Danish History and Culture

Danish Cooking

The Vikings

VIKINGS, collective designation of Nordic people Danes, Swedes, Norwegians who ranged abroad during a period of dynamic Scandinavian expansion in the Middle Ages, from about AD 800 to 1100. Called the Viking Age, the period has long been popularly associated with unbridled piracy, when freebooters came swarming out of the northlands in their predatory longships to burn and pillage their way across civilized Europe. The name "Viking" was first used by foreign authors in the 11th century AD.  Its origin is probably the Swedish word for bay, "vik".  This shows the close connection between the people and the sea, of which they were totally dependent for their livelihood. The

Vikings are often considered wild, drunken, merciless robbers. In fact, their main occupation was farming and trade.   Not every Scandinavian was a professional warrior or Viking, and not every Viking was a pirate. The motive causes of Viking Age expansion are complex. Land shortage in Scandinavia, improved iron production, and the need for new markets probably all played a part.

The first recorded Viking raid was a seaborne assault (793) by Norwegian marauders on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, just off the northeast shoulder of England. Growing evidence indicates, however, that considerable overseas Viking migration, west across the North Sea and east across the Baltic, occurred long before that.

The Swedish Vikings

There is a distinction between "Swedish" and "Danish/Norwegian" Vikings. The Danish and Norwegian expeditions went westwards, concentrating on Western Europe and England. The Swedish, on the other hand, went mostly eastwards into modern-day Russia and further on to Byzantium and the Caliphate. Runestones and archaeological artifacts found in eastern Sweden and on the island of Gotland show that the trade exchange between eastern Sweden and the Near East was very intense at this time in history. These expeditions often started from trade centers like "Birka", situated on an island in Lake Mälaren, not far from modern-day Stockholm. During the Viking period the swedish state began to take form.  In the beginning the power structure in Scandinavia was built mainly on small chiefdoms, where small local chiefs ruled over a limited area, often not more far-reaching than a large farm or a village. These chiefdoms grew in some areas and became more extensive as time went by. In what was to become Sweden two "tribes" or local "nationalities", "Göter" and "Svear" became the most influential and formed two "states" with kings as leaders. Later in history these "states" merged and formed Sweden. Even today we talk about "Götaland" (the Land of Göter) and "Svealand" (the Land of Svear).

Explorers

The Vikings pioneered new trade routes down the Volga and the Dnepr, founding city-states such as Kiev and Novgorod, and opening the way to Constantinople and the exotic markets of Arabia and the Far East.  In Constantinople, Vikings formed the elite bodyguard of the Byzantine emperors, the feared and famous Varangian Guard. Danish warriors hammered at the cities of the crumbling Carolingian Empire Hamburg, Dorestad, Rouen, Paris, Nantes, Bordeaux until one of the armies in 911 accepted by treaty huge tracts of land in northern France (now known as Normandy, "land of the Northmen") and settled there.

According to a chronicle written in the 12th century AD, the Swedish Vikings were the founders of Russia.  Although this is not very likely, the influence of the Vikings is still visible. The name Russia for instance, probably originates from one of the names of the Swedish Vikings, "ruser".

They discovered and settled uninhabited lands in the Atlantic first the Faeroes, then Iceland, then Greenland. From Greenland they launched ambitious expeditions to settle on the eastern seabord of North America (Vinland), but these attempts to colonize the New World 500 years before Columbus were soon abandoned in the face of hostility from the native Indians. Stories of the abortive American venture are recorded in the medieval Icelandic sagas; but little authentic evidence of the Viking presence has been found, apart from substantial traces of a Viking Age settlement at L'Anse-aux-Meadows, in northern Newfoundland. All other Viking "finds," such as the Kensington Stone, have been exposed as forgeries or hoaxes, or merely wishful thinking.

In their time the Vikings had crisscrossed half the world in their open boats and vastly extended its horizons. Having achieved that, however, they had neither the manpower nor the staying power, neither the reserves of wealth nor the political experience, neither the cohesion at home nor the confidence abroad, to master effectively the older, richer, more stable states they tried to overrun.

The Gods

According to Nordic mythology the gods lived in "Asgård", the humans in "Midgård, and the giants in "Jotunheim". These places were situated in the world tree, the ash tree "Yggdrasil". The most important god was "Oden", the lord of gods and humans. After battles, he took the fallen Vikings to "Valhalla" on his horse "Sleipner". Other gods were "Frö", the god of love and fertility and "Fröja", the goddess of love and fertility. The perhaps most famous among the gods is "Tor" the mightiest warrior of them all. He was the god of thunder and had a hammer called "Mjölner" which,like a boomerang, returned to his hand after he had thrown it.

