Nice article about Copenhagen's culinary renaissance:

The Coming of Age of Copenhagen’s Nordic Cuisine

I'll never forget one meal I had in Copenhagen - it was a piece of dense white bread, with sweet butter and the freshest shrimp on top. Nothing like what this article is talking about, but I will never forget that sandwich!

Wasn't a big fan of acquavit though.

Shannon,

This is really timely. My daughter and SIL have just bought tickets for a delayed honeymoon trip to Europe (last hurrah before law school). They decided to fly to Copenhagen as the first part of a two week northern Europe trip. I found this because I thought I would see what I could find out for her in this forum.

Thanks for posting,

Shannon, those shrimp sandwiches are the staple food of the Scandinavian countries. In fact, every IKEA store restaurant has a version -- usually with mayo under the shrimp in the stores in the States, and some with hard boiled eggs and scallions as well. I lived on those sandwiches while working at IKEA! I also have enjoyed them in both Denmark and Sweden --- they are the best when served on fresh sourdough bread, still warm out of the oven!

Aquavit is usually made from distilled caraway seeds. When I was very young and silly and out with a bunch of Swedes from IKEA, they bought one for me and told me it was schnapps (not a lie, in northern Europe all that stuff is called schnapps) and I chugged it, expecting peppermint schnapps. My first and last shot of Aquavit in this lifetime.

We have some dear friends that live in a very tiny country town outside of Copenhagen called Svebolle. Some of our most memorable meals(lots of those open faced sandwiches like Shannon mentioned) were at a very long table in homes where at least 20 were seated. Long, glorious meals prepared with food (pork and veges) from their farms. The Danes, like so many other Europeans, love to make a meal a celebration...lots of fresh food, beer (aquavit too) and as I recall much singing. By the way I met these friends on my first trip to Europe in 1971 at a campground in Rotterdam. For 15 consecutive years we or one of our (or their) family members visited each others country. To this day we are the closest of friends. Travel does make the world a smaller, friendly place. Barb Cabot

Yes, shrimps are certainly a delicacy and the fresher (and smaller!) the better. Peeling your own freshly boiled shrimps is also slooow food, unless your an expert. However shrimps are a costly delicacy and not staple food in Scandinavia (wish they were!).

And to correct a small misunderstanding:
The best known aquavit is spiced with caraway (cumin) and not made from distilled seeds.

Aquavit is a spirit much like vodka - it is distilled on potatoes, maize or anything containing starch that can be converted to sugar, and THEN it is spiced. The caraway versions do indeed taste like were they made from distilled caraway seeds (very strong taste and prone to make you cough and gasp for air). However there are other milder varieties spiced with dill, coriander, Myrica gale and you name it. Actually it is a hobby for some Danes to pick herbs in the wild and use them for spicing "neutral" aquavit.

For an impression of the (Danish) commercial varieties see http://www.aalborgakvavit.dk - English version/flag in the bottom right corner. However they don't show their "Julesnaps" (Christmas aquavit), which I and many others consider to be the best: strong, but round and mature - should definitely be enjoyed at room temperature and NOT cold.

In my opinion aquavit is much too strong a taste for the delicate and fragrant shrimps - I'd prefer a Chardonnay anytime and save the aquavit for stuff like pickled herring, smoked fish or cheese.

Skaal!

You mean you don't get those shrimp sandwiches at IKEA in Denmark?? hmmmmmm.

We are talking about the small shrimps, would that be correct? Maybe the IKEA crowd is more extravagant than their reputation, because they appeared on the table often when getting together.

Interesting about the aquavit. The Swedes. They lied to me about the caraway Of course they might have been too far gone to know what they were talking about.

The shrimp sandwiches are big in Norway too! I don't usually eat them at IKEA but all summer long Norwegians will eat shrimp, with a little lemon, mayonnaise, white bread, and white wine... Yummy!

I'm attaching a photo of some shrimp I ate last year on an island outside of Tromso. My only complaint was that the bread wasn't totally white bread, which I prefer with my shrimp. Plus, when everyone eats shrimp you don't notice the time it takes to peel them - but when you are the only one, it seems to go very slow!

For some reason I don't like the big shrimp in the US. I really don't know why!

AHHHHH! That reminds me of my several midsommars spent in Torekov on the southwest coast of Sweden, in Skanar. What a GREAT photo. I love Scandinavia (well especially in June and July )

Yes, the best scrimps are the little ones. You cook them yourself, they are called danish fjord-rejer. You can be lucky inbetween, that the price is more than fair. Then it is time for a garden-party. White aspargus and strawberries from your own garden. Then it is midsummer in Denmark.

soljet,

YUM

cheers,

diana

quote:

Originally posted by soljet:
Yes, the best scrimps are the little ones. You cook them yourself, they are called danish fjord-rejer.

In Norway, we usually don't cook them ourselves - we buy them cooked, often straight from the boats. (Or in the fish store or grocery store, of course.) Still very tasty though!!