Monthly Archives: October 2012

Taste King Frederik’s favourite dish

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I am not sure which King Frederik it is, or how they know that this was his favourite dish. But it is offered at Restaurant Colosseum, one of the restaurants along the harbour front in Sonderborg. The restaurant website doesn’t give much information about this dish besides that it is a house speciality, and an email I sent to the restaurant remained unanswered so I am none the wiser, but wherever it comes from, I am glad it is on the menu!

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The dish consists of ox in a spicy sauce. It is served with potatoes, french fries (yeps: both!) and small portions of chopped egg, onions and beetroot. The sauce is a rich, liberally supplied sauce, making it perfect for dipping your potatoes in it (alas, if I was back home I would love dipping bread, but this is Denmark, so no bread, just potatoes). It comes served as a very generous portion in a pan (yeps: a pan!) with the other side dishes in separate bowls. In fact, if you are not very hungry, or are taking a starter and dessert it may also be possible to share.

And if you are not in Sonderborg? Well, you can also make it yourself! Here’s the recipe:

Serves 4 people

  • 600-700 grams of flank steak
  • 4 tbsp chopped onions
  • 1.5 tbsp curry
  • 3 tbsp edelsüss paprika
  • 0.5 litre of whipped cream
  • 4 tbsp ketchup
  • A good splash of Worcestershire sauce

Cut the flank steak into strips and brown them well in the pan. The chopped onion is fried with the curry and paprika. Let it simmer for a bit. Whipped cream, ketchup and Worcestershire sauce are added. Let it boil for a couple of minutes.

Serve with potatoes and fries and as sides make:

  • One bowl of chopped eggs
  • One bowl of chopped onion
  • One bowl of chopped beetroot
fall

Autumn in Denmark

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Autumn, or fall, is the season that says goodbye to summer and hello to winter. It is typically associated with harvest, and Halloween/Thanksgiving/All Souls and All Saints day (depending on where you come from).

Growing up I associated Autumn with the return to school. After the 3 month summer holiday period is was back to routine and a hectic schedule to fit all that I wanted to into the day. However, autumn in Malta missed the one thing that you see in all autumn shots in films: reddish golden tones in the nature around you.

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Coming to Denmark, these colour are one of the defining features of autumn. It has made it a pleasure going for a walk in the forest after work just to see the colours. However, what has surprised me the most is how quickly it became cold. It doesn’t help that Autumn in Denmark starts on the 1st of September rather than the 21st of the month, as I am used to back home. This being my first autumn here I really wasn’t expecting it.

So what to expect for Autumn in Denmark? Lovely golden colours, days becoming shorter, and cold! People have already seen snow in Sonderborg (alas, I wasn’t so lucky), and we are only halfway through the season! Luckily for us, the hour has just been moved back, so we get a bit more light in the morning. Not looking forward to the dark evenings though!

Piet Hein: Kuben – Spheres within cubes

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Roundabout art. It seems that where people build a roundabout in Denmark there is an urge to put something in the middle.

One of the better examples of roundabout art is the cube with spheres outside Augustenborg. The sculpture is made by Piet Hein, a scientist, architect and poet who created many interesting things.

On the way to work we pass by it every day and I got curious about it.

The sculpture, called Kuben, was inaugurated in 2008, exactly 20 years after Peit Hein had finished his drawings for it. The artist himself never saw it finished as he passed away in 1996. It weighs 5 tons and stands 7 meters tall. The sculpture is funded by Bitten og Mads Clausens Foundation.

The company contracted to create the sculpture, Royal-Tee, has some interesting photos from the construction and positioning of it. Here is one of showing how the different sections are produced:

Kuben being constructed by the company Royal Tee.

Whereever the wind takes us – a film about an old boat

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Missing summer? Maybe I got something that can bring you back. Imagine sailing where the wind takes you in Atinga, a wooden boat built 51 years ago that has been passed down for three generations.

Dänische Südsee from Lut ze.

I came across this amazing video of three guys on a boat sailing in the Danish South Sea – our corner of the Baltic Sea. The film on vimeo is just titled “Dänische Südsee” and that’s about it, so I got curious. I asked the filmmaker Lutz a couple of questions:

Can you introduce yourself?

I am originally from Berlin but currently I am living in Göteborg, studying Interaction Design. This city is just perfect for sailing. Lots of wind (sadly even more rain), many beautiful little rock islands in front of the coast and almost more boats than people. Until this year, I was only sailing on lakes, which is just not the same as sailing on the sea. Besides sailing I love many other outdoor sports. like climbing, hiking, biking.

