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| Smørrebrød with flæskesteg and rødkål |
Danes love their pork, enjoying it in all kinds a ways, from sausage and rullepølse, to patés and chops, and of course, to roasts. The most famous Danish roast is known as flæskesteg, which translates to (drum roll.....) pork roast! Most common at Christmas time, a nice flæskesteg is often served with red cabbage and candied potatoes, which eventually results in next-day leftovers which are ideal on buttered Danish rye bread as smørrebrød. My kids and I refer to this meal as the Viking leftover feast!
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| Crispy svær! |
In my opinion, what makes a Danish roast so delicious (aside from the high quality of the pork), is the presence of the flæskesvær, or crispy pork rind, which is most often omitted from roasts in Canada. This is a real shame, and in my way of thinking, a mistake. I am not a nutritionist, but I am going to go out on a limb and guess that pork rind may not be the healthiest part of the pig, but it certainly may be the tastiest. So does that mean Canadians have a preference towards health over flavour? If so, how do you explain Poutine or Smoked Meat? In any case, in moderation, a bit of rind contributes to overall happiness - of that, I am sure. More on happiness in a moment.
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| Use roasts from this area |
In order to get the right kind of roast, you'll probably have to visit a butcher and request a special cut, because you want a roast with the skin on. I find that the blade-end of the loin (near the shoulder) provides the nicest roasts - they are a bit on the fatty side so they aren't too dry. You can certainly omit the rind if the butcher isn't able to provide it, but what a shame! A crispy pork rind is sooo delicious - you can't stop at one bite! And kids, at least my own, will eat it until they explode! I have even seen fisticuffs break out over the last remaining bits of svær. Ah, yes! We Vikings know how to have a good time!
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| Happy Danes |
A note on Danes and pork: Denmark is not a big country. There are about 5 million Danes packed into an area a bit bigger than the Toronto Skydome. And yet, they somehow manage to pull off a couple of amazing feats. 1) They produce approximately 25 million hogs a year (each requiring a startling amount of food production), and 2) even though they share their little country with so many pigs, they rank as the happiest nation on Earth in annual Human Happiness surveys. This is true and well documented! (see World Map of Happiness for proof) What is not well known is that there is also a World Hog Happiness index, and Danish hogs rank very near the bottom of the list.
Recently, a study from the Danish Ministry of Agriculture determined that there is, in fact, an inverse relationship between the happiness of Danes and the happiness of Danish Hogs. When DAnes are happy, pigs are not.
Hmmm. Very interesting!
In order to make the smørrebrød, start, as usual, with buttered Danish rye bread. Add a dollop of mustard and cover with two slices of roast pork. Drop a spoonful of red cabbage on the pork and top with one or two thin pieces of pork rind. Very yummy!A bit about red cabbage. You may be able to find prepared red cabbage from Germany in grocery stores or delis of a European persuasion, but I find that the Danish variety (at least the way I was taught to make it) is more tangy and delicous. Called rødkål, there are probably as many recipe variations as their are households, but they are all based on a sweet and sour style from simmering the cabbage in vinegar and sugar. Some people also like to add extra character through the addition of apple jelly, but I personally prefer to use sliced Granny Smith apples and a bit of thyme in my red cabbage. This adds a very nice spicey, tart quality that compliments the taste of the cabbage perfectly. And really goes well with roast pork.
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| Prepared rødkål |
Here is what you will need to know to make flæskesteg and rødkål smørrebrød.
Ingredients for Roast Pork |
| Roast ready for the oven |
- 1.5 kg Boneless pork roast with rind (from blade end of loin is best)
- 2 tbsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper corns
- 10 Bay leaves
Instructions for Roast Pork- Using a very sharp knife (or a scalpel, saw or whatever else can puncture the tough skin), score the skin into strips about 1/2 cm wide.
- Sprinkle salt evenly over the pork skin.
- Cut bay leaves in half and insert them, along with the peppercorns, into the incisions in the skin.
- Set the roast on a rack in a roasting pan, then place in a cold over and roast at 400°F (~200°C) for about one and a half hours (until the internal temperature reaches 150°F) and the pork rind is crispy.
- If the meat is finishined, but the pork rind remains soft, you can bump up the temperature to 475°F (~250°C) and continue cooking for 10 more minutes, watching to make sure rind doesn't burn.
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| Ingredients for rødkål |
Ingredients for Red Cabbage- 1 medium red cabbage
- 1 small white onion
- 3 tbsp butter
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 3 tbsp white or cider vinegar
- Pinch oh Thyme
- 2 Bay leaves
- 1/4 cup water
- 4 apples (Granny Smith are my preferred choice)
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions to prepare red cabbage
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| Cooking red cabbage and onions |
- Remove out leaves of cabbage, then cut cabbage into quarters and remove the white core. Thinly slice the cabbage with a chef's knife across the quarters width-wise.
- Peel and thinly slice the onion.
- Melt the butter over medium heat in a large Dutch over. Add the sugar and mix together.
- Add the cabbage and onion and stir to coat with butter.
- Add water, vinegar, thyme and bay leaves.
- Heat to a boil, cover and then simmer for 30 minutes.
- Peel and core the apples, and then slice thinly.
- Add apples to the cabbage plus a little salt and pepper.
- Continue simmering for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally and adding a bit of water as necessary (the cabbage shouldn't be allowed to get too dry - there should always be a bit of liquid at the bottom of the Dutch oven).
- When done, the apples should be pureed and the cabbage tender. Generally, the taste of red cabbage improves the day after cooking.
- Serve hot with roast pork and potatoes (for Christmas) or cold as part of an open-faced sandwich (for lunch any day of the week).
Danish open faced sandwich,
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porkbelly,
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Rugbrød,
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smørrebrød
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