Danish Cuisine - Cold Table

Cold Table

The Danish koldt bord or cold buffet corresponds to its Swedish counterpart, the smörgåsbord. It is usually served at lunch time. The cold table may be a buffet arrangement or the many and varied items may be brought to the dining table and passed around family-style.

The meal begins with fish, usually pickled herring (marinerede sild), or another herring dish. The herring is normally marinated either in a clear sweet, peppery vinegar sauce (white herring), or in a red seasoned vinegar (red herring). It may also come in a variety of sour cream-based sauces, including a curry sauce which is very popular. The white herring is typically served on buttered, black rye bread, topped with white onion rings and curry salad (a sour-cream based sauce, flavored with curry and chopped pickles), and served with hard boiled eggs and tomato slices. Herring can also be found which is first fried, and then marinated this is called "stegte sild i eddike" (lit.: Fried herring in vinegar). On extra festive occasions a prepared silderet (herring dish) might be served in which the herring pieces are placed in a serving dish along with other ingredients. Examples might be herring, sliced potato, onions and capers topped with a dill sour cream/mayonnaise sauce, or herring, apple pieces, and horseradish topped with a curry sour-cream/mayonnaise sauce. Other fish dishes may include:

• Rejer (shrimps), usually served on white bread with mayonnaise and lemon
• Røget ål (smoked eel) with scrambled egg
• Gravad laks (salt-cured salmon) with a dill and mustard sauce
• Rødspættefilet (breaded filets of plaice), served hot with lemon and remoulade
• Røget laks (smoked salmon)
• Røget hellefisk (smoked halibut)

The cold table also consists of a wide variety of meat dishes and, despite its name, nearly always includes a few items which are served hot. Some of the more common components are:

• Frikadeller (meat balls), sometimes hot,
• Leverpostej (liver paste), sometimes hot, with pickled beetroot, mushrooms or fried bacon
• Mørbradbøf (pork tenderloin), sometimes hot, with fried onions
• Flæskesteg (roast pork) with crackling, usually with red cabbage
• Medisterpølse (coarsely ground pork and bacon sausage)
• Pariserbøf (ground beef steak), usually served hot on toast with pickles

There will also be cold cuts such as hams, roast beef, salami, brisket of beef and spiced roulade. Buffets usually include accompaniments such as potato salad, scrambled egg and a variety of salads. Desserts such as fruit salad and fruit pies as well as various cheeses may also be included.