Danish Cuisine: More Than Just Pastries Quiz

Answer: rye

Smørrebrød means "butter bread" in Danish. These open-faced sandwiches usually consist of a slice of the sourdough rye bread known as rugbrød, spread with butter (or sometimes lard), on which a a wide variety of toppings (pâlæg) are piled. These include cold cuts, thinly sliced meats, smoked or picked fish, cheese, spreads (such as liver pâté, known in Danish as leverpostej), hard-boiled eggs, raw or cooked vegetables, pickles, and sauces. During the colder months, warm toppings - such as various kinds of roast meats - are common. In most cases, as the photo shows, the toppings completely cover the bread. These substantial sandwiches - very popular in Denmark as a lunch option, or served as part of a festive spread - are often eaten with knife and fork, especially when sauces are part of the topping.

An everyday staple for most Danish people, rye bread is baked in a rectangular shape. It is generally dark and dense, and often contains whole rye grains or seeds such as pumpkin or sunflower, as well as small amounts of molasses or sugar. On the other hand, fat is hardly ever added to this bread, which uses naturally fermented dough (sourdough) as a rising agent.

The similar-sounding Swedish term smörgåsbord (also used in English with a figurative meaning) means instead "sandwich table", and refers to a buffet of hot and cold dishes that in Denmark is called simply "cold table" (det kolde bord). Smörgås, a colloquial Swedish word for sandwich, literally means "butter goose".

Answer: herring

Consisting of a peninsula and over 400 islands of varying size, Denmark has a very long coastline, and thus a long tradition of fishing. Not surprisingly, fish and seafood feature prominently in Danish cuisine. Along with cod (torsk) and salmon (laks), herring (sild) is one of the most frequently consumed fish in Denmark and the whole of Northern Europe. Both the Atlantic herring and its smaller subspecies, the Baltic herring, are found on Danish tables, prepared in a variety of ways.

Popular herring dishes are fried herring (stegte sild), herring salad with potatoes, apples and beets (sildesalat), smoked herring (røget sild), and cold pickled herring (spegesild). The latter can be made at home, but most people will buy it already prepared in jars, and serve it with various accompaniments - such as capers, onions, and dill, or curried mayonnaise. Herring is also one of the most common toppings for smørrebrød. Silderet (herring dish), a more elaborate preparation, is traditionally part of a cold buffet: it consists of herring (usually pickled) arranged on a serving dish with boiled potatoes, and various sides, such as pickles and hard-boiled eggs.

Answer: belly

As is the case of the cuisines of other Nordic countries, Danish cuisine features many dishes that are not exactly suitable for dieters or people watching their fat intake. Stegt flæsk is a case in point: its name means "fried strips of pork belly", and - as one can imagine - contains quite a bit of fat, as the already fatty cut of meat is fried in butter. This hearty dish is traditionally served with persillesovs, or parsley sauce - a white sauce to which a generous amount of chopped parsley has been added - and boiled potatoes. Another frequent accompaniment to stegt flæsk is apple compote, whose tart, fruity flavour complements the fatty pork quite well.

Though the word flæsk is often translated as "bacon", the pork meat used in this dish is usually fresh, neither smoked nor salted; Italian pancetta ("little belly") is salt-cured, but generally not smoked. Pork belly is a very popular meat cut in many of the world's cuisines, such as those of East Asia and Latin America.

Boasting a similar name, flæskesteg ("roast pork", also known as ribbensteg, or rib roast) is the traditional centrepiece of the Danish Christmas Eve meal. It is a whole pork belly with the skin on, roasted in a hot oven until the skin becomes crispy.

Answer: remoulade

Similar to tartar sauce, remoulade sauce is made by adding mustard, vinegar, chopped pickles, capers, shallots and herbs to mayonnaise. It originated in France, probably in the 18th century, but quickly spread to other parts of the world; its name probably comes from an old dialectal word for horseradish. In the Creole cuisine of Louisiana - where it is generally served with fish or seafood - remoulade sauce often has a reddish colour, due to the addition of small amounts of paprika, cayenne pepper, or ketchup.

Danish remoulade is a variation on the original French sauce. Its most distinctive feature is its bright yellow colour, due to the addition of turmeric or curry powder. The commercial varieties widely available in grocery stores have a more pronounced sweet-and-sour taste because of the presence of liberal amounts of sugar. Finely chopped vegetables such as carrots or cauliflower are occasionally added to homemade varieties, as well as fresh herbs (such as dill or parsley) and lemon juice. Danish remoulade is also marketed in neighbouring countries: in Poland, it is the "Danish sauce" by definition. In Denmark, remoulade is the traditional condiment for roast beef open-face sandwiches, Danish-style hot dogs, and the Danish version of fish and chips, breaded plaice with fries (shown in the photo).

Hollandaise is a hot sauce of butter, egg yolk and lemon juice, while vinaigrette is the most common salad dressing, and ganache is a mixture of chocolate and cream.

Answer: cabbage

Rødkål simply means "red cabbage" - a vegetable that is widely consumed in the countries of Northern Europe, either raw or (more usually) cooked. Traditionally served alongside roast pork (flæskesteg), roast goose, or roast duck at Christmas, Danish rødkål is made by stewing the shredded vegetable with sugar, vinegar, redcurrant juice, apples, and sometimes spices such as cinnamon and cloves. When cooked, the cabbage will acquire a characteristic dark, reddish-purple colour. Though canned or jarred rødkål is available for purchase, some people make it at home before the holidays. In some traditional recipes, rødkål is sautéed in duck fat or butter before the liquid and seasonings are added.

Red beets (rødbeder) are also frequently eaten in Denmark, as are onions (løg); raw red onion rings are often used as a garnish for smørrebrød. Eggplant, on the other hand, mainly appears in dishes from Southern European or Middle Eastern countries - such as those traditionally prepared in Denmark's large Turkish community.

