The Smørrebrød Quest
When I arrived in Denmark, I thought that I would be able to indulge in smørrebrød, open faced sandwiches, where ever and when ever I wanted. After all, Danes have turned open faced sandwiches into high art. Much to my shock and dismay, it turns out that the art of the sandwich is a very difficult thing to find in the old country these days.
And so my quest began.
The days left on my trip were dwindling fast and the smørrebrød quest was looking a bit grim. Only one feast in Fredericia. Quelle horreur!
Aalborg
So, my hope was that the trip to Aalborg would render at least one restaurant where I could finally indulge in my all-time favourite sandwich – the Stjerneskud – Shooting star.
Cousin S knew just the place and so on my final Sunday, we headed to Aalborg to eat at the Limfjord Café. As fate would have it, the Limfjord Café was closed. Once again, I was thwarted in my attempts at culinary nirvana.
Here’s at least a picture of the menu so you can see what I might have had.
Dejected, we walked farther down the street and spotted a French restaurant, called Provence. Well, French food was as good as any at this point so we perused the menu. The gods took pity on us and there, above the moules frites, was a stjerneskud. Without hesitation we went in and ordered it.
What arrived was a beautiful plate of Nordic seafood goodness, artfully displayed. Cousin S noted it was the best stjerneskud she has ever had. I concur.
A beautiful work of culinary art – the Stjerneskud, Provence Restaurant, Aalborg
The plate had 2 large, nicely fried pieces of white fish, topped with shrimp, lumpfish caviar, smoked salmon and the added bonus of a crayfish. Absolutely delicious.
Vejle
Feeling emboldened, I decided to try the hipster smørrebrød joint on my last day in Vejle. Onkel A updates the open faced sandwich with interesting combinations and displays them on a large wooden board.
Being a Monday, the restaurant wasn’t busy and the menu is brief so it didn’t take long for me to order.
It was going to be the fiskedeller sandwich. Fiskedeller are “meat” balls made of fish. If you like fish and chips, you’ll like fiskedeller. Easier to made and not deep fried.
This is what was on the board: The based was rye bread, spread with hummus and siracha sauce. Then a sliced dill pickle, raisins, fiskedeller and the decoration of carrot. On the side was sliced cucumber and roasted nuts and chick peas.
The flavour was fresh and interesting. I wasn’t overly wild about the raisins but it was tasty none the less.
Was the smørrebrød quest successful? Somewhat. But trends change quite often in Denmark so perhaps when I return; the open faced sandwich will be back on every menu.
I can only hope.