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.
Read more about this topic: Danish Cuisine
Famous quotes containing the words cold and/or table:
“If the factory people outside the colleges live under the discipline of narrow means, the people inside live under almost every other kind of discipline except that of narrow means—from the fruity austerities of learning, through the iron rations of English gentlemanhood, down to the modest disadvantages of occupying cold stone buildings without central heating and having to cross two or three quadrangles to take a bath.”
—Margaret Halsey (b. 1910)
“The best thing about Sassy Seats is that grandmothers cannot figure out how they work and are in constant fear of the child’s falling. This often makes them forget to comment on other aspects of the child’s development, like why he is not yet talking or is still wearing diapers. Some grandmothers will spend an entire meal peering beneath the table and saying, “Is that thing steady?” rather than, “Have you had a doctor look at that left hand?””
—Anna Quindlen (20th century)