Denmark - At the Table: Food and Family around the World - Ken Albala

At the Table: Food and Family around the World - Ken Albala (2016)

Denmark

Caroline Nyvang

In March 2013 Helene learned that she was pregnant, and 13 months ago their boy Lui was born. Welcoming a baby into their lives changed the couple’s dinner rituals. Unless they tuck in their toddler early, Christopher, Helene, and Lui usually eat around 5:30 p.m., which is a fairly common time of the day to have dinner in Danish families.

To make room for the family extension, the family recently moved out of their small city apartment and into a roomy house on the outskirts of Copenhagen. The change of scenery also brought about a change of shopping opportunities. Whereas the city center provides a wide array of ethnic groceries, the fringes of the city have more supermarkets, and Christopher and Helene now mostly shop for food within walking distance of their home. They try to shop for basic groceries once a week, most often on Saturdays. Usually taking along Lui in a backpack carrier, one parent will walk to the nearest supermarket to get staples for a whole week: breakfast cereals, fruit, milk, and coffee.

Albala

When Helene and Christopher learned that they were having a child, they started looking for a bigger place and soon found a home to their liking. The spacious townhouse on the outskirts of Copenhagen has an open kitchen/dining area that allows the family to tend to their son while dinner is being prepared. (Courtesy of Hans Rasmus Nyvang)

On Mondays and Tuesdays, Helene and Christopher have dinner with their neighbors. This arrangement has proved to be both cozy and time-saving, as the couples take turn cooking.

Recently, Helene and Christopher have become subscribers to a popular organic food enterprise that carries organic meal boxes. The company delivers to the doorstep once a week, and its boxes contain recipes as well as ingredients for three hot meals for two persons. As it is, this is enough to fill up the small family, and sometimes there are even leftovers that the adults can eat for lunch at work the next day.

In effect, this means that the family’s weekday dinners are firmly orchestrated.

With time-consuming careers and a small child, “it’s really, really nice that you do not have to worry about what’s for dinner,” as Helene phrases it. To Christopher, who usually takes great pleasure in the many aspects of preparing dinner, this level of planning took a bit of convincing, but he has since been persuaded by the logistical advantages of having meal kits delivered to their doorstep. Both Christopher and Helene emphasize fresh produce as a key ingredient in a proper meal. All in all, the couple seems to welcome the meal box subscription as a nice compromise between grocery shopping and takeout.

Since starting the subscription, Christopher and Helene have found that they end up throwing out less food than previously. Furthermore, they are both happy that the better part of their diet is organic. According to the couple, buying organic food is not only a healthier and greener choice but also a matter of animal welfare. From her country upbringing, Helene knows a little about raising chickens and is especially keen on buying organic and, preferably, free-range poultry.

Organic Food

In recent decades a national system of labeling has been in place designating organic food, and the market has grown significantly, especially among affluent consumers. The perception is that these foods contain fewer pesticide residues and chemical fertilizers, cannot be genetically modified, have a less negative impact on the environment than conventional agriculture, and are therefore a more healthy choice, especially when feeding one’s children. In fact, there is little concrete evidence that organic food is better for health, though long-term in-depth studies may prove otherwise in the future. For the moment, organic food is as much a moral stance and a marker of status as it is a choice among several options, because the cost is prohibitive for those on a tight budget.

Although reducing food waste is environmentally and economically sound, the meal box is not per se a cheaper alternative to doing your own food shopping. By a rough estimate, Christopher and Helene currently spend 20 percent of their disposable income on foodstuffs. This brings the couple up to par with notoriously food-conscious populations such as the French, Italians, and Japanese but sets them apart from the majority of Danes, who on average spend about half as much on food. And in this respect, both Christopher and Helene see a difference compared to their own upbringing, when economic concerns would at times outweigh ecological and gastronomic considerations.

Today, the ingredients for the family dinner are a mixture of leftover meat and produce from a previous meal box. The family is having a duck stew and a spicy vinaigrette salad on the side. In recent years, casseroles have had a revival in Denmark. While the dish is certainly in tune with the current interest in slow cooking, stews have also become a popular everyday dish, with many families pressed for time. Once cooked, the one-pot meal is easy to store in the freezer or refrigerator, and the hearty dish is a quick serve. And as Christopher points out, big-batch cooking doesn’t necessarily take longer than cooking one meal.

The duck stew is prepared by Christopher, easily the most epicurean of the two. He is usually the one doing the cooking, while Helene spends time playing with their young son. Preparations normally start around 4:30 p.m., around the time Lui comes home from daycare seeking parental attention. The couple has a large joint kitchen and dining room that makes it easy for the whole family to spend time together, even when one parent is busy at the stove.

Helene and Christopher have a range of kitchen appliances stored in the numerous kitchen cupboards and drawers, but they only use a few select items regularly. Among the perennial favorites is a stand mixer mostly used for kneading dough, a small hand blender for Lui’s baby food, and the low-tech salad spinner that was used for tonight’s salad. Otherwise, the couple relies on a handful of different knives, which they now agree on have become too dull and need to be sharpened at the butcher shop.

Since starting their meal box subscription, Helene and Christopher rarely buy any convenience food. Almost all meals are home-cooked and based on fresh ingredients. Bread is the only ready-made food item the couple regularly buys. For a while, Helene baked her own sourdough rye loafs—a staple at the Danish lunch table—but after baby Lui was born, she found that it took up too much of her meager spare time.

