	Smørrebrød Danish Open Face Sandwiches

Smørrebrød

Danish Open Face Sandwiches

Smørrebrød are a long-standing Danish tradition. The name comes from the two essential ingredients and the starting point for smørrebrød: butter (smør) and bread (brød). Danish butter is rich and high in butter fat. The bread is a dark sourdough rye bread called rugbrød. Once you have buttered your bread that is where imagination and artistry begin.

Smørrebrød are open faced sandwiches served on a plate and intended to be eaten with a knife and fork. They are not suitable to be picked up in the hand and eaten like regular sandwiches. Most Danish restauraants offer smørrebrød on their menus but there are many restaurants that specialize in the famous Danish sandwiches.

On a recent visit my sister, Pattie Sue, and I decided to explore a bit of the culinary tradition of our Danish heritage. We were curious about the traditions that seemed to have been lost in the wilderness pioneer experiences of our grand and greatgrandparents in 19th and early 20th century Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. It is a beginning for us and we welcome you on our pilgramage of discovery and enlightenment.

Preparation: As much time as you wish	Life Experience Recipe
Serve 1 or 2 sandwiches per person	Traditional Danish Cuisine

Basic Starting Ingredients:
Dark rye bread (rugbrød) Danish remoulade sauce Slied hard boiled eggs Sliced onions, cucumbers and scallions	Rich creamery butter Agurkesalat - Danish pickles Garnishes such as sliced radish, roe, bacon and Dill weed

Some Suggested Additional Ingredients..... (Let your imagination Be Your Guide)
Pickled herring Smoked herring and with curry sauce Fried pickled herring Shrimp Cured salmon Smoked eel Fried fish filet with crème fraiche Medisterpølser - Traditional Danish pork sausage	Ham and Italian salad Roast beef with pickles Roast beef with remoulade sauce crispy onions Spiced pork roll with pickled cucumbers Liver pate and red beets Roast pork with red cabbage Chicken salad Frikadeller - Traditional Danish meat balls

Procedure

(Left) The smørrebrød sandwiich starts here with slices of dark, hearty sourdough rye bread slathered with rich Danish butter. From this point on it is all a matter of the foodstuffs on hand and your imagination and artistic inspiration. Before strating we did an Internet image search and used the photos of smørrebrød creations we found to guide us in our first attempt at these homeland treasures.
The smørrebrød pairs well with many other side dishes. This shrimp based smørrebrød was very tasy and paired well with some fresh fruit, here blueberries, strawberry and chunks of fresh pineapple.

This was our first experiment in making smørrebrød. A bit clumbsy at first but as we progressed it becam easier to visualize what we were doing. Always the results were delicious though some looked a bit cobbled together. We only used a few of the possible ingredients but even so we were able to make a significant variety of the dfelicious sandwiches. It was a learning experience and I think we made good progress. Just wait until our next get together...