Diane

Daily Denmark...living with those crazy Danes! I'm Diane - never serious, always informative. A Scot who fell in love with a Dane while working in Luxembourg. Permanently settled in Copenhagen and Mum to two little Vikings. I heart Denmark! http://dailydenmark.com

I heart Danish comfort food! (Part Six – Medisterpølse)

Hot on the trails of Skibberlabskovs (which, incidentally, we’re having tonight – yum!), here’s another Danish classic.  Medisterpølse! 

Medisterpølse – velbekomme!

 

You’ll often see it served as part of a traditional Danish Christmas lunch.  But my DDH (Dear Danish Husband) and kids can’t get enough of it – so it’s quickly becoming a regular for aftensmad (dinner).

It’s sold in a long ring – you’ll find it in any self-respecting Danish supermarket in packets of 500g.  My DDSIL (Dear Danish Sister-in-Law) taught me to push some cocktail sticks through it before it goes in the frying pan… 

One large medisterpølse sizzling in the pan…

 

Which makes it much easier to turn the whole shebang over, when you’re ready to fry the other side…ta da!

Medisterpølse – ready for the oven

 

I brown it quickly on both sides in the frying pan, then finish it off in the oven.  It’ll take about 20 minutes at 200c/400f.  If you’re serving it in the spring or winter, you’ll want boiled baby potatoes, lots of yummy sovs (gravy) and warm, red cabbage.  Great, hot, filling winter food.  In the summer I swap the warm, red cabbage for a simple salad of raw grated carrot and red cabbage.  Tastes good both ways!

Hope you have a wonderful Wednesday and a happy Kristi Himmelfart (Ascension)! :)

By Diane • May 16, 2012
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I heart Danish Comfort Food! (Part Five – Skibberlabskovs)

My nephew from Århus (who recently moved in to a flat in Copenhagen) asked if he could pop round and visit us.  Which in teenage language translates as, “Can you feed me, please? Oh, and I’ll be bringing a large bag of washing with me…” ;)  

I told him that dinner would be Skibberlabskovs (“Skipper Stew”) – a very old-fashioned traditional Danish dish.  He and my husband had no idea what it was.  (They were confusing it with Forloren Skildpadde “Mock Turtle Casserole”.)  Hmm, I sometimes feel that I’m more Danish than the Danes… 

Skibberlabskovs.  The finished dish…not pretty. But tasty! :)

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Anyway, it’s a (relatively) cheap, hearty dish (very similar to stovies that we eat in Scotland).  And easy peasy to make.  Cut up about 500g or a pound of oksebov (beef shoulder) into cubes.

 

Put the cubes of water into a pan, add enough water to cover, throw in about 10 peppercorns, 1 teaspoon of salt and a bay leaf if you happen to have one.  Then bring to the boil.

When it’s bubbling away, use a spoon to skim off the scum.  (Not Danish skum!) 

Turn down the heat to a very low simmer.  At this point you can either tip the meat/liquid into your crockpot/slowcooker/stegeso or just leave it in the pot.  Cover the meat/liquid with a layer of 2 chopped onions…

And then cover that with a layer of chopped or sliced potatoes.  Use floury potatoes because you want them to disintegrate!  About 7 or 8 potatoes should do the trick.

Then put on a lid.  If you’re doing it on top of the stove, it’ll take about one hour.  If you’re using a crockpot, it’ll take about 4 hours on high, or all day on low.  It’s ready when the meat and potatoes have gone soft.

You can then mash it up further.  Remove a bit of the gravy, if you think there’s too much.  It’s all down to personal preference. Salt and pepper to taste.  Then serve with ryebread, butter and lots of pickled beetroot.

 

As you can see, it’s not the most attractive of dishes.  I thought it needed a touch of green, so I topped it with a bit of chopped ramsløg. What’s ramsløg?  Daaaaarlings, ramsløg is the new black!  You can’t eat in any self-respecting-trendy-new-Nordic-Danish restaurant without finding it on your plate.  A terribly hip wild leaf – which looks alarmingly like tulip leaves – and tastes like a cross between spring onion and garlic.  Can be used like spinach – raw or cooked.

