Danish chefs reinvent the tapa to provide food at a good price in Copenhagen

The smörrebrod Danish are not tapas, although the informality that accompanies them brings them closer to that very Spanish way of eating; nor are they equivalent to the pintxos Basques that are triple in size and ingredients. Better to define them as open sandwiches, or creative sandwiches without lids. Or perhaps XXL designer canapes on plated slices of black bread. Similes and adjectives don't matter at all. At lunchtime in Copenhagen and throughout Denmark, the offerings are dominated by a good number of restaurants, where they are reviewed on menus, blackboards and posters as an advertisement and whose prices fluctuate between 15 and 25 euros each unit in special cases. One of the most affordable ways to eat in this country, where the price scale of hospitality, especially in the capital, reaches more than respectable levels.

“Originally, as the word (black bread with butter) indicates, they were poor food,” Kamilla Seidler, former cook at Noma and Gustu, told me, who in her charming restaurant Lola, in the Cristhiania neighborhood, has a suggestive offer. “Humble recipes that were prepared with slices of rugbrød, dark and heavy rye bread spread with butter, on which peasants placed leftovers from dinner, simple compositions that have become more sophisticated over time. Now they are served with oysters, herring, cheeses, salmon, eel, pork, cheese or whatever. They are the most requested thing at lunch time. You will find them in all restaurants on slices of traditional-style black bread, or grilled white bread. From basic formulas based on a pâté with something on top to the most creative ones packed with Latin and Asian ingredients. Although they are tasted daily, they are the favorite menu of many families on the weekends.”

The first smörrebrod that arrived at my table managed to awaken my enthusiasm. On a slice of black bread were slices of cured beet with the texture of veal, bathed in a soft oyster cream and topped with raw oysters, nori seaweed and aromatic herbs. “In the smörrebrod With creative aspirations, volume matters, the more height they have, the more they are considered. Hence so many wobbly pyramids,” she told me with a half smile. The following composition, with a vegetarian profile, maintained the same structure: black bread, butter, thin slices of celeriac, hazelnut mayonnaise, pieces of Jerusalem artichoke fried like potato chips, pickled carrot and notes of citrus. Workmanship similar to the two that continued, served in half a portion at their own request. First, cod roe covered in curry mayonnaise, aromatic herbs and Indian spices, and separately, grilled marinated pork, with spices, mustard seeds and red cabbage. A remarkable balance.

Even more surprising was my experience in Selma, place of the smörrebrod creative par excellence, run by Swedish chef Magnus Pettersson, where I improvised a five-course menu without knowing for sure what to expect. My surprises continued to increase. To the striking herring with kefir, beetroot, smoked herring roe covered by oxalyshe continued smörrebrod of smoked salmon. Both with marked flavors and acidity as a point of confluence. With the third came the celeriac slices, seasoned with ume kosho japanese, raw mushrooms and pistachios with black truffle melanosporum. Fantastic. And with the fourth, some hollow Jerusalem artichokes, with a crunchy crust, stuffed with apples with hazelnuts and plenty of black truffle. Without a doubt the least aesthetic up to that moment and, nevertheless, rabidly good. All on rectangular slices of black bread, the classic rye and seeds. Driven by my curiosity, I even dared to try tartar on the recommendation of the house, where the bread was not part of the support, but rather appeared mixed with the meat in a clear evolution of the concept.

When shortly afterwards I shared my impressions with the American journalist Lisa Abend, who has lived in Copenhagen for years and is a correspondent for time and collaborator of The New York Times, gave me a surprising comment. “Until recently, in Danish cooking schools there were students who specialized in these types of recipes for four years. They were called the virgins of the smörrebrod“I don't know the reason, but it is the literal translation of the term,” he told me, smiling. They would be the maids of the smörrebrod I responded, trying to find a less committed expression. “In recent years, they have become an exercise in creativity under the impulse of Nordic haute cuisine. “Some professionals superimpose disparate ingredients, animal and vegetable proteins in overwhelming montages, authentic displays of design,” he continued.

On my route through the city I visited Aamanns, run by television chef Adam Aamann with a bar full of snapsalcohol similar to aquavit [una bebida destilada escandinava de habitualmente un 40 % de alcohol por volumen] which is enjoyed in shots with which the smörrebrod apart from beer. I requested two smörrebrod classics, the Nordic prawns with mustard mayonnaise, hard-boiled egg and pickled cabbage, and the marinated salmon with cucumber, nuts and aromatic herbs. Correct without fuss. According to the house, made with 90% organic Danish foods.

And I still added an additional experience, that of Barr, on the Christianshavn dock, overlooking the port, where the primitive Noma was once located, which I visited for the first time in 2007, the year in which I met René Redzepi and in whose letter They include among others the smörrebrod curried herring with dill mayonnaise, onions and black currants, and breaded halibut with elderflower and salad. Lisa Abend herself gave me another clue, Meyers i Tårnet run by Claus Meyers, chef and businessman, former partner of René Redzepi, which was closed on the day of my visi
t.

From a gastronomic point of view, the smörrebrod They have unwritten rules that the Danes routinely respect. They are eaten with a knife and fork, cutting from left to right and ensuring that all the ingredients of the pyramid are part of each bite. They are never tasted by hand, except in special cases. And they are accompanied by snaps or, better yet, craft beers, a more pleasant combination. “When it comes to a menu, we respect a certain order,” Kamilla Seidler told me. First we serve the smörrebrod strictly vegetarian; then the fish ones and then the meat ones. Both precede the cheese ones, which are reserved for the end of any lunch.”

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