Smørrebrød are a long-standing Danish tradition. The name comes from the two essential ingredients and the starting point for smørrebrød: butter (smør) and bread (brød). Danish butter is rich and high in butter fat. The bread is a dark sourdough rye bread called rugbrød. Once you have buttered your bread that is where imagination and artistry begin.

On a recent visit my sister, Pattie Sue, and I decided to explore a bit of the culinary tradition of our Danish heritage. We were curious about the traditions that seemed to have been lost in the wilderness pioneer experiences of our grand and greatgrandparents in 19th and early 20th century Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. It is a beginning for us and we welcome you on our pilgramage of discovery and enlightenment.

• Dark rye bread (rugbrød)
• Danish remoulade sauce
• Slied hard boiled eggs
• Sliced onions, cucumbers and scallions

• Rich creamery butter
• Agurkesalat - Danish pickles
• Garnishes such as sliced radish, roe, bacon and Dill weed

• Pickled herring
• Smoked herring and with curry sauce
• Fried pickled herring
• Shrimp
• Cured salmon
• Smoked eel
• Fried fish filet with crème fraiche
• Medisterpølser - Traditional Danish pork sausage

• Ham and Italian salad
• Roast beef with pickles
• Roast beef with remoulade sauce crispy onions
• Spiced pork roll with pickled cucumbers
• Liver pate and red beets
• Roast pork with red cabbage
• Chicken salad
• Frikadeller - Traditional Danish meat balls

1. (Left) The smørrebrød sandwiich starts here with slices of dark, hearty sourdough rye bread slathered with rich Danish butter. From this point on it is all a matter of the foodstuffs on hand and your imagination and artistic inspiration. Before strating we did an Internet image search and used the photos of smørrebrød creations we found to guide us in our first attempt at these homeland treasures.
2. (Right) Buttered rye bread, a layer of remoulade sauce topped with thin slices of salmon and garnished with sliced raddish and dill weed.

   

3. (Left) Buttered rye bread, remoulade sauce, 31/35 tail-on shrimp and grnished with a sprig of fresh dill weed.
4. (Right) Buttered rye bread, remoulade sauce, poached white fish with slices of hardboiled egg, cucumber, red onion and red Bell pepper; garnished with sprigs of fresh dill weed.

   

5. (Left and Right) Two more views of the previous sandwich, buttered rye bread, remoulade sauce, poached white fish with slices of hardboiled egg, cucumber, red onion and red Bell pepper; garnished with sprigs of fresh dill weed.

   

6. (left) Buttered rye bread, slices of vine ripe tomato, 31/35 tail-on shrimp, slices of cucumbe and hardboiled egg garnished with a sprig of dill weed. Buttered rye bread, remoulade sauce, deli-sliced roast ham, slices of ripe toamtoes, agurkesalat (Danish pickles), rings of red onion and dill garnish.
7. (Right)Close-up view of the previous buttered rye bread, remoulade sauce, deli-sliced roast ham, slices of ripe toamtoes, agurkesalat (Danish pickles), rings of red onion and dill garnish.

   

8. (Left) Buttered rye bread, remoulade sauce, poached white fish, rings of red onion, slices of hardboiled egg, sliced red Bell pepper, garnished with fresh dill weef and seasoned liberallty with fresh ground black pepper.
9. (Right) Buttered rye bread, remoulade sauce, lettuce 31/35 tail-on shrimp, slices of toamto, red onion rings, sliced hardboiled egg and dill garnish.

   

10. (Left and Right) Two views: Buttered rye bread, remoulade sauce, poached white fish, sprigs of fresh dill, lots of red onion rings, sliced raddish and agurkesalat (Danish pickles).

    

11. (Center) The smørrebrød pairs werll with many other side dishes. This shrimp based smørrebrød was very tasy and paired well with some fresh fruit, here blueberries, strawberry and chunks of fresh pineapple.

    

This was our first experiment in making smørrebrød. A bit clumbsy at first but as we progressed it becam easier to visualize what we were doing. Always the results were delicious though some looked a bit cobbled together. We only used a few of the possible ingredients but even so we were able to make a significant variety of the dfelicious sandwiches. It was a learning experience and I think we made good progress. Just wait until our next get together...