Who are the crew and are they always the same?

We were three people on the boat, my sister Karola, our friend Tilman and me. It was our first trip together. Tilman was our skipper, since he had the most experience on the boat, but we were switching roles all the time.

Tell me about the boat in the video?

The boat is called the “Atinga”. It belongs to Tilman’s dad, who himself inherited it from his dad. I don’t know so much about it, but it is a real beauty! Kind of slow, but really comfortable and really good tempered. Everything is made out of wood, even the hull and the mast. We had quite heavy winds, and the boat was squeaking and moaning all the time. It’s a self constructed boat as far as i know, about 50 years old, but I don’t know who exactly build it.

Where did you go on the trip we see in the video?

We started in Høruphav, going wherever the wind and rain blew us. 🙂 Since we only had 5 days and the winds were already pretty strong, we stayed south of Fyn to avoid the huge waves.

Where else do you like to sail to?

I really would like to make a longer trip when I finish my studies. Probably down to the Mediterranean Sea – if I can find the time. Until then I will just make some daily and weekend trips in the skerries off Göteborg and Bohuslän. My University has a sailing club that owns two really nice “Albin Express” boats, which are a lot of fun to sail in.

How did you film this? Do you often make film?

Actually it was my first try in making a short film in years. I used a Pentax k-7 dslr with two wideangle lenses. Most of the shots were done handheld. But I am planing to do some more stuff. Right now I’m working on a small video project for an university course, which will be about a quite ambivalent street here in Göteborg. And I’m planning to shoot a climbing movie of some spots in the region around Göteborg.

Do you have a website I can link to if people want to know more about you?

Not yet. At least not for my filming stuff but you can check my Flickr page. I recently discovered an old Rollei 35 and Contax from my grandfather, which I use a lot and I post some pictures to Flickr from time to time. And I’m on Facebook.

Great video and story, Lutz and thank you for sharing!

The same day I got another email from Jens from Lüneburg, who is owner of the boat and father of Tilman. He wrote more facts about the boat Atinga.

Constructor: Ernst Lehfeld
Built in 1961
Type: Knickspannt Kielkreuzer
Material: Plywood
Length: 8,00 m
Width: 2,50 m
Depth: 1,05 m
Weight: 2,5 t
Mast: 9,00 m
Sail : 25-35 square meters
Engine: Nanni Diesel 2 cylinders
Speed 10 PS

Watch Sonderjyske’s Ice-Hockey team

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Sonderjysk Elitesport, better known as SonderjyskE is the main Danish sport club based in Southern Jutland. It was created in 2004, when all the elite sport teams in the region were merged into one club in order to improve upon sponsors, resources and attention.

The club consists of 2 football teams, 2 handball teams and an ice-hockey team. Last season we had been along to support one of the football and handball teams, and now it was ice-hockey’s turn.

I will start on a bit of a confession. I have been ice-skating 3 times in my life, so anything to do with ice is pretty much out of my sphere of consciousness. In fact, before this game I had never seen an ice-hockey game, except maybe a short bit on tv, or during a film.

The Game

As the name implies, ice hockey is pretty much hockey on ice (and no – I have no clue about regular hockey either!). It is played on an ice-rink, with 6 players on ice skates, including one goalie guarding a small goal post. The game is played with a hard rubber disc, known as a puck, that each team tries to get into the other team’s goal post with the use of a long stick. Each game is composed of 3 sections of 20 minutes each (though with time stoppage the time easily doubles). And that’s about it.

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The Experience

Ice-hockey is big in Vojens, where the SonderjyskE team is based. Considering that the team has been doing marvellously well the last few years, coming top of the league in 2006, 2010 and 2011, this is understandable. This was also clear on the day; it was a Tuesday evening, with a Denmark-Italy football game on at the same time, so anyone watching was definitely an ice-hockey fan before all else, but still the stadium was more than 50% full.

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As with all SonderjyskE games we have been to, there was a SonderjyskE band (mainly drums) enthusing the game along, and being around such hardcore fans I felt obliged to clap along (if only to save being attacked by one of them maybe?). The band playing was interspersed with singing, and also some music blasted over speakers when something besides normal play was happening.