Answer: Havarti

Dairy products form an important part of the Danish diet. Cheese is often eaten for breakfast with bread, butter and cured meats, used as a topping for open-faced sandwiches, or served with wine, crackers and grapes as an after-dinner snack. Several varieties of Danish blue cheese (such as Blue Castello and Danablu) are also exported overseas, while other cheeses are not as widely found outside the country. A typical feature of Danish cheeses is that they are often inspired by famous cheeses from other countries - which has led to legal issues related to the products' naming, as in the case of the cow's milk "Danish feta" now marketed as Apetina.

Named after an experimental farm on the outskirts of Copenhagen where the cheese is believed to have been created in the mid-19th century, Havarti is based on Tilsiter, a German cheese of Swiss origin. Havarti is made with full-cream, pasteurized cow's milk, and has a mild, buttery taste and smooth texture. A cream to pale yellow colour, like Tilsiter it is characterized by small, irregular holes called eyes. Nowadays, Havarti is also produced in other countries than Denmark - including the US, where Wisconsin-made Havarti can be purchased already sliced.

Brie is from France, Fontina from Italy, and Edam from the Netherlands.

Answer: Austria

Wienerbrød means "Viennese bread", a name (also used in Sweden and Norway) that highlights the origin of these delectable pastries identified with Denmark in many countries, in particular English-speaking ones. According to the most popular origin story, Danish pastries were born in 1850, when local bakery workers went on strike, forcing bakery owners to hire workers from other countries. Among these workers there were a number of Austrian bakers, who introduced recipes and techniques from their own country - later adapted by Danes to their own taste. One of these was the recipe for Plunderteig, a buttery, laminated pastry dough similar to puff pastry, though sweet and yeast-leavened.

In Denmark, wienerbrød is baked in many different shapes, with a wide variety of fillings and toppings. Marzipan is especially popular, as is remonce - softened butter creamed with sugar and flavourings, and used to fill the pastries before baking. The pastry in the photo is flavoured with cinnamon and topped with chocolate and nuts. Pastries baked in a circular shape with a vanilla custard filling are called Spandauer, while pretzel-shaped ones are called kringle.

While these pastries' Viennese origins are referenced by the names used in Finland (viineri), Estonia (viini) and France (viennoiserie), in Austria Danish pastries are called Kopenhagener or Dänischer Plunder.

Answer: Christmas

While in other European countries rich, sweet breads and pastries are typically eaten during the Christmas holidays, in Denmark and other Nordic countries the traditional Christmas dessert is an apparently humble rice pudding. This dessert, however, is much richer and decadent than the simple porridge of rice cooked in milk that is often eaten for breakfast or lunch. Inspired by the elaborate French dessert known as "riz à l'imperatrice", risalamande (from the French "riz à l'amande", rice with almonds) is made by mixing cold rice pudding (risengrød) with plentiful whipped cream, chopped almonds and vanilla flavouring. It is served with a bright red cherry sauce, though strawberries or raspberries are sometimes substituted for the cherries. Called "ris à la Malta" in Sweden, this dessert is part of the festive buffet spread set up on Christmas Eve. Traditionally, a whole almond is hidden inside the dessert, and the person who finds it wins a small prize.

A product similar to risalamande has been marketed in the Nordic countries since the mid-1990s with the name of "Risifrutti". Very popular as a snack, it is available in various fruit flavours.

Answer: caraway

From the Latin "aqua vitae" (water of life), akvavit is a traditional Scandinavian distilled spirit whose origins are believed to go back to the Late Middle Ages - possibly even earlier. In those days, akvavit was mainly drunk for its supposed medicinal properties as an aid to the digestion of rich foods - hence its modern association with the abundant meals enjoyed at Christmas and Easter in Denmark and the rest of Scandinavia.

Like vodka, akvavit is distilled from cereal grains or potatoes: however, unlike that spirit, it is flavoured with herbs and spices, and when aged it turns a golden hue - sometimes also obtained by the the infusion of fruits or botanicals, or the addition of caramel colouring. According to European Union legislation, the dominant flavour in the spirit must come from caraway or dill seed, and contain a minimum of 37.5% alcohol by volume. Akvavit is often served chilled in small shot glasses, and drunk in a single gulp.

Caraway (a relative of dill, fennel, and celery) is widely cultivated in Northern and Central Europe. Besides its use as a flavouring in distilled drinks, it is also frequently added to cheese and bread.

Answer: use of exotic, imported ingredients

Nothing could be more different from the hearty, traditional Danish fare than the ultra-inventive dishes created in the kitchens of Copenhagen's Noma (short for "nordisk mad", Nordic food) and other restaurants that have embraced the manifesto of New Nordic Cuisine. The cornerstone of this culinary movement - pioneered by chefs René Redzepi and Claus Meyer in 2004 with the opening of Noma - is the use of seasonal food grown or produced locally, including fruits and vegetables foraged in the countryside or on the seashore. By reinventing older recipes and reviving traditional cooking methods - both adapted to contemporary tastes - the proponents of New Nordic Cuisine aim to maximize the freshness and purity of their ingredients, providing an unforgettable experience to the patrons of their expensive restaurants.

The recipient of three Michelin stars - the most coveted of restaurant awards - Noma also won a slew of Best Restaurant in the World awards between 2006 and 2021. The restaurant was originally located in an old warehouse in central Copenhagen; it has also opened in a number of temporary locations in various parts of the world. The stylishly presented dish in the photo - an intriguing example of Noma's approach to fine dining - consists of grilled bone marrow with lovage, kale, sliced young raw garlic, and salted leek flowers.