Category Archives: danish cuisine

Flaeskeaeggekage - Danish bacon and egg pancake
breakfast/brunch, danish cuisine, food history, recipes

Danish Bacon-Egg Pancake (Flaeskeaeggekage)

Flaeskeaeggekage - Danish bacon-egg pancake whole
Just look at how pretty it is. And it tastes as good as it looks.

Information found in 1000 Foods to Eat Before You Die (pg. 347), recipe is my own

            Bacon and eggs have been combined for centuries, probably because they both cook quickly on the stove. Most likely, this is why they are often considered breakfast food. I’m not going to get up early enough to make eggs and bacon for breakfast, but some morning people might. It will taste just as good for brunch, lunch, or dinner.

            There are a number of recipes for this difficult-to-pronounce Danish recipe. Variations include the amount of milk to use and whether or not to dice the bacon. I went with Mimi Sheraton’s suggestion to leave the bacon strips whole and arrange them in a star pattern. Another unique touch is to use a bit of potato starch as a binder instead of the flour used in most of the online recipes. It gives the pancake a special, subtle flavor that makes it stand out from all the other recipes involving eggs and bacon.

            According to the internet, most Danish bacon is leaner than American bacon and is sold in cans. When using American bacon, it’s a good idea to pour off about half of the fat from the skillet after cooking it. The egg mixture cooks in the bacon fat, but it doesn’t need the full amount. This is particularly true if you’re cooking the whole package and not just the six slices needed for the recipe. You may as well and have some extra to munch on, since everyone nearby will be drawn to the smell.

Flaeskeaeggekage - Danish bacon-egg pancake wedge
Can’t you just smell the bacon through the screen?

            Traditionally, the pancake is flavored with white pepper, sprinkled with chives, and served with buttered rye bread. Depending on what you have, black pepper, green onions, and regular toast with butter and jam are other good options. Such an easy, comfort food dish like this shouldn’t require an extra trip to the store.

            To make it, I simply combined six eggs, a quarter cup 2% milk, a tablespoon potato starch, and a bit of salt and pepper to taste. The omelet/pancake cooks in the still-hot bacon fat over low heat until the bottom starts to brown and the top is almost set. Then add the bacon strips in a star pattern, sprinkle with chives or scallions, and cover the pan to help it set completely. Slice into wedges and serve with toast or rye bread. As a main course, each “pancake” serves two people.

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Aspargessuppe - Danish asparagus soup with mock veal dumplings
danish cuisine, food history, soup

Aspargessuppe: Danish Spring Asparagus Soup

1000 Foods (pgs. 344 – 346), recipe found in text

            Ever since the days of Ancient Rome, asparagus has been a symbol of spring and early summer. Ready sooner than most other vegetables, it seems to be especially popular in northern Europe, where long winters mean a longer season without fresh produce. Perhaps this makes people eager to enjoy everything about summer while they can.

            An interesting Danish recipe for asparagus is a soup enriched with veal dumplings and garnished with asparagus tips. Supposedly, it is not as common as it used to be, at least in restaurants. Most likely, this has to do with how fiddly it is to make. The recipe in the text requires at least five saucepans – one to cook and puree the asparagus, one to heat cream or half-and-half, one to heat broth, one to make a combination bechamel/velouté sauce, and one to cook the dumplings. Egg yolks are added at the last minute. Once they are, the soup has to be heated very carefully to prevent curdling.

            I don’t have five saucepans, and I assume most other people don’t either. If the broth and cream are heated in the microwave, the number can be reduced to a more manageable three. You can save another step by not straining the pureed asparagus. The soup won’t be as smooth, but I personally prefer for it to have a bit more texture.

            The first thickener is a combination of two of the French “mother sauces,” bechamel and velouté. Both use a butter and flour mix called roux to thicken a liquid. For bechamel, or white sauce, the liquid is milk, and for velouté, it is a light broth, typically poultry or fish. Yes, velouté is essentially gravy, but using the French term makes it sound fancy. Additional thickening comes from tempered egg yolks. About half of the soup is gradually whisked into the beaten egg yolks to bring them up to temperature, then the mix is added to the pot and heated carefully.

            This was an excellent soup. The asparagus flavor was clear and distinct, enriched but not overpowered by the bechamel/velouté and egg yolks. For some reason, the combined beef and pork “veal” dumplings didn’t puff up like they were supposed to. I suspect this was because I had previously frozen them and didn’t allow adequate time to thaw before cooking, but they still tasted good. For an easier recipe, the soup would be just as good plain. As with most asparagus soup recipes, the asparagus tips are set aside after cooking, reserved as the perfect garnish.

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