 

There you have it.  Skibberlabskovs with ramsløg.  Traditional, yet with a modern twist…  Eek!  That ‘new Nordic’ thing is spreading…

 Velbekomme!

 Have a wonderful Wednesday! :)

By Diane • May 9, 2012
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Eat, drink and…say a prayer?

Denmark will be closed on Friday because it’s Stor Bededag.  ’Big Prayer Day’…  Yep, those crazy Danes decided there were just too many religious holidays during the year so they lumped the minor ones together.  How practical!   It’s held the fourth Friday after Easter – this year it’s May 4th. (Also known as ‘Star Wars Day’…May the Fourth (Be With You)!)

It was traditionally a time to fast and pray.  Ha!  I’ve yet to meet a Dane who willingly goes to church. Christenings, confirmations and weddings excepted – selvfølgelig.  Most people spend the day in their garden or working on a DIY project. Or the ones living around Copenhagen might take The Bridge/Broen/Bron (the bridge featured in the latest Danish tv drama to take the UK by storm) over to Sweden – where it’ll be business as usual.

Even if the Danes don’t pray on Friday, they will – because they love and defend their traditions with a vengeance – eat hveder on Thursday night. Large, fluffy rolls which you halve, toast and butter.

And after you’ve had your hveder, you’re supposed to go for a stroll around the city ramparts at Kastellet (Copenhagen Citadel).  Don’t live near Kastellet?  No worries!  Just sit back and enjoy this video (from Denmark’s finest rock band, Magtens Korridorer, one of the headliners at this year’s Roskilde Festival) about a picnic at the Citadel…  The guy in the video looks familiar?  Yep, he’s Nicholas Bro – an actor who was in the first two Danish tv drama series to take the UK by storm…The Killing (II) and Borgen! ;)

 

Hope you have a wonderful Wednesday!  God Stor Bededag! :)

 

 

By Diane • May 2, 2012
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Welcome to Conair!

The kids and I drove up north to Helsingør (Elsinore) during the Easter holidays and spent a couple of very entertaining hours at Denmark’s Technical Museum.  Giant hangars filled with planes, trucks, fire engines, hot air balloons, cars, bikes and miniature railways. As well as a lot of other fun stuff…  (Just make sure to wrap up really warm in the winter or spring, as only the small rooms of the museum are heated. Brrr!) 

Anyway, walking round the displays, I was shocked to discover that my DDH (Dear Danish Husband) has been keeping a secret from me…  He’s known for 15 years that I absolutely l-o-v-e “Conair“.  (The 100mph action/thriller/black comedy blockbuster film starring Nicolas Cage.)  So how come he forgot to tell me that Conair really existed?  In Denmark?!

Conair of Scandinavia

 

Yep, Conair of Scandinavia was a Danish charter airline started in the 1960s by Simon Spies.  A Danish tycoon who was larger than life (hmm, just like the film?) and who lead a flamboyant lifestyle which included employing a private harem of young ladies is just much too graphic to write about here!  You’ll have to go and ‘google’ him yourself… ;)

 

 

Anyway, back to the Technical Museum.  Which has plenty of info on Conair, including scale models and the original airstewardess uniforms… 

In the words of John Malcovich…”Welcome to Conair!”

 

But, hey, even if you’re not into Conair, the Technical Museum is still well worth a visit. 

One of the halls inside the The Danish Technical Museum

 

And if you lose your children, they’ll undoubtedly be here.  In the ‘Technology Through the Ages’ section of the museum.  Playing Atari “Pong“.  Yep, the old ones are definitely the best ones… 

Hey, I had that ghetto blaster…AND that Billy Idol record!

 

I’m off to rewatch Conair.  Have a wonderful Wednesday! :)

By Diane • April 25, 2012
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WhoMadeWho. Who?

It’s Wednesday morning and I still have music ringing in my ears from Saturday night.  You see, I was finally able to see WhoMadeWho live. (A Danish band I’ve loved for a couple of years and mentioned on the blog before.) 