Overall, there were 2 things that stuck in my mind regarding this first handball experience:

  1. At the start of the game, the teams go onto the rink one by one. The SonderjyskE (home) team did this to a high energy tune to get the blood running. The opposing team? Unfortunately they only got some tinny slapstick music that could only make you laugh. I though it was a bit mean, but hey, I get the point!
  2. Sponsors. There is one for everything! If someone scores, his name is associated with a sponsor, a penalty? There is a sponsor for that. There is even a sponsor for the different kind of faults!! (slashing, penalty etc). The sponsorship people must be doing a good job as I couldn’t pinpoint one further aspect that could have been sponsored.

I wonder though: is this normal at ice-hockey games, or just limited to Denmark, or maybe just this team?

Oh! And one more question: The SonderjyskE team had goalies, forwards, defence and boblere listed on their team member list. Aalborg, the opposing team, didn’t have any boblere. But what are boblere? Any clues anyone?

Review: Being Danish – Paradoxes of Identity in Everyday Life

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I have often wondered about why do Danes act the way they do, or why do they say what they say. In one person it might be an individual trait, but when you notice the same behaviour repeatedly you realise that there is something else beneath this behaviour. However, it was only when I received this book as a gift that I could put some context to my thoughts and some grounding to my feelings.

Being Danish: Paradoxes of Identity in Everyday Life is an ethnographic study of the concept of identity in Denmark. Written by Richard Jenkins, a Professor of Sociology in the UK, it is mainly based on field work done by the author in around 1997 in Skive. The book discusses the paradoxical nature of Danish sense of identity, both inward looking within Denmark as well as outward looking towards Europe and the rest of the world.

The book, although being an academic study, is also quite accessible, though certain parts are a bit tedious for the leisurely reader like me. Even if I am used to reading academic texts, this is a completely different subject so I easily miss the nuanced points the author is trying to make in such sections. In particular, I found the first chapter tough going. However, don’t despair at this stage! The further on in the book you go, the more relevant the book was to my interests (i.e. understanding the people and culture around me).

I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the Danish sense of identity, be it as an immigrant living here, or as a Dane seeking to understanding the reason behind their actions. I liked the book as it made me think deeper about where I am living, understand the people around me, as well as exclaim very often “Phew – I am not the crazy one here!”.

Urging you to read the book, I leave you with the ‘entertaining observatory explanation’ to the following question, as summarised in the conclusion:

How could it be that despite the overwhelming obviousness of everyday differences between ‘ethnic Danes’ the story that ‘we are all the same’ continues to be sufficiently convincing?

It suits them […] It allows them them to feel better than they are […] It enables them to feel special – even smug and superior […] It allows them, indeed, to overlook the fact that Denmark isn’t actually as wonderful as they think it is.

It also answers part of the question I asked in an earlier post on Danishness. And why not? Feeling smug and superior myself!

The art of open face sandwiches

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A old classic on the Danish lunch table is smørrebrød – or open face sandwich. The basic idea is to have a thin slice of rye bread (rugbrød) for the base, a cold-cut of meat (pålæg) and some garnish (pynt) on top for decoration. To complement the food a beer and a shot of snaps (aquavit) is served.

Thomas Leth from Vice recently went through Copenhagen to explore the phenomenon and the art of creating of this old Nordic cuisine.

Along the way in Copenhagen Thomas stops at Slotskælderen. Two other places to seek this out in Copenhagen is Ida Davidsen and Hansens Have.

Here in our area there you can get smørrebrød at Den Gamle Kro in Gråsten and take-away from Byens Smørrebrød and Schmidts Delikatesse in Sønderborg.

Make you own (but beware)
If you are invited for lunch at a Danish family you can also create your own smørrebrød. However for us Danes there are some combinations that make sense and some that will definitely raise eyebrows.

Good wholesome, safe choices:

  • Roast beef — thin sliced, topped with remoulade, and decorated with a sprinkling of shredded horseradish and toasted onion.
  • Leverpostej — warm rough-chopped liver pâté topped with bacon, and sauteed mushrooms.
  • Salted ham (Saltkød) – sliced of meat with “Italian salad” (mayonnaise mixed with peas, sliced boiled asparagus and diced carrot) and spring onions.

Don’t do this in front of Danes:

  • Remoulade on herring
  • Remoulade on cheese
  • Cheese on ham (This might be the most universal sandwich, but it’s not working in the Danish open sandwich world)

Ann has tried all three of the no-nos and had my parents and me send suspicious eyes. Have you tasted smørrebrød or had any “incidents” when you got too creative for the Danes?

Nordic Cuisine

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For a long time, the words ‘Nordic Cuisine’ was not something on most people’s minds. The concept of Nordic food was often synonymous with a farmer’s diet of meat and potatoes. However, this is changing, a change that mainly started with the success of Noma, a restaurant founded by Claus Meyer and head chef Rene Redzepi with the intention of reinventing Nordic cuisine.