Lui, already in his high chair and donning a smock bib, is the first to receive a serving. He is clearly hungry and quickly grabs for the fettuccine while he impatiently watches as Helene starts to mash his portion of stew. At the kitchen counter, Christopher is piling pasta and stew onto plates for the adults. Right before bringing the plates to the table, he sprinkles each serving with parsley. Side dishes and the bowl of salad are placed in the center of the dining table so that Helene and Christopher can help themselves to salad throughout the meal.

Helene feeds the stew to Lui, while he digs into the pasta with his hands. Once his initial hunger and fussiness subside, Helene is able to move on to her own plate as her son tries to finish the meal with his own plastic spoon.

As in many other Danish homes, Christopher and Helene’s dinning table doubles as a workbench and is scantily set during everyday dinners. There is no tablecloth or decoration, and plates, silverware, and glasses are usually placed at the center of the table along with salt and pepper shakers. The couple drinks carbonated water with every meal. Today—halfway through a long vacation—they will also have red wine, a less frequent indulgence since they had their son.

No overall topic seems to be taboo at the table. The couple, however, has banned phones, tablets, and computers during dinner, a mutual agreement that they both seem keen on keeping. Dinner conversations usually revolve around work, movies, radio shows, and practicalities related to Lui. And clearly their son also has a few things to air as he often chimes in, babbling away between bites.

After having been exclusively breast-fed for 6 months, Lui has slowly been introduced to solids and is now, at 13 months, trying his luck with his own plastic cutlery and plate. This sometimes means that mealtimes become playtime, and food is tossed to the floor. Christopher and Helene have not yet considered any particular table manners they would impose on their young son. But when asked directly, Helene states that she has always assumed that Lui will take part in getting food ready and setting the table once he reaches the proper age.

Ideally, the diners would stay put at the table until all have finished their meals. But after having Lui, the traditional boundaries of mealtimes have been blurred. Lui is often both hungry and tired in the evening, so he is usually given a bit to eat before the rest of his family has a chance to really sit down. Furthermore, one parent often gets Lui ready for bed while the other finishes his or her meal. Tonight, Christopher rises from the table after about 20 minutes, gives Lui a diaper change, and gets him into his pajamas. Meanwhile, Helene finishes her meal.

This, however, is not the last meal for the toddler. Right before Lui’s bedtime, the parents always offer supplementary gruel to top him off. Tonight, a generous serving of stew and pasta—even if some ended up on the floor—was apparently enough for Lui, and he shows no interest in the additional serving of rice porridge.

As Helene goes upstairs to tuck Lui in, Christopher starts to clear the table and load the dishwasher. Helene and Christopher have an implicit division of labor. While one parent puts Lui to bed, the other clears the kitchen. That way when their son is finally asleep, the couple will have some time to themselves.

Food has always been an important element in Christopher and Helene’s relationship. Despite both of them working full-time in academia, they have usually juggled their busy schedules to make room for a shared evening meal, even if it meant having dinner late in the evening. Furthermore, cooking has long served as a pretext for gathering friends and family in the couple’s small apartment in the center of Copenhagen. Christopher is an ardent cook and likes to prepare lavish meals for his and Helene’s friends.

Albala

A plate of duck stew with Fettucine, with a vinaigrette salad on the side. (Courtesy of Hans Rasmus Nyvang)

Christopher and Helene’s Duck Stew with Fettuccine

(Serves 8)

2 small ducks (or equivalent amount of duck parts)

Salt and pepper

Oil

2 tablespoons flour

8 medium shallots, finely sliced

4 cloves of garlic, finely sliced

4 carrots, diced

4 stalks of celery, sliced

2 cups of red wine

3½ ounces tomato puree

2 cups of chicken stock

4-6 thyme sprigs

Fettuccine (fresh)

Parsley

1.Cut up the duck, skin it, and brown the meat in a large pot. Season with salt and pepper.

2.Add the flour along with the shallots, garlic, carrots, and celery. Let it brown for 2-3 minutes.

3.Pour in the red wine, simmer to a boil, and add the tomato puree, chicken stock, and thyme.

4.Let it slow-cook at low heat for at least 2 hours.

5.When the duck is tender, remove the meat from the bones. Skim off the fat, discard the thyme, and season with salt and pepper. Return the duck to the pot and let it simmer for an additional few minutes.

6.Cook the fettuccine and place on a platter. Add the sauce and sprinkle with parsley.

Spicy Romaine Salad with Vinaigrette

(Side dish, serves 4)

1 grapefruit

¾ cup red wine vinegar

1 head romaine lettuce

1 chili pepper (medium hot)

Olive oil and black pepper to taste

1.Squeeze half the grapefruit into a small saucepan.

2.Add the vinegar and cook until reduced to half.

3.Add the finely chopped chili along with 2 tablespoons olive oil and black pepper to taste.

4.Thoroughly rinse and drain the romaine salad. Break it into fairly large pieces.

5.Peel the rest of the grapefruit and slice it into bite-size pieces.

6.Toss the salad and the grapefruit in the vinaigrette. Serve immediately.

FURTHER READING

Notaker, Henry. Food Culture in Scandinavia. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2009.