompanied with figs, smoked turkey, raisins, walnuts, pears and apples. Other Danish cheeses you are not likely to find in American supermarkets and should try frequently reveal their geographic origins with names like Fynbo, Maribo, Molbo, Tybo and Samsø. Some of these varieties when aged into old cheese (gammel ost) are really powerful and would require special permission from U.S. customs authorities (just joking, but better check before you put one in your suitcase).
The perfect accompaniment is a few rounds of ice cold snapps and/or cold Danish beer. According to Danish tradition, the ice-cold snapps helps the fish swim down to the stomach. Also, the high alcohol content helps dissolve the fat left in the oral cavity after eating the fish, allowing the diner to more readily taste the different dishes. Two Danish giants, Carlsberg and Tuborg, are renowned throughout the world and have given Denmark its reputation as a master brewer. The Carlsberg group was founded in 1847 by J.C. Jacobsen after the name of his son Carl. The company’s main brand is Carlsberg, but it also brews Tuborg as well as several local beers. After a merger with a Norwegian brewery in 2004, Carlsberg became the fourth largest brewery group in the world and currently employs around 45,000 people. Many Danes swear by their preference for the one or the other, while others claim that the rivalry is much like Pepsi and Coca-Cola and, when blindfolded, only a few drinkers can tell them apart. An experience you must try, especially around Easter and Christmas–New Year, if you like beer, is the strongest one in Denmark (or anywhere perhaps), aptly named Elephant. Outside the Carlsberg Brewery (take the tour and sample their selection) in Copenhagen is one of the most famous sculptures in the country. It is a tower resting on four elephants carved in granite from the Danish island of Bornholm (see chapter 3). The four elephants each bear the initial of one of Carl Jacobsen’s four children: Theodora, Paula, Helge and Vagn. This landmark, known as the Elephant Gate, has been the entrance to the brewery since 1901. To the west of the gate, Carl Jacobsen’s motto is inscribed: Laboremus pro Patria (let us work for our country). After an experimental trial in West Africa, where they like strong beer, the Elephant brew was launched in Denmark on November 9, 1959. Just one 8 oz. glass will certainly put you over the limit.
Akvavit (sometimes spelled aquavit) is literally (in Latin) “the water of life” and the preferred strong alcoholic drink (40 percent alcohol,70 proof) that goes with typical meat, fish and cheese dishes, especially the selection from det store koldebord. Like vodka, it is distilled from either grain or potatoes. The flavor is provided by herbs, spices, and fruit oils such as caraway seeds (the dominant flavor), cardamom, cumin, anise, lemon or orange peel, and fennel. The Danish distillery Aalborg makes an aquavit distilled with amber.
Akvavit complements beer well, and its consumption is very often preceded (or followed) by a swig of beer. Some connoisseurs disagree with this practice, claiming beer ruins the flavor and leaves an aftertaste. The earliest known reference to aquavit is found in a 1531 letter from the Danish Lord of Bergenshus castle, Eske Bille, to the last archbishop of Norway in which the archbishop is offered “some water which is called Aqua Vite and is a help for all sort of illness which a man can have both internally and externally.” It remains a popular belief that akvavit will ease the digestion of rich foods. In Denmark it is traditionally associated with Christmas lunch.
Gammel Dansk (Old Danish) & Cherry Heering
Now this alcoholic drink is indeed a matter of taste. It was favored by hunters and fishermen going off early in the morning to hunt for their prey during long hours in the cold. It is preferred today by many Danes for breakfast (after a hangover), at wedding anniversaries and birthday celebrations. It is brewed with a large number of herbs and spices, making it similar to other stomach bitters, such as Campari or Jägermeister. These herbs and spices include laurel, ginger, star aniseed, nutmeg, cinnamon, Seville orange, gentian and rowanberry. It is certainly worth trying once and several ice hockey and football stars claim that a quick drink at halftime has brought them good luck.
Another popular Danish dessert liqueur (40 proof ) is Cherry Heering, a Danish cherry liqueur that has nothing to do with herring, invented in the late 1700s or the early 1800s by Peter Heering. It is dark red and has a flavor of black cherries that is not too sweet. It has frequently been misunderstood as Cherry Herring and Cheery Heering.
The original fast food outlet in Denmark is the hotdog stand on wheels (see photo), the old reliable outlet for a snack that REALLY satisfies. It offers Denmark’s famous thin, red, and very long (12-inch) sausages, røde pølser (red hotdogs), served on a small, rectangular paper plate along with a side order of bread. When the sausage is served in a traditional bun, it is called a hot dog. It is commonly served with remoulade, which has a mild, sweet-sour taste, and a medium yellow spread made of a mayonnaise base served with pickled cucumber and fair amounts of sugar. The more exotic kind contains hints of mustard, cayenne, coriander, and onion, with starch, gelatin and milk as thickeners. The consumer has a wide choice of condiments, including ketchup, mustard, onion (either raw or toasted, i.e., ristede) and thin-sliced pickles placed on top. Another variety is the French hotdog (Fransk hotdog) which is a sausage stuffed into a special long roll. The roll has a hole in the end, into which the hot dog is slipped into, after the requested condiment has been squirted in (ketchup, mustard, different kinds of dressing). Americans who like a more beefy or kosher style frankfurter avoid the red ones.
The rolling hotdog wagons are typically made of metal with an open window to the street, and a counter where one can stand and eat the sausage. A few more specialized wagons include limited seating, usually both inside and outside. The number of sausage wagons has continually declined as competition from convenience stores and gas stations has increased.
In regards to meat eating, the Danes primarily eat pork rather than beef. Pork roasts, pork cutlets, tenderloin and chops are all popular. Ground pork is used in many traditional recipes requiring ground meat. While still in first place, pork has lost ground to turkey, beef and veal in recent years. Beef has become more and more popular in recent decades as the standard of living and availability has increased. Denmark has a century-old tradition for dairy products, so cattle bred for meat were rare and much more expensive.
Potato recipes are almost ubiquitous in Danish cooking. It has captured this important position in spite of its relatively short career in the Danish kitchen. The potato was first introduced into Denmark by the French Protestant Huguenot immigrants who arrived in the town of Fredericia in 1720.
By Norman Berdichevsky in the book 'An Introduction to Danish Culture' McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers Jefferson, North Carolina, and London, 2011, p. 92-99. Edited and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.
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