Media

INTERVIEW:

SBS Food on smørrebrød

Karin Monk, Vice President of Melbourne’s Danish Club at Denmark House who grew up north of Copenhagen, tells SBS Food: “It was the first Danish food to be exported and become famous abroad”. 

An excerpt of the interview here – for the rest, click below.

In Danish, smørrebrød means butter and bread, but these open sandwiches are a lot more than that. They first became popular in the 1800s among factory workers who would bring slices of rye bread and leftovers to make quick open sandwiches for lunch. By the end of that century, families were making them at home and dedicated smørrebrød restaurants had opened up around Denmark.

Despite the etiquette and rules attached to these Danish open sandwiches, there’s a smørrebrød for everyone’s taste.

INTERVIEW:

History of Denmark House

RECIPES

FOOD

FRIKADELLER

RECIPE

1 kg ground veal
1 kg ground pork
5 eggs
100 g plain flour
250 g milk
25 g salt
2 g pepper
2 brown onions

finely chop onions
add all ingredients and mix well
roll into balls fry in (lots of) butter till cooked

*tip* fry till golden brown in pan, finish in oven 7-8 minutes, 180 fan forced

GRAVLAX 

RECIPE

One side of salmon
200g salt
100g sugar
200g Fresh dill
2 lemons
3g peppercorn
3g fennel seeds
3g coriander seeds
2g coriander powder

Clean salmon, remove skin and cut in half
Mix sugar and salt, cover salmon in mix
Cut zest off lemons, chop 100g dill and zest, add juice from lemons
Add lemon and dill mix to salmon
Compress and leave in fridge for 8 – 12 hours
Remove salmon, discard dill/zest and pat salmon dry
Mix dill with crushed peppercorn, fennel seeds, coriander seeds and coriander powder Cover salmon in mix, compress and cure for 8 – 12 hours in fridge
Thinly slice salmon and serve – enjoy!

DRINKS

NEGRONI & MOJITO

RECIPE

Akvavit Negroni
30 ml Rød Aalborg
30 ml Campari
30 ml Dolin Rouge

Build into low ball glass
Add ice and stir
Garnish with orange peel

Danish MOJITO
60 ml Dild Akvavit
30 ml fresh Lime juice
15 ml Sugar syrup
Soda water

Build all ingredients in a Tom Collins glass
Fill glass with ice and top with soda water
Garnish with dill sprig and lime wedges

KOLDSKÅL COCKTAIL

RECIPE

Koldskål
60 ml Vanilla vodka
15 ml St Germain
30 ml fresh lemon juice
30 ml sugar syrup
1 egg white

Shake over ice
Double strain into a coupe
Garnish with shortbread crumbs

AKVAVIT AT HOME

RECIPE

1 bottle of vodka
Fennel seeds
Caraway seeds
Fresh dill

COPENHAGEN COCKTAIL

RECIPE

Copenhagen
60 ml Bols
30 ml Cherry Heering
30 ml fresh Lime juice
30 ml Sugar syrup
1 dash bitters

Shake with ice, double strain into a coupe, garnish with orange twist.

Simple Syrup
1 cup water, preferably filtered
1 cup granulated sugar

Heat water in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until hot, but do not bring to a boil.

Add the sugar and stir until fully dissolved. Cool syrup to room temperature before using or storing. Refrigerate for up to 3 weeks.

Presidents lunch

Every third Wednesday of the month we invite members to join us at the President's Table at Denmark House where current president Alexander Nielsen or other committee members attend.

Lunch is served from 12 pm on the third Wednesday of every month. Bookings are essential.

King's Birthday Dinner

26th May marks the birthday of His Majesty King Frederik X of Denmark and every year members are invited to dinner at Denmark House to celebrate the Danish monarch and catch up with other club members.

The dinner is always well-visited with Denmark House at full capacity on this day.

The King's Birthday Dinner is a free event for members of the Danish Club Dannebrog with plenty of snaps and other drinks available on consumption.

Members dinner

Members are invited to a communal meal at our themed Member's Dinner events. Recurring themes are eg, Trivia Nights and Xmas in July.

Dinner is served from 6 pm onwards. Bookings are essential.

Fugleskydning - Annual Birdshoot

The Birdshoot event at the Danish Club Dannebrog goes back almost as long as the Club's history - just shy of ten years. This European tradition travelled with members of the Danish Club to Melbourne and takes place the last Saturday of February.

Members of the Danish Club dress up in shirt and collar (yes, there's a dress code), meet for breakfastat Denmark House and travel to a nearby shooting range. Before the shooting commences, members sing the Danish national anthem. The tradition is believed to have its roots in France from where it spread throughout Europe. Popinjay, papingo or pole archery is a traditional shooting sport where artificial birds are knocked off their perches, either with archery equipment or rifles.

In Melbourne members of the Danish Club Dannebrog use rifles as was customary at bird shooting events in Denmark in the 1700 and 1800s. The event goes on all day and once the Bird King or Bird Queen are crowned, the members go back to Denmark House for some well-deserved lunch, beer, snaps and singing.

Denmark House hosts a dinner in honour of the new Bird King or Bird Queen - usually about a month or two after the event  - with all members invited to join in the celebrations of this year's King or Queen.