my host family enjoying holiday cheer!
christmas cookies = deceptively addictive!
Living with my host family, I got to experience the full Danish Christmas. In my opinion, mostly because I am always thinking about food, there are two main parts to the holiday season. Christmas lunches, and Christmas Eve. Many Danes say that the reason why they celebrate all throughout the month of December is because it is so cold and dark, it keeps them happy. Really, Denmark is no more darker than Boston, and certainly receives a lot less snow, but any excuse to party all month is good enough for me!
Christmas lunches are get-togethers that last all month. My first was on the 30th of November. They are essentially the equivalent to office holiday parties or friend/family holiday outings, but a lot more festive. They include drinking, eating, drinking, perhaps an exchange of presents, and more drinking. Danes immediately gather around the table, pour the schnapps and enjoy the traditional foods of the holidays. The same is true of Christmas Eve, or Jul Aften. While of course everyone has their own traditions, Danes tend to eat, dance around the Christmas tree and entire house (not kidding), and open presents all on Christmas Eve, rather than the American's tradition of opening gifts on Christmas morning.
First there is the herring. I have described herring before in this blog, but at Christmas lunches it is served in all possible forms - with curry, remoulade, vinegar, or plain, and with all the tradition accompaniments. The potent fish is then washed down with a shot or two - or three - of schnapps, and, if you are being traditional, you throw the glass over your shoulder once you are done. This; however, is not practiced in many establishments today.
The main course can involve several different entrees, but while beef and ham are the two main meats of choice in America, duck and pork roast are the Dane's. Flaeskesteg, or a Danish pork roast, is delicious with its thin slices of pork cracklings on top. Roast duck is traditionally stuffed with apples and prunes, producing flavorful juices that are the perfect base for a sauce. The meats are served with braised red cabbage made with current juice, and boiled potatoes that are then coated in a caramel made of butter and sugar. They are probably the tastiest potatoes I have ever had.
Dessert is always traditionally a dish known as ris ala mande. Known for being the dessert to keep mischievous Christmas elves happy, it is a sweet vanilla-flavored rice porridge made sophisticated by folding in whipped cream and lots of almonds. With a sweet cherry sauce lacing through it, it made even a rice-hater like me become a convert. Danes also have the tradition of placing a whole almond in the bowl. Whoever happens upon the almond gets good luck or a prize. It also encourages no leftovers!
Other Danish Christmas food traditions include glogg, aeblescriver, and Danish cookies. Glogg is the Danish term for mulled wine, and is served at every bar and at several stands across Copenhagen. It is said if you want glogg done right, you have to start back in June, mixing the honey, almonds, raisins, and brandy or schnapps together to really meld the flavors going into the hot wine. When it is good, it is delicious, and on a cold day, there is nothing better to keep your hands and tummy warm. Aebleskriver are actually becoming quite popular in the US. You may have seen them on infomercials. You know those pans that make spherical pancakes? That is exactly what aebleskiver are. Dusted with powdered sugar and served with jam, they have the exact same batter as the average American pancake - including buttermilk. It makes me wonder if so many Danes love aebleskriver, why do so many claim to hate American pancakes? Guess what, Denmark? They are the same thing!
Finally, Christmas cookies are a huge tradition in Denmark. You see them every year in stores around the US in those circular blue tins, but they are so much better than that, especially if they are homemade. A few times during the month of December, my host mother (Sanne) made huge batches of vanilla almond cookies and spice cookies. Using a meat grinder, she cranked out pounds of vanilla cookie dough into a snake-shape to form little lifesaver shaped cookies. They had an addictive crunch of almond and the perfect amount of sweetness, making it easy to down at least 6 a day. I know that I will never be able to go another Christmas without them.
With great food, several cries of "skol!", and hundreds of IKEA candles twinkling around the room, I could definitely feel the Danish "hygge" that is so a part of this fantastic country. This year I got to spend Christmas with my two families: my biological family and my Danish family. Holding hands while dancing around the tree, seeing my 3 little host brothers' faces when they opened the t-shirts I got them from their favorite American baseball teams, and eating ALL that amazing Danish food, it was the best and most complete Christmas I have had since before my dad passed away. Even when I return to the states, I hope to continue some of the traditions I have experienced this Christmas. Godt Jul, everyone!
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