Smørrebrød - Danish sandwiches gone vegan
In my recent weekend in Denmark, I kept seeing restaurants and cafes offering Smørrebrød.
Smørrebrød is - are? - open faced sandwiches. Apparently, so the internet tells me, smørrebrød is Danish for buttered bread, and usually involves a slice of rye bread with a variety of fillings laid on top.
In Denmark, these fillings would normally be things like liver pate and cucumber, herring, beef with onions, or cheese of some sort. You've noticed there's not much vegan there, right?
You're not wrong - in my four days in the Danish capital of Copenhagen, I saw one vegetarian and no vegan smørrebrød choices, and the veggie one seemed a little odd: potato, tomato, and mayo. Maybe it's tradition that veggies have to only eat smørrebrød topped with things that end in the letter o?
So, when I got back home, I knew I had to fix up some smørrebrød of my own.
I used the rye bread I brought back from Copenhagen, and whipped up these fellas:
From left to right - Saf cashew cheese with olives, tomato, and pickled gherkins; avocado, chipotle mayonnaise and roasted pumpkin seeds; and hummus with carrot and spring onions.
Yep, they were good. I can see why the Danes had the good sense to ditch the second layer of bread and let the fillings do their thing.
The internet also reckons that the Danish say that a meal for a man is three smørrebrød, and two for a woman. Pah! I laugh in the face of such gender-determined eating. I stepped up to a manly three smørrebrød and cleared my plate.
May I suggest that we rewrite that saying? I propose the following: two smørrebrød for a woman, three smørrebrød for a man, and four smørrebrød for a greedy, happy vegan.
Smørrebrød is - are? - open faced sandwiches. Apparently, so the internet tells me, smørrebrød is Danish for buttered bread, and usually involves a slice of rye bread with a variety of fillings laid on top.
In Denmark, these fillings would normally be things like liver pate and cucumber, herring, beef with onions, or cheese of some sort. You've noticed there's not much vegan there, right?
You're not wrong - in my four days in the Danish capital of Copenhagen, I saw one vegetarian and no vegan smørrebrød choices, and the veggie one seemed a little odd: potato, tomato, and mayo. Maybe it's tradition that veggies have to only eat smørrebrød topped with things that end in the letter o?
So, when I got back home, I knew I had to fix up some smørrebrød of my own.
I used the rye bread I brought back from Copenhagen, and whipped up these fellas:
From left to right - Saf cashew cheese with olives, tomato, and pickled gherkins; avocado, chipotle mayonnaise and roasted pumpkin seeds; and hummus with carrot and spring onions.
Yep, they were good. I can see why the Danes had the good sense to ditch the second layer of bread and let the fillings do their thing.
The internet also reckons that the Danish say that a meal for a man is three smørrebrød, and two for a woman. Pah! I laugh in the face of such gender-determined eating. I stepped up to a manly three smørrebrød and cleared my plate.
May I suggest that we rewrite that saying? I propose the following: two smørrebrød for a woman, three smørrebrød for a man, and four smørrebrød for a greedy, happy vegan.
Your sandwiches look good! I always liked open sandwiches — more fillings!
ReplyDeleteThese look really tasty! What I like about open faced sandwiches is that you really taste the toppings. They come to the forefront instead of the flavor of bread. I like your new adage! If anyone deserves four smørrebrød, it's a happy vegan!
ReplyDeleteThey look delicious! Will be having to try something like this soon.
ReplyDeleteWhoa, those are some weird 'o's with the lines stabbing through them. How do you even pronounce that? Your homespun versions look very awesome - especially the avocado one. Can't resist me some avo! Open-faced sandwiches are great because you end up getting more food out of the deal, and I'm all about that. Usually we just do the classic trinity of hummus-avo-tomato, but I should switch it up sometime! And ha ha ha, I'd probably opt to be manly and go for three slices. :)
ReplyDeleteWow, they look good! You'd need to have good toppings to make it worth ditching the extra bread, though - especially if it's rye bread. I would love to have your version, but if I was presented with a potato and tomato sandwich with only one piece of bread, I would feel ripped off :)
ReplyDeleteAlso, traditional rye is whole grain and wheat free! I too, am a vegan who loves smorrebrod.
ReplyDelete