Spring Frokost

Yesterday, Maggie and Jørgen invited their neighbors, Birgit and Selle over for a spring frokost (lunch). And it. was. incredible.

First, we all got up early and put the finishing touches on the meal - Jørgen cooked the Frikadeller (a Danish kind of meatball, but with onions, and a whole lot of other things in it - a SUPER traditional dish), Maggie put together the ingredients for an apple sauce with onion and bacon, and Ruby (their current host student) and I worked on keeping up with the dishes. Once everything was prepared, we had some time, so Maggie and I went to the grocery store.

Maggie and I decided to use the car instead of riding bikes there, since it was raining. Great! When you arrive at a Danish grocery store, you are likely to encounter less than 20 parking places for the whole store. Do keep in mind that Danish grocery stores are small - probably no bigger than a Walgreen's. In any case, most people bike to the store, making the need for parking slightly less prevalent. Anyway, when you get there and park, you go get a cart, same as we do in the US. But the catch is that you have to put in a 20 kroner coin to get it out. You slide it into a slot in the shopping cart and unhook the cart from a chain connecting it to the previous cart. The coin stays with you in the cart the whole time, and once you return it safely and reconnect it to the wire, out comes your 20kr. I'm going to be honest, I have no idea why this exists. Even if you were going to steal the cart, 20kr does not seem a significant enough investment to deter one from doing so (it's only about $4). Perhaps one of my Danish friends can elucidate here... but I digress.

Anyway, Maggie and I shopped in the store, and I noted that prices are even more expensive than they were when I lived here! Over $4 for a can of green beans!

Once we shopped, we came home, unloaded, and got ready for our fest. Birgit and Selle came over about 2:00 in the afternoon, right in the middle of a light drizzle. It was the perfect environment for hygge (coziness) all gathered around the table with some candles lit. Birgit and Selle did half of the cooking, and the Brissons, et al, did the other half. Once all was settled we got started on the first course (by the way, there were four).

The first course was a lovely smørrebrød spread. If you're unfamiliar with smørrebrød, it works something like building a house. You pick a piece of dense rye bread for the foundation. Next, you slather on some sort of binding material (usually butter) to hold the next layer on. The next layer can range from picked herring, sausage, or fried fish (what I had yesterday) to turkey or ham. Yesterday, we only had fish, though. So I picked a piece of fried fish (delicious), and added it to my bread. On top of the fish, you add a heart-clogging quantity of mayonnaise, such that the next layer (a bountiful amount of boiled small shrimp) will stick. You garnish with lemon juice and fresh herbs, if you so desire. Then you eat. With a fork and knife, because let's be honest, your sandwich is now about the height of a one story building. You NEVER put another piece of bread on top, because then it is no longer Smørrebrød, and it is now a sandwich. (Not to mention that one piece of rye bread is enough.)

The second course consisted of pork. Yes, pork. In all different forms and fashions. We had applesauce with bacon, frikadeller (pork meatballs), pork chops, and even some roasted pork with the cracklings still on (fat, fat, and more fat), and yes, you eat it all, and you LIKE it. Nom nom nom. So, that was that.

In the middle of all this is interspersed conversation and drinking, two things that generally go hand in hand for Danes. I was happy to be seated next to Selle, who speaks NO English. He gave my Danish a good run for its money, but I was able to understand about 70% of the conversation, which I was happy about. I might have sounded like a delayed kindergartner when trying to speak, but I got my ideas out eventually. Also in the mix are a series of drinking games disguised as "toasts". Every so often someone will cry "Skål!"and everyone at the table will give an appreciative nod to their snaps-glass (read: shot glass), will raise the glass, and sip politely. Repeat til everyone is sufficiently toasted, if you know what I mean.

After we have been "Stille og rolig" (still and quiet, or something similar) we had the next course. A cheese smorgasbord with different crackers. At this point, all the fat you ate earlier has now given way to the alcohol in your stomach, and you begin to feel tipsy. All the more reason to carb-load on crackers! (Our smorgasbord was particularly delicious with Swiss, Muenster, Bleu, and Brie cheeses). After this, you stille og rolig again, then have dessert. We had a delicious cake, sans cream, sugar, or butter, prepared by Maggie. It was really good.

By the time we talked, drank a copious amount of alcohol, and ate our four courses, it was 7:45PM. Let me say that I LOVE this style of living. Okay, not necessarily the engorging of oneself on food, which, by the way, Danes don't do often, but the conversation. I mean, when was the last time you went to a 6 hour lunch? It was fantastic. We talked about politics in the US and in Denmark, we talked about the differences between America and Europe, and we had a raging good time. This is what I came to Denmark for. This is what I have missed for the past three years. This is what I value. We had no superficial conversations - Birgit and Selle asked me what I did, but after that, there were no more questions like I'd find in my typical American conversation. No "so, what did you do last weekend?" The conversations had depth, and were hilarious.

My cup runneth over, and I am finally overcoming jet lag so I am going to wrap this up. It is with a warm heart (even in rainy Denmark) that I say goodnight.

-The (Danish) Adventurer