In the old days
In the old days, the majority of Danes had to prepare their food from the ingredients that were at hand. Along the coasts, the bold fishermen and their families' food consisted for the most part of fish dishes, whereas the hardworking and hungry farmers, who lived in the middle of the country, predominantly ate vegetables, cabbage and pork.
On top of this, the different regions came to have their own culinary specialties. Most of these specialties are long forgotten - they simply disappeared in the melting pot of the great international kitchens. Moreover, most of them required several days' preparation which people do not have the time for these days. Fortunately, some of them have survived and are today served in restaurants and inns in different parts of the country.
Dishes on the menu today
One of the finer dishes on the menu in the small fishing community of Skagen consisted of pan-fried plaice with a mixture of cranberries, cowberries or gooseberries. Vegetables were not common as it was hard to grow in the bare, sandy landscape. Wild berries, on the contrary, were plentiful in the surrounding nature for the people from Skagen. These days, you can get an excellent "plaice á la Skagen" with cowberries at Brøndum's Hotel.
Also further down Jutland's west coast you'll find regional dishes where the main ingredient is fish - e.g. around Limfjorden where the predominant food is eel, served in a variety of ways.
The eel roll is one of the really old dishes of the region. After the eel has been skinned and de-boned, it is stuffed with chopped onions, salt and pepper. Next, it is rolled from the tail and upwards, packed in fabric and cooked. The roll is served cool and in slices and with potatoes in white sauce. At Venø Kro (Venø Inn) in Struer, they serve eel rolls that make the angels sing.
People from the western part of Jutland are also famous for Ølben, a dish that dates back to the 18th century, and it has been served at Sevel Kro (Sevel Inn) for many years. It is made from spareribs that have been brined for 24 hours and subsequently they are cooked with herbs in a mixture of bouillon and porter. When the soup has rested for three days, the spareribs are removed, roasted and served with a thickened stewed kale made the West Jutland way. Eat it with a beer and the inn's homemade snaps made from herbs from the Jutland heath.
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