I love a good tartarmad as much as anybody and have already posted about the traditional way of preparing it, but I've been stricken with the uncontrollable urge to explore non-traditional variations of classic smørrebrød, and wanted to share a recent discovery with fans of Danish Sandwiches!
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| A delicious treat for lunch and day of the week! Just looking at it now makes my mouth water! |
First of all, I have to acknowledge Aamanns restaurant in Copenhagen as the source of this new tasty treat. I was perusing the various blogs with posts about smørrebrød and I came across a great post by some food-savvy tourists who were visiting Copenhagen and ended up spending some quality time at my favourite smørrebrød joint. In the blog, they went into painstaking detail on the many sandwiches they ordered, taking close-up photos of each. It is from one of these photos that found my inspiration.
One of the things I love about Aamanns, and its especially true with this sandwich, is how the various ingredients so thoroughly complement each other - texture, flavour, and appearance are all harmoniously in balance and wonderfully unified by the Danish rye bread. I also love the way Aamanns comes up with new variations on traditional themes in a way that allows the old and the new to co-exist together.
From a design & architecture standpoint, this is something I pick up on when I visit Denmark. Sure it’s a very old country with a rich history, but the people don’t live in the past – they are constantly updating their environment to bring the old and the new together in ways I find very cool. For instance, you can see many examples in Copenhagen where new modern structures (say the Metro system) stand in juxtaposition to the historic landmarks (say Kongens Nytorv), in a way that enhances the overall appearance. (This is just my non-scholarly opinion – there may be groups of design advocates out there who will want my head on a platter for saying this – who knows???)
Here are a couple of architectural examples of the old and the new living side-by-side in Copenhagen:
OK, let’s get back to the topic at hand – something I feel a lot more comfortable bloggin about - a new tartarmad sandwich. You'll need:
Buttered Danish rye is the foundation upon which this great sandwich is built. Homemade is best, but don't let that get in the way of enjoying this masterpiece - store bought is better than nothing.
Chopped beef - When making tartar, you want to get a great piece of meet from an excellent quality butcher. Ask for something like flank steak or sirloin of you want something with a bit of fat (i.e taste). Use filet mignon if you want the ultimate in tenderness. You need about 200g for 4 sandwiches. Then you want to take that tasty meat and hand chop it with a sharp knife as finely as you can reasonably manage. Season with salt and pepper and refrigerate until ready to use.
Ingredients for Magic Sauce:
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| Metro system at Kongens Nytorv: Pyramids provide entrance for lighting in undergound system |
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| UNIBANK Headquarters, Copenhagen: New modern architecture, part of its surroundings |
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| Fancy tartarmad: What you'll need to make it |
- Buttered Danish rye bread
- Chopped uncooked beef
- Creamy egg sauce (though egg yolks would be just fine, too)
- Cornichon
- Red onion rings
- Fresh tarragon
- Crispy sliced potatoes
Buttered Danish rye is the foundation upon which this great sandwich is built. Homemade is best, but don't let that get in the way of enjoying this masterpiece - store bought is better than nothing.
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| Chopped beef: It only takes a few minutes, but watch your fingers! |
Egg yolk or "Magic Sauce" - Egg yolk, with its rich velvety texture, goes so well with raw meat it's scary. Cooked egg yolks, on the other hand, don't work at all and are a very poor substitute for the real raw thing. And while I love eating raw egg yolks with tartar, some people get all weird about possibly poisoning themselves, so here are a couple of alternatives:
· Quickly pasteurize the egg yolks in a double-boiler until they are warm, but not cooked. Careful that the yolks don’t seize up.
· Whip up a batch of what my friends and I mysteriously call Magic Sauce – basically a rich custard-like mixture with a slight hint of mustard. Here’s my recipe:
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| The things you'll need for Magic Sauce... |
- 3 egg yolks, beaten
- 125ml whipping cream
- 1 heaping TBSP Dijon mustard
- Salt and pepper to taste
What to do:
1. Gently heat the cream until it is frothy and very hot
2. Pour a little bit of hot cream into the yolks, stirring constantly, to temper the yolks. This will ensure that they do not curdle when added to the rest of the cream.
3. Add the yolks into the rest of the cream and heat over a bain-marie while stirring constantly until the mixture has thickened (about 5 minutes).
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| Whip it good! |
4. Remove from heat and allow the mixture to cool completely.
5. Add the mustard, salt and pepper and refrigerate until ready to use. It should have the consistency of mayonnaise.
Red onions, cornichon, tarragon, and crispy potatoes – These ingredients should all be readily available to you. If you want to be really fancy, you can deep fry your own potato slices, but my taste testers were more than happy to eat this sandwich topped with potato chips (use a good unsalted kind of chip from a company like Miss Vickie’s or Cape Cod)
Some Assembly Required
To assemble the sandwich, you simply spread out enough chopped up beef to cover the rye bread, add a dollop or two of “Magic Sauce” and cover artfully with the remaining ingredients. Enjoy with a cold beer, fork and knife!
This smørrebrød looks great, tastes great, and is easy to make. What more can you ask for!
