one bite at a time

When Americans go to study in, say, China or Italy I can imagine that they're pleasantly surprised by how good the food tastes - and how different from the Americanized versions. As I prepare to go to Denmark and sample what I'm sure will be delicious food I realize that my only experience with Americanized Danish food of any sort is, well, Danishes (which aren't even called Danishes by the Danes, but that's besides the point). Until last night...

I had the honor of having my first ever Danish meal without even stepping foot in Denmark. The lovely couple that I mentioned in an earlier post had my parents and I over to sample a true Danish-style meal of open-faced sandwiches (smørrebrød). Now, as I quickly learned, there is an art to crafting the proper Danish open-faced sandwich [to learn more for yourself, click here] and, even more so, an order to the whole process of eating the meal, complete with different courses related to the main topping (ie, fish, meat, cheese). Unlike what I'd been used to with sandwich-type meals in the past, the ingredients aren't all spread out on the table for the purpose of a do-it-yourself, eat-at-your-pace, free for all. Each thing has its own purpose and its own timing in the course of the meal. After crafting one sandwich (example: slice of rye bread with butter topped with herring and onions), you take a bite and then WAIT. Don't forget this part - no matter how yummy that bite was. After everyone at the table's had their bite #1 comes skål (Danish-style toast, explained in an earlier post). Then you finish that particular masterpiece, make the next, take a bite, do skål, finish that sandwich, and then... well you get the idea. And if you're used to scarfing down your entire meal in all of 5 minutes and then moving on to more important things, let me just say that my Danish meal experience took about 4 hours; and we even skipped one of the traditional courses. 

To be honest, I rather liked the slower-paced style, though. Gives you more time to talk with everyone. And lets you really appreciate each bite you take and savor the flavors of exotic (in some cases and for my inexperienced taste buds) foods. Example: head cheese. I had no idea what it was prior to eating it and if you don't either, let's just say that it has absolutely nothing to do with cheese and everything to do with head. (But that's the most extreme example; everything else was far more normal.)

If you're wondering what some of these open-faced sandwiches look like, see below. Notice that the salmon is on white bread, not rye. When I asked last night why that's the case, the answer was something along the lines of, "Well, dear, it just tastes better that way."

Oh... and 10 days left on the Copenhagen Countdown!

Smørrebrød (picture taken from here)