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Tag: DIS

Published on

By Ashlyn

DIS (my study abroad program) offers several different types of housing, including "Living-Learning Communities." These communities place students who are interested in learning a particular skill in the same housing facility. I was placed in the "Culinary House," an LLC dedicated to teaching its inhabitants about Danish food culture through hands-on lessons, visits, and tastings.

As a member of the Culinary House for the past month and a half, I have cooked (and eaten) quite a lot of Danish food. Though I feel like I have only scratched the surface of Danish cuisine, I already have picked out a few favorites among those dishes that I have eaten. The following is a list of my five favorite Danish foods… at the moment. (Subject to change.)

  1. Smørrebrød

These open-faced sandwiches are possibly the most popular food in Denmark and are typically eaten for lunch. Start with a piece of nutty, grainy rugbrød, which is a special dark rye bread. Next, and a slew of ingredients and condiments. Each type of smørrebrød has a particular list of ingredients that it must include. My favorite smørrebrød types are prawn - made with mayonnaise, small prawns, hard-boiled eggs, and lemon - and tartare - seasoned with salt and pepper and topped with raw onion, egg, and horseradish.

  1. Wienerbrød

Wienerbrød is what Americans would typically call a Danish pastry, but in Denmark the name literally translates to "Viennese bread." This is because the recipe for a Danish pastry comes from an adaptation of the Viennese treat Plundergebäck. The Danish version of this pastry comes in many different shapes, sizes, and flavors. My favorite version is known as overskåret and is flat with stripes of white frosting, warm yellow custard, and melted chocolate.

  1. Fransk Hotdog

Hot dog carts are as common on the streets of Copenhagen as they are on the streets of New York. However, instead of your average frankfurters, the hot dog carts here in Denmark sell long, meaty sausages called pølse. One of the more popular ways to eat pølse on the go is in the form of a Fransk Hotdog ("French hot dog"). A hollowed-out baguette (closed on one side) is filled with creamy French dressing and then a sausage is inserted from the top. The salty, grilled hot dog goes very well with the crisp baguette and the rich dressing.  The Danes call it hangover food - whatever it is, it's definitely a guilty pleasure.

  1. Brunsviger

This Danish cake is sometimes served for birthdays, though it can also be served as a coffee cake. It tastes like a cinnamon bun, and is made of delicious, fluffy dough topped with a thick layer of caramelized butter and brown sugar. It should be eaten warm, but in my opinion, it can be eaten cold, or lukewarm, or half warm and half cold, or upside down, or with sunglasses on. This cake is dangerous, dangerous stuff.

  1. Flødebøller

Ah, flødebøller. In the past few weeks I’ve gotten to know this little Danish treat very well. The average flødebøller is a simple mixture of marshmallowy meringue, piped onto a wafer and dipped in tempered chocolate. But it is so much more than that. I have eaten approximately 200 flødebøller (give or take a hundred and fifty) since I’ve been in Copenhagen and I expect to eat at least 200 more before I leave to return home. It doesn’t matter whether they are simple or fancy – some chocolate shops make them with marzipan, or put dried raspberries in the meringue, or use white chocolate on the exterior – they are all delicious. They are also not too rich or too filling. They are the perfect after-dinner treat!

Published on

By Ashlyn

The Danish word of the day is mister.

The definition of the word is to lose.

On Sunday the sun managed to struggle out from behind the clouds for longer than a 20 minute clip. My friends and I felt optimistic about the weather, so we left the house in search of the magical land of Christiania.

Christiania is a not-so-secret secret “alternative living community” nestled in the heart of Copenhagen. A relic from the early 70s, the town has been built up almost by hand by its inhabitants, who live free (almost) from the rules and laws that govern the rest of Denmark. Imagine, if you will, walking into a huge abandoned theme park that is full of trash, graffiti, and weird-looking structures that are partially covered in uncut grass and moss. Now picture huge, psychedelic murals wrapping around almost everything in sight. Now add the persistent scent of smoke and garbage that hasn’t been taking out. That’s Christiania, in a nutshell.

The walk we took was fascinating. We strolled down muddy sidewalks, viewing the homes of the inhabitants of the “free town.” Many were built up from scratch from scrap materials. Some were made from abandoned warehouses and buildings. We saw makeshift children’s playgrounds, organic food restaurants, and plenty of flowers growing everywhere. There was even a stable deep inside the neighborhood, filled with horses and one sweet looking donkey.

Just outside there was a bakery called Lagkagehuset (a chain popular in Denmark) so we popped in to get a quick dessert. I ordered a pastry with custard in the center. As we stood huddled around a table, munching, a family suddenly came in with a sick child. The child was coughing abnormally, and not wanting to get sick in a foreign country (even though Denmark’s healthcare system is excellent), we decided to eat the rest of our pastries on the go. It was a 20 minute walk back to our dorm.

Climbing up the steps to my room was when I realized – I had lost my wallet. Now, losing your wallet in a foreign country isn’t like losing it at home. It sucks either way, but losing your wallet abroad is like losing your lifeline. I immediately panicked. All of my ID cards, plus my debit card and some cash was in there. My first instinct was to contact my parents and ask them what to do. But… when you’re thousands of miles away from home, you have to figure things out on your own. You can’t rely on mom and dad to help you because they physically can’t. Luckily, my roommates are sweet girls and helped me figure out the phone number of the bakery we had visited (the last place the wallet had been seen.)

Luckily, and due in large part to the kindness and honesty of the Danes, my wallet was still at the bakery. I’ve never run a mile so quickly in all my life. As I approached the counter the women behind it laughed a bit and told me to be more careful next time. When they gave it over to me, not a single item had been touched or moved. Back home in D.C. I doubt I would have been as lucky. I might have gotten the wallet back, but the cash and card would likely have been lost.

So what I learned this week was this - keep your belongings close when you’re away from home. Remember that you have to rely on yourself (and your good friends) to tackle tough situations. This can seem like a bad thing, but it’s actually a good thing. It’s a chance to test yourself, to grow a little in terms of maturity and learn how to handle situations more calmly. You need to be flexible and independent to travel abroad – and, even if you’re neither of those things (like me), you’ll learn quickly on the job.

…And one last word: thank you to whomever found my wallet at Lagkagehuset and turned it in without stealing from it. You’re a life saver!

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