Food and Drink in Denmark

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Food and Drink in Denmark

In Denmark, model ships hang in every church, as if to remind parishioners to give thanks for the fruits of the sea. Fish, particularly herring, is still a mainstay, commonly smoked, salted or pickled.

Food and Drink in Denmark
Danish herring


Traditional Danish food included lots of pork, butter and dairy products, but Danes today lean towards a lighter, healthier diet, inspired by modern Scandinavian cuisine.

Food and Drink in Denmark
Danish smørrebrød

Sandwiches and sausages
Denmark us a synonymous with smørrebrød, for which it seems there are as many toppings as tastebuds. Liver pâté, shrimp, herring, caviar, smoked salmon, roast pork and steak tartare are combined with pickles, jams, remoulade and herbs in a kaleidoscope of culinary deliciousness. Specialist smørrebrød restaurants usually open at lunchtime.

Food and Drink in Denmark
Danish bacon

Bacon makes up over 5 percent of Denmark’s exports, but not all pork products are sent abroad. Danes wisely keep the tastiest for themselves; salami, crackling roast pork and frikadeller are national institutions. The last (perfect comfort food) are fried meatballs, usually made from minced pork, served with potato salad and pickled red cabbage. Sausages are popular, with each region having its own specialty – in south Jutland ølpølse (beer sausage) is a tasty snack at the local butcher. Blood sausage, blodpølse, appears around Christmas time. The pølsevogn (sausage wagon) is a common sight around Danish towns, a cheap place to pick up a lurid rød pølse (red hotdog).

Food and Drink in Denmark
Pølsevogn selling Danish red hot dogs

Sweet treats
Danish pastry (wienerbrød) is famous for a reason. Visit a bakery and try rich, chewy “chocolate snail” pastries, layered cream cakes or a waffle cone filled with ice cream, marshmallow topping and marmalade. Scandinavians have a peculiar love of salty liquorice, found in its strongest form in Denmark.

Food and Drink in Denmark
Danish pastry

Food and Drink in Denmark, written by Tor Kjolberg

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The Scandinavian Herring Adventure

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Journalist, PR and marketing consultant Tor Kjolberg has several degrees in marketing management. He started out as a marketing manager in Scandinavian companies and his last engagement before going solo was as director in one of Norway’s largest corporations. Tor realized early on that writing engaging stories was more efficient and far cheaper than paying for ads. He wrote hundreds of articles on products and services offered by the companies he worked for. Thus, he was attuned to the fact that storytelling was his passion.