Smorrebrod: First-rate open-faced Danish sandwiches

By Deborah S. Hartz
Food Editor

February 20, 2003

It can be hard to understand why Scandinavians are so attracted to smorrebrod -- those little open-faced sandwiches that are like works of art. I didn't -- until I visited a smorrebrod restaurant in Copenhagen late last year.

Stepping down the few stairs into a cozy basement space at St. Kongensagde 70, I was not sure what to expect. The place was noisy with Danish businessmen vying for seats alongside tourists. Behind a glass display case and counter stood a woman wearing a chef's jacket and an inviting smile. Her blond hair peaked from under a stiff toque, her red-framed glasses hung around her neck on a pearl chain. This was owner Ida Davidsen, who pointed out the day's offerings in all their intriguing colors and presentations.

Rows of smorrebrod made with salmon tartare garnished with sliced smoked salmon, lumpfish roe, fresh dill and a little plastic egg shell of chilled schnaps. Rye bread topped with bacon, camembert, tomatoes and parsley. Slices of bread covered with perfectly arranged rows of bright red crawfish tails. Guess I was sold about then.

Davidsen is the fourth generation of her family to offer smorrebrod to grateful Danes. Her great grandfather started the business in 1888. By 1900, he offered a menu of 178 smorrebrod, a menu big enough to get him into the Guinness Book of World Records. Today, Davidsen's husband, Adam Siesby; son, Oskar; and daughter, Mia (both in their 30s) work in the restaurant, too.

It's a tradition

Traditionally, the smorrebrod are served at lunch, and many of the restaurants specializing in them are only open on weekdays. Of course, on a summer's night, one might eat a light dinner of smorrebrod at Tivoli, that famous Copenhagen amusement park.

A man usually makes a meal of three sandwiches, a woman two.

There's a certain order in which you eat these treats. Begin with pickled herring in perhaps a sandwich garnished with onion rings and chopped dill. After that comes a fish- or shellfish-based sandwich, such as the plaice fillet garnished with remoulade, asparagus, smoked salmon, prawns and Danish caviar or smoked eel garnished with scrambled eggs. (The creamiest, moistest scrambled eggs you can imagine. They are made with cream in the top of a double boiler so no air gets into them and they have the texture of velvet.) After that, you eat something meaty like a sandwich of roast beef dolloped with Danish caviar.

To wash it all down, there's Danish beer and aquavit right out of the freezer. "Skal" ("cheers") fills the air as the platters of sandwiches arrive at the tables and people begin to eat. You'll notice your check tucked under one of the sandwiches. That way there's no question that you get what you selected.

Jorgen Moller Sr., owner of Out of Denmark restaurant in Delray Beach, remembers being baptized in the same Danish town Davidsen grew up in; Moller worked with her in 1962 at Kungholn restaurant in Chicago, when she was there to spread the word about Danish cuisine. In Denmark, Moller remembers apprenticing with six smorrebrodsjumfru, the women trained to make these delightful sandwiches. They go to trade school one day a week for three years while they apprentice in hotels and restaurants to learn their art. In order to qualify as a sandwich chef, they have to be able to prepare a certain number of varieties in an hour. Like sushi chefs, these sandwich makers have to learn rules before they can make authentic smorrebrod. It is important to use the right palaeg (ingredients on the bread) with the right tilbehor (garnishes).

Making smorrebrod

You garnish fish with lemon, poultry with orange and beef with onions. "If you garnish a sandwich wrong, you aren't a proper sandwich maker," Moller says. And the cost of a sandwich doesn't depend upon ingredients -- basically all Danish smorrebrod are made with quality items. Instead, it depends on how artfully the sandwich is arranged, its size and if the smorrebrod is served on silver or paper plates, on tables with linen coverings or bare wooden tops.

The ingredients can be decoratively and artfully arranged on the bread because these sandwiches are eaten with a knife and fork, not picked up to be eaten out of hand. Moller demonstrates the proper way to eat one: He holds his fork in one hand, his knife in the other and cuts all the way through the sandwich before putting it directly into his mouth. He never sets his knife down to eat. "They only do that in the United States. We lost some good American spies in Denmark during the war because they ate their smorrebrod and set their knives down. It was a real giveaway," he says. And we're not sure if he's kidding or not.