Danish Cookery Classics

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! (in Danish)

DANISH CHRISTMAS BREAD

---------------------------GLAZE--------------------------------

1 Egg; beaten, mixed with

1 ts Milk or water

-------------------------DECORATION------------------------------

7 Halves of glaceed cherries

7 Walnut or pecan halves

---------------------------ICING-------------------------------

1 c Confectioners' sugar	Milk (Mix to a smooth Drizzle consistency)
1/4 ts Vanilla

This festive bread is perfect for gifts. The recipe can be doubled and freezes well for up to 2 months. A fermented yeast "starter" gives this bread a full flavor, but you can omit the process if you're in a hurry.

PREHEAT OVEN TO 350F. In a food processor or mixer bowl, mix 1 cup of the flour, the warm milk, yeast and sugar. If time allows, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave the dough at room temperature to ferment and bubble for 2 hours. If time does not allow, proceed to add the egg, salt and butter. Add the rest of the flour, 1/2 cup at a time, to make a soft dough. Knead the dough in the food processor, mixer or on a floured board until elastic and smooth. Mix the dates/raisins and nuts together and fold and knead 1/3 of the mixture at a time into the dough until well mixed. Place in an oiled plastic bag or oiled bowl. Turn to coat. Seal or cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 3/4 to 1 hour. Punch down. Knead briefly. Grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan. Form the dough into an oval approximately the length of the pan, and place in pan. Let rise again until doubled. Brush the loaves with the egg glaze. Bake on the middle shelf about 40-to-50 minutes until nicely browned. Cover with foil if the loaf browns too rapidly. Cool on a wire rack. Using a spoon... Drizzle the icing on the cooled bread. Before the icing has set - top with the cherries and nuts as you like.

Note -  I like to split the dough in half before allowing it to rise a final time and then with each half I again divide the dough into thirds and roll out into 3 individual ropes and braid the dough into a compact loaf.

Makes 2 Loaves

Rødgrød med fløde- (Red fruit mush with cream)

This is a classic Danish dish with a name that is impossible to pronounce! I have included the pronunciation for you to listen too. Now LISTEN and REPEAT, (it helps if you put marbles in your mouth...LOL!) the Danes will get a big kick out of your attempt!

Preparation: 20 minutes

Cooking: 10 minutes

Ingredients (serves 4)

27 oz. (3/4 kg) berries in the proportions 40% raspberries,40% currants, and 20% black currants (alt. use natural, unsweetened juice in the same proportions and then skip the first 3 steps below)

1 pint (1/2 l) water	0.4-0.8 cups (1-2 dl) sugar
4-5 tablespoons (60-75 ml) cornstarch per 4 cups (1 l) juice	1-2 oz. (25-50 g) blanched, chopped almonds
cream (optional)

Directions

Rinse the berries.	Boil the berries in water for 4-5 minutes in a pot.
Mash the berries in order to extract as much juice as possible.	Measure the amount of extracted juice and add sugar according to taste.
Pour the juice back in the pot and bring to a boil.	Mix cornstarch with a bit of water, and stir the mixture in the juice.
Boil the fruit soup for 1 minute.	Optional: Serve with cream on top.

Alternative suggestion: Add the raspberries to the juice extracted from the other berries in order to get some more substance in the fruit soup.

Frikadeller - (Danish Meatballs)

Danish meatballs are the most common dish served in Denmark.  Ingredients for four people, portion sizes can be scaled up or down:

one lb (1/2 kg) of ground pork.	one lb (1/2 kg) of ground lamb or beef.
five oz (100 grams) of plain bread crumbs	one or two finely chopped onions
one teaspoon salt	one teaspoon black pepper
one cup of water

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, mix thoroughly. With a spoon, make meatballs the size of golf balls. Heat up a pan with grease, margarine, shortening or oil, to medium, and place the meatballs in the pan. Turn them every five minutes or so and test them with a fork to make sure they are well done inside. They are not supposed to be pink in the center. When the meatballs are done, place them on a paper towel and drain well.

Can be served with boiled potatoes, baked potatoes, mashed potatoes or rice. Denmark is a potato country and traditionally frikadeller is only served with some kind of potato. Leftover meatballs can be stored in a freezer; they taste just as good reheated.

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