The success of Noma was further bolstered by the New Nordic Food manifesto by the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2005. This manifesto encourages people to make use of the ingredients found around them and, combined with knowledge on health and well-being, push Nordic food further into the limelight.

Picking berries in the forrest

However, my experience is that this is not a food movement about what everyday people eat. When you think of a Mediterranean diet, or a Thai or Chinese, this is actually what people in these areas eat on a regular basis. However, New Nordic food appears to be more of a top-down process, rather than bottom up where the people living in the land put forward what they eat on a daily basis. New Nordic food is still something that is more closely connected to high-end restaurants than of Mette and Jens Andersen in their home kitchen.

Nevertheless, I decided to learn a bit more about this new Nordic Cuisine. A few years ago I had attended a book launch by Rene Redzepi in London, where my main memory is about ‘shit’ produce (as was most of the publicity afterwards!).

Mashed pea on toasted rye bread

Now I was in Denmark, so I toodled along to one of the ‘New Nordic Food’ courses being held around the country. The course was good fun, but supporting my previous impression, most of the recipes we tried few people said that they were inspired to cook them again at home. I am still waiting to be convinced about it! Maybe some one wants to have a go at this for me? Reservations at Noma could also work!

Sculpture Garden by Augustenborg Palace

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If you walk in front of the baroque palace in Augustenborg you might stumble on a charming garden where you can enjoy art for free.

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Officially it goes by the name of Augustiana Skulpturpark og Kunstcenter Augustenborg but the day I was there the art centre was closed so that is for a future post. But the sculpture garden is worth a visit in it’s own right.

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The sculpture garden is the second largest of it’s kind in Denmark and is home to about 100 sculptures. It moved here from Fyn together with the gallery owners Mette Buhl and Uffe Larsen.

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The park sits in gorgeous setting at the edge of a forest right on the water by Augustenborg Fjord and with the palace in the background. A beautiful setting and a great place for a walk any time of the year.

A Country of Contradictions?

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Talking with Danes you immediately realise that they have a strong sense of identity, what being Danish means, and why something that you do or the way that you think is NOT Danish. However, Danishness is not as clear cut as most Danes you meet on the streets like to believe. To a foreigner (or at least me), being Danish is also a quagmire of contradictions:

A fair and equal society.

A homogeneous/equal society that focuses on the individual.

Rules so that no one is left out

All of these characteristics are ideal aspirations in themselves. However, reaching a real and sustainable balance between the two is often much harder than it may at first appear unless people consciously keep this in mind.

Kelly Draper, writing for the Copenhagen Post, makes an excellent show of how being fair and equal can be contradictory. Both of these characteristics are to be aimed for. However, a fair society is not necessarily an equal one. A fair society is one where people get what they need when they need it. Otherwise we risk wasting resources ‘helping’ people who do not need it and missing the ones in need as we put rigorous checks and balances in place to ensure that everything is equally divided at the specific level rather than the holistic one. This is, of course, easier to manage, but helps no one.

Another issue I am struggling with is how we teach our* children how to be inclusive citizens and thoughtful about the circumstances that others may be in. Talking to parents (and at work I am surrounded by them) it is usual that there are rules in place at school as to who you can invite to a birthday party (all girls, all boys, or all children in the class), how much money is to be spent on gift, and also who to play with**.

Of course, teaching kids that no one should be left out is an excellent ideal. And there are instances where rules are necessary and important, when someone’s rights are being trampled on. However, when putting such rules in place, are we teaching the kids the importance of what lies behind them, or are we just teaching them to follow rules. And, what about teaching kids that not everyone can afford the same things, so be grateful for what you got in terms of what they could afford. Again, it is easier to put a rule in place than to teach the kid why such an action is important. After talking with parents, unfortunately, I strongly suspect that the second part of explanation is often forgotten.

As a foreigner thinking about the society I am living in I am sometimes criticised for saying anything below stellar about Denmark. I can understand that no one likes hearing criticism about what they do. But I often wonder if what I say stops at the ‘being rebuffed’ level, or if some people also think about it following our encounter. Quoting Socrates “the unexamined life is not worth living”.

 

* Yes. I say OUR children. Although I have no children and am not ethnically Danish, I am living in this society now and am making an active contribution to it. So I am entitled to an opinion about it ( just like everyone else).

** In at least one school, the teachers organise kids into groups of 4 and once a month they go to each others houses to play together.