The wonderfully diverse country of Denmark is home to some festive foods unknown to our Christmas dinner tables in the UK. If you’re dining with the Danes around Christmastime, read on to discover a few traditional dishes you might find on the menu.
Pre-Christmas Lunches
The Danes love Christmas dinners so much that they often treat themselves to quite a few before the big day. Whether they’re celebrating with work colleagues, friends or family, lavish festive lunches are a huge part of the December celebrations. Lunches traditionally consist of smoked salmon, herring or liver pate served with bacon and mushrooms and washed down with a warming beer or crisp glass of wine.
The Main Event
When Christmas Day finally arrives, Danish locals are certainly well-prepared. The festive feast is traditionally made up of roast pork, boiled potatoes, red cabbage and a delicious thick gravy. However, many modern Danish families serve duck or goose as the main meat instead.
Dessert is a rather different take on the Brit’s fruit pudding – ris à l’amande is the common Danish choice. This is a rice pudding, usually served cold (but occasionally served hot) and topped with whipped cream, cherry sauce and almonds.
Festive Treats
If you have a sweet tooth, you should certainly put Denmark on your winter travel bucket list. During the festive period, locals spend most days baking their favourite sweet treats for friends and family, and the creations are simply divine. Favourite biscuits include ginger snaps, vanilla biscuits and gingerbread hearts. Danes also enjoy making chocolate fudge and various seasonal candies (often made with crystallised fruits and berries or sugared nuts).
Danish Drinks
Like many other countries, beer and mulled wine are popular drink choices around Christmastime. However, Danish people also enjoy a shot of snaps with their festive foods: an ice-cold distilled spirit usually flavoured with herbs.
If you’re heading to Denmark for the winter season, be sure to sample some of these delightful traditional treats… And don’t be alarmed if you end up eating more than one Christmas lunch!