In Denmark, smorrebrod aren't limited to restaurants. Moller remembers his mother making a stack of three wrapped in parchment paper for him to eat at school. He also remembers that in 1936, when food was scarce, his mother gave him three slices of bread and one slice of salami. He'd wipe the salami across each slice of bread to give it some flavor. But he'd save the slice of pungent sausage to eat last.

Today, home cooks and restaurant chefs use leftovers to make some of their sandwiches. "Everything you can imagine can go on a sandwich," Moller says. Roast pork from yesterday's dinner might show up on the lunch board in a sandwich made of rye bread, sliced pork, sliced tomatoes, cucumber salad, jellied consomme and chopped parsley. Goose might appear with Waldorf salad and chopped walnuts. But even made with leftovers, these smorrebrod are special.

"It's pretty hard to fool a Dane. He knows a good sandwich," Moller says.




Egg and Caviar Smorrebrod

February 20, 2003

4 teaspoons butter, softened
4 slices Danish pumpernickel or other rye bread, crusts removed
2 tablespoons mayonnaise (preferably homemade)
4 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and sliced
2 tablespoons red or black lumpfish, salmon or sturgeon caviar
Parsley sprigs, for garnish




Chicken and Cucumber Smorrebrod

February 20, 2003

Cucumber Salad:

1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
1/4 cup water
1 (8-inch) European-style cucumber, thinly sliced

Poached Chicken Breasts:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon pickling spices

Smorrebrod Toppings and Garnishes:

4 teaspoons butter, softened
4 slices Danish pumpernickel or other rye bread, crusts removed
4 butter or leaf lettuce leaves
4 thin tomato slices or wedges
4 bacon slices, cooked crisp

To make salad: To make chicken: To top and garnish: Per sandwich: 219 calories, 39 percent calories from fat, 18 grams protein, 15 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams total fiber, 9 grams total fat, 4 grams saturated fat, 52 milligrams cholesterol, 407 milligrams sodium.

Recipe adapted from Scandinavian Cooking (HP Books, 1983) by Beatrice Ojakangas.




Making Smorrebrod

Deborah S. Hartz

February 20, 2003

To make smorrebrod, cut crusts from slices of pumpernickel or rye bread, but not French bread, when using them for a base. Be careful to spread soft butter entirely over the piece of bread you use. This keeps moist ingredients from seeping through and making the bread soggy.

The beauty of eating smorrebrod is not only the way they look -- like mosaics -- but also that each ingredient keeps its integrity. The lettuce is gathered into decorative ruffles; it doesn't cover the whole sandwich.




Onion and Herring Smorrebrod

February 20, 2003

4 teaspoons butter, softened
4 slices Danish pumpernickel or other rye bread, crusts removed
1 (8-ounce) jar herring fillets in wine sauce, drained and fillets cut into 1-inch strips
1 medium, sweet onion, cut into thin rings
8 thin tomato wedges
Watercress or parsley sprigs, for garnish

Per sandwich: 90 calories, 37 percent calories from fat, 6 grams protein, 9 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram total fiber, 4 grams total fat, 2 grams saturated fat, 85 milligrams cholesterol, 128 milligrams sodium.

Recipe adapted from Scandinavian Cooking (HP Books, 1983) by Beatrice Ojakangas.



Beef and Onion Smorrebrod

February 20, 2003

8 teaspoons butter, softened
8 slices Danish pumpernickel or other rye bread, crusts removed.
1/3 cup Dijon mustard
8 thin slices rare roast beef (about 1/2 pound)
8 teaspoons dairy sour cream
1/2 cup canned crisp-fried onions, crumbled
8 thin tomato wedges
8 parsley or watercress sprigs, for garnish

Per sandwich: 251 calories, 50 percent calories from fat, 13 grams protein, 19 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams total fiber, 14 grams total fat, 5 grams saturated fat, 41 milligrams cholesterol, 530 milligrams sodium.

Recipe adapted from Scandinavian Cooking (HP Books, 1983) by Beatrice Ojakangas.