Two thirds of WhoMadeWho

 

What started out as a concert – at my favourite venue Vega – turned into a party.  And then into a toga party! :o ) 

WhoMadeWho – it’s all Greek to me…

 

So just like one of their tracks, I’m still high and “two feet off ground”.  ‘Cos those lovely Danish boys seem to have split personalities.  In the studio, they make very polished albums.  Not to mention appearing in very (very) polished videos.  Like this one made for them by ‘Good Boy! Creative‘ which has been nominated for – and won – several awards around the globe…

WhoMadeWho – Keep Me in My Plane

 

 

But on stage?  They’re wild.  Wild with a capital W.  With a strobe and light show that should carry health warning signs…  So I’m still hopping.  Turn your speakers up to 11 and feel free to hop along…  (In this teaser video, you’ll get a short clip of their legendary cover of Ben Benassi’s “Satisaction”.  On Saturday night it lasted about 10 minutes.  Ha!  Fan-flippin-tastic!)

WhoMadeWho – Trailer from Roskilde Festival 2011

 

 Have a wonderful Wednesday! :)

By Diane • April 18, 2012
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Danish food for my Scottish family

My brother and his family are coming over from Scotland to stay with us on Friday and he’s already given me a long list of the foodstuffs we should stock up on for their visit:

  • fish fillets
  • curried herring
  • flowe bollas (he means ‘flødeboller‘)
  • Faxe Kondi green soda
  • red raspberry soda
  • (and, written in capitals, just in case I didn’t see it) LOADS OF BEER ;)

 

They’ve visited us many times before and are actually getting rather good at Danish food lingo.  For example, they’ve learned not to ask for appelsinjuice in a café, thinking they’ll get apple juice.  Because the waitress will bring you orange.  (If you want apple, you have to ask for æblejuice or æblemost.)

And they can read enough Danish to know not to eat the contents of these little pots in my fridge.  Unlike the mother of a French friend of mine, who – thinking they were Danone mini yoghurts – put one in the grandchild’s packed lunchbox.  (Hmm, I’m not sure that pasteuriserede æggehvider – pasteurized egg whites – are a kiddies favourite.  Even in France.)

No, my Scottish family love Denmark and love Danish food.  With a vengeance.  Stegt flæsk, ristet hotdogs (med det hele), the whole gamut of herring, prawns, tarteletter, sylte, hot liver pâté and rullepølse.  Ending, selvfølgelig, on a sweet note with a generous slice of wienerstang or kringle.  And, once they’ve filled up their bellies when they’re here, they fill up their suitcases for going home to Scotland. With – believe it or not – giant blocks of Danbo cheese.  So they can enjoy a good Danish breakfast of hot rundstykker (bread rolls), marmelade and cheese when they’re back in Edinburgh.  Let’s just hope that they remember to slice the rolls before they’re put on the table, like the Danes do… ;)  

Have a wonderful Wednesday! :)

 .

 

 

By Diane • April 11, 2012

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Easter is coming… Stock up!

I don’t usually write my ‘crazy Danes’ posts until Wednesday.  But – with Easter fast approaching – I feel it’s my duty to give the following warning to anyone just arrived in Denmark.  Stock up! 

You see, Denmark will be closed Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday.  Completely closed.  (Imagine that…the shops are closed for more days than over Christmas!)  So you have to do your grocery shopping now.  Stock up big time. Otherwise you’ll need to hop over to Sweden (they’re open for business as usual on Thursday).  Or prepare to run the gauntlet on Saturday.

And what do the Danes actually do on all these holy holidays?  Well, they don’t go to church, that’s for sure (they save that for Christmas.) No, Easter is the time to eat, drink and be merry with family or friends.  To get out in the garden.  And get the garden furniture out.  Do some DIY.  Open up your summer house or get busy down at the allotment.

Me? I’ll be doing a mixture of the above. With the emphasis on eating and drinking. So I’m already – selvfølgelig – stocked up with the Danish Easter essentials…

Hmm, what else do we need? Oh yes…tarteletter!

