INTRODUCTION
Writing a book called Smørrebrød has long been a dream. Since emigrating from Denmark, I have spent almost two decades running our London café and food business, serving open sandwiches and other good food from Scandinavia. At our café we don't always stick to everything traditional in our interpretation of smørrebrød; we focus on taste and what is good and seasonal, rather than how our parents and grandparents did things.
Our team has worked together to build on Danish, Swedish and Norwegian roots and heritage, what our customers like to eat, what is popular across Scandinavia and how smørrebrød culture is continuously developing in Denmark. We focus on good ingredients, taste and making sure we build on the great ideas of traditional smørrebrød, putting our own stamp on it. At our place, and in this book, you will find our favourite recipes, from the traditional to more modern interpretations.
Do use our recipes as inspiration to create your own delicious open sandwiches. If you don't have a particular fresh herb, use one you have that works in flavour. Don't have the right kind of pickles? Use something similar. Can't be bothered to make your own crispy onions? Just use store bought. Make the open sandwiches your own - and eat what you love. The perfect open sandwich is one that tastes great, looks great and makes you feel happy when you eat it.
We hope you enjoy our book.
See you soon in our café,
Brontë, Jonas and the rest of the ScandiKitchen team x
A BRIEF HISTORY OF SMØRREBRØD
Smørrebrød is a Danish word, derived from the words smør(re) (butter or to spread [v]) and brød (bread). In Norway, it's smørrebrød, while in Sweden, you might say smörrebröd (referring to the Danish version) or smörgås, meaning a piece of bread with toppings.
Smørrebrød became very popular in Denmark in the late 1800s - first, as simple farmer's lunchtime food, and later as a popular decorated lunch dish served in all the fancy places. Nevertheless, the open sandwich - essentially just a piece of bread with toppings - has been around for centuries before this. A slab of bread with toppings used to be called trenchers in Middle Age England (before The Earl of Sandwich decided in 1762 that this was inconvenient and added a slice on top so that he could eat it with his hands). Open sandwiches are tartines in France, bruschetta in Italy and butterbrot in Germany. In fact many countries have their own version of the open sandwich. The Danes, however, have made smørrebrød their own and it is a must to sample a few speciality eateries when visiting Denmark.
There are several places in Copenhagen that are credited with having elevated smørrebrød into popularity - the currently closed Davidsen restaurant had no fewer than 110 different kinds on their menu. However, you usually find the same 20 or so toppings appearing over and over again on the menus of the most traditional eateries.
After a period of slightly falling out of favour, in recent decades smørrebrød has had a huge rise in popularity and now once again appear in trendy cafés and restaurants as the star dishes. This time around, people expect new ideas, new toppings and influences from around the world - including plenty of vegan and vegetarian options. The tradition is still strong but nowadays more so by focusing on the quality of the ingredients, rather than questioning if it is traditional to have herring with beetroot or not. smørrebrød has evolved - and is firmly the Danes' favourite food.
ETIQUETTE
As with all things traditional, there are rules. Some of these rules are logical, and some less so. Most are not written down, which makes it hard for anyone to learn what those rules are. Many are there because that's just the way it has always been done.
The first point - and this rule is actually important - unless you are eating an open sandwich specifically made for hand-delivery (håndmad or snitter), assume you should use a knife and fork to eat it. It's a safe bet that if you are seated at someone's house or at a café and you are served open sandwiches, cutlery should be used, not your hands.
Sometimes, you may be either serving multiple open sandwiches or enjoying a bit of a feast at someone's house, either with a pre-made selection of open sandwiches or as part of a koldt bord (cold table - the Danish version of a Swedish smörgåsbord, where you make your own open sandwiches as you enjoy the meal), if so, then the toppings should be eaten in a certain order:
HERRING - this is always eaten first, and most often on a different plate. This is because herring has a very strong taste and using the same plate may 'stain' the rest of the open sandwiches with herring brine, which is not so nice.
Along with the herring, a shot of cold aquavit is often served - it complements the pickled fish in taste. You can find an easy recipe for making an aquavit-style spirit at home on page 12. It's an old-school practice that aquavit needs to be kept in the freezer - this just means you won't taste much of it as you drink it. If you find an aquavit with flavour notes you like, try drinking it just lightly chilled instead.
Next up is FISH AND SEAFOOD - such as plaice, prawns or Skagenröra (see page 28). This stage often includes eggs, too, for those who do not eat fish or those who like eggs with their prawns or salmon.
Following on from this will be any MEAT OR VEGGIE options - and if it is a koldt bord (especially at Christmas), this is where any hot dishes would also be served.
Lastly, at the end of a meal, you eat any CHEESE smørrebrød that may be served.
Traditionally, you don't go back once you have moved on to the next course.
Just as important as the order in which you serve the open sandwiches, are the unspoken rules on what goes with what. These rules are taught to us growing up - and some of these I question every day! I've seen non-Scandinavian friends put remoulade dressing on smoked salmon and gasped in horror - before realizing that actually, it's not that bad and there is no reason we have this rule other than 'that's just the way it is'.
SOME OF THE TOPPING COMBINATIONS THAT WILL MAKE ANY DANE SHUDDER (THIS LIST IS NOT EXHAUSTIVE)
» Remoulade on any fish (except fried breaded fish and fish cakes)
» Herring on white or soft bread - it only goes on rye or crispbread
» Remoulade on cheese, herring or liver pâté
» Crispy onions on smoked salmon, prawns, herring, or in fact fish of any kind (try telling that to your local sushi take away that nowadays use crispy onions on everything)
» Pickles on any kind of fish
» Combination of two meats together - such as ham and meatballs (there are a few exceptions)
» Cheese and pâté together
While there will always be combinations that people have learned, taste comes first, so forget the above unless you're trying to impress a table full of Danes. Crispy onions are great on salmon and remoulade is nice on pâté. Some people like herring on soft bread - and why not? It's all about what you like.
SMØRREBRØD STYLES
There is a big difference between the smørrebrød a Dane might prepare for lunch at home and the version you see in cafés and restaurants. In the most basic sense, an open sandwich is a piece of buttered bread with some form of topping. The Danish word pålæg (pålægg in Norway, pålägg in Sweden) means any form of topping on bread.
HÄNDMAD - a hand-held open sandwich, meaning a piece of bread with pålæg that is quite simply decorated so you can deliver it to your mouth with no need for cutlery. This is the open sandwich kids will have in their packed lunch at school and the one you make as a snack when in a hurry. There's minimal decoration, just mainly sustenance. These are most often no bigger than half a slice of rye bread, about 8 × 5 cm/3¼ × 2 inches.
SNITTER - this means 'cut pieces'. They're a little smaller than a håndmad, but with more effort on the decorations so they can be served at parties (but not too much so that guests need to use cutlery to eat them). They're larger than a standard canapé (2-3 bites), so are handy if feeding people at a standing event.
SMØRREBRØD - this is the standard with a good amount of pålæg. They are the same size as the bread for the håndmad, but because these have much more decoration, they are harder to eat without cutlery. This is the size you get in most lunchtime cafés and when making fancy sandwiches for the family. A good option if you want to make a selection for a beautiful lunch, where people might want to sample 2-4 different kinds each.
HØJTBELAGT - this literally means 'high coverage'. No expense is spared...
