Last Sunday, we had the wonderful Danish guest chef Trina Hahnemann here for a special Danish lunch. Smørrebrød is a traditional Danish style open sandwich, with a tradition dating back to the 19th century. When working in the fields, farmers would bring rye bread with a spread of either butter or fat for their lunch. Lake, workers started putting on leftovers for dinner, like boiled potatoes, fish, or cold cuts, and ate them with very cold beer and aquavit. In the 1920's, the sandwiches became very elaborate, and started to appear at parties and restaurants. Restaurants with dancing would serve smørrebrød because it took less time to eat and left more time for dancing!
To eat smørrebrød, start with the fish, move on to the meat, then eat the cheese. And drink a cold beer!
The Jimmy's menu featured smørrebrød with herring and beetroot salad, smoked mackeral, egg and shrimp salad, salmon with horseradish, chicken salad, meatballs, lamb roast, and potatoes with radishes, chives and spring onions. We also featured a special Danish cask beer from the Wintercoat Brewery; their Double Hop IPA.
Be sure to check out Ms. Hahnemann's beautiful cookbook, "The Scandinavian Cookbook".