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Have a terrific Tuesday. God Påske! :)

By Diane • April 3, 2012
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Counting down to (Danish) Easter

School closes on Friday for Easter break and my kids, as they say in Danish, “kan ikke få armene ned!” (can’t get their arms down).  I’ve seen lots of large chocolate eggs in the Danish shops but haven’t yet got over the price of them got round to buying any yet.  (Yes, yes, we’ve been eating mini marcipan ones for the last fortnight but, hey, they don’t count…)

But this weekend we need to get busy making Gækkebreve – Secret Snowdrop Letters – an important part of Danish Easter.  Don’t know what they are?  Here’s an old post I wrote about them.  Watch and learn! :)

You’ll need:

  • white and coloured paper
  • glue or a gluestick
  • a pair of scissors

Choose a coloured piece of paper for your paper ‘doily’. Fold it in half, then in half again. Draw a rough shape and cut out. If you’ve never done this kind of thing before, keep it simple! The Danes are world-famous for their intricate papercutting. Hans Christian Andersen (you know, the one who wrote all those fairytales) was an expert. I’ve only lived here for 10 years, so I’m still learning…

Open up up the paper and you should have something that looks like this.

Stick it on to a plain white piece of paper. I used a gluestick. And it’s fine if it isn’t perfectly stuck down all over – it just gives it an even better 3d effect ;)

Then you write a little poem on it.

Henne bag ved havens hæk, fandt jeg denne vintergæk.
 
Hej, min hvide lille ven, nu er turen din igen.
 
Du skal gå til min ven, hviske så kan han forstå,
 
han må gætte prikke små, for et påskeæg at få!

 . . .

But if your family and friends aren’t Danish, you’ll probably want one in English, right? Here you are:

 Snowdrop, snowdrop, snowdrop fine,

Omen true of hope divine,

From the heart of winter bring

Thy delightful hope of spring.

Guess my name I humbly beg.

Your reward: An Easter-Egg.

Let these puzzling dots proclaim

Every letter in my name

 . . .

As you can see, you don’t sign your name.  You draw a large dot for every letter of your name.  If the person who receives the letter guesses who it comes from, you have to give them an Easter egg.  But if they can’t guess, they have to give you an Easter egg.  Ha!  So disguise your handwriting and be creative.  I put in three dots for M.U.M.! ;)

The final touch is to pick a snowdrop from your garden (or draw one if you can’t find any near you!), add it to the letter and send to a friend.

 Good luck!

 
Hope you have a wonderful ………! :)
.

By Diane • March 28, 2012
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I heart Danish comfort food! (Part Four – krebinetter)

Time for another Danish classic. Krebinetter.  Or Danish pork patties to you and me.  Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy to make and a guaranteed hit with kids.  (And – selvfølgelig - me.) 

Our family’s krebinetter med stuvede grøntsager

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Take 500g (or half a kilo) of minced pork and form it into small patties.  I find it’s easiest to divide it into half, then four parts from each half – giving you eight patties in all.  And nope, you don’t add salt, pepper or anything else to the pork.  (I didn’t believe the recipe the very first time I made them but it’s true – just pure pork.)

Dip the patties in beaten egg and then in seasoned breadcrumbs.  (That’s where the salt and pepper comes in.)

Fry in a shallow mix of butter and vegetable oil.  About 4 or 5 minutes on each side should do the trick. You want them crisp and golden, not burnt…

Serve with boiled potatoes and vegetables or – the way we always eat them in our house – with yet another Danish classic…stuvede grøntsager (lightly cooked vegetables in a white sauce).  Then dig in.  Velbekomme!

Hope you have a wonderful Wednesday! :)

By Diane • March 21, 2012
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Mad about Danish food?

Today was the day that Michelin stars were doled out to Danish restaurants.  Or, perhaps more newsworthy, the day the elusive third star wasn’t doled out to Noma.  (Officially ‘The Best Restaurant in the World’. Twice.)  Oh well, Noma, better luck next time.  (Though having eaten there, I have to admit the experience was better than the food.) 

Anyway, what better day to have a cheap laugh at Danish language food. See this packet of minced beef? If you’re a Dane, you’ll probably not even read what’s on the packet.  You’ll just grab it from the chiller cabinet and go.  If you’re a health freak, you probably looked at the fat content.  Me?  I didn’t get further than the first word and the picture.  Holy Cow, Batman, haven’t those crazy Danes heard of Mad Cow Disease?!

 

 Have a wonderful Wednesday! :)

 PS: “Mad” means food and “smag” means taste.

By Diane • March 14, 2012
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