On Christmas Eve, there are a few staples you’ll find on the dinner table in every Danish home. Most families will eat duck or goose, and many families may also add roasted pork loin. But mind you, this is not just any pork loin: We like to keep the skin on to have a nice crispy pork rind crackling.
The meats are usually served with white potatoes, pickled red cabbage, caramelized small potatoes, and a black currant jelly. Some families also add sweet apples. The main course is followed by risalamande (rice porridge) with cherry sauce. And after the carols have been sung and the family has danced around the Christmas tree, a grand spread of chocolates and other delicious treats will be served while the family opens their Christmas presents.
Let's take a look at each individual dish making up the Christmas dinner. You will also find many recipes that will help you make the most of this season's holiday meal.
Danish Christmas dinner: Comfort food at its best
by Sara, 29 November 2015
Duck or goose
In the US, this is one of the easier items to get hold of. But beware that not all grocery stores carry duck and goose, so it's a good idea to check before you go. In the Northeast, we’ve seen them at Safeway, Giant, and Wegman’s for around $5.50 - $6 per lbs; goose a bit more than duck.
For the more socially and environmentally concerned families, look to Whole Foods, Trader Joes, or MOMs for an organic and humanely treated goose or duck. If you live in the countryside, you may be able to pick one up at a local farm. This is certainly the more expensive option. Last year we paid $80 for our 10 lbs goose at Whole Foods.
To get the traditional Danish look, score the skin in thin slices about a quarter of an inch apart. Scoring is essential to getting a crispy crackling on top. It allows for the release of steam, which would otherwise be trapped under the skin and produce rubbery crackling. Be careful to avoid cutting into the meat as it can result in the loss of flavor and moisture.
Once your meat is scored you’re ready to cook it and we have just the recipe for you to try.
If you don’t have a local butcher, you can alternatively order a roast online. Just remember that many online sites have deadlines for when the last order can be placed, usually by mid-December.
Nordichouse.com sells roast pork in two sizes: 4.5 – 6 lbs for $35 or 10 – 12 lbs for $77. Scandinavian Butik sells 5-lbs roasts for $45 and Willy’s Products sells a 5.5 - 6lbs roast for $50.
When ordering online these stores all require that perishables be shipped by next day or 2nd air—this can significantly run up the price by $45-50 depending on shipping method. Some may also charge extra for handling and the use of dried ice. So, it may make most sense to explore your local butcher options first.
Caramelized potatoes
Making caramelized potatoes is an art of the simple. The ingredients are few and easy to find, but getting those perfectly glistening potatoes takes a bit of practice. All you need are a few bags of small potatoes, butter, and sugar - and our tried-and-true recipe.
In Denmark many families use pre-peeled potatoes that are sold in a glass with liquid to preserve them. Needless to say, this decreases prep time, but if you ask us at Scandinavian Living, real potatoes are a better option. If you refuse to peel that many small potatoes, you can again turn to the online Scandinavian food stores.
Black currant gel
This small, but highly important, item may be the toughest one to find. It’s really what pulls all the flavors on the plate together. It’s almost like cranberry sauce, but not as tart, and it’s a gel, so it’s a lot smoother.
Pickled red cabbage
Pickled red cabbage is like pumpkin pie - once you have tasted the homemade kind you'll never find yourself buying the pre-made stuff again. Easy to prepare and easy to make in advance, you can enjoy pickled red cabbage throughout the month of December. Just try our homemade recipe.
However, if you are short on time or the thought of shredding an entire head of cabbage is unbearable, luckily there are many regular grocery stores that carry pickled red cabbage. Try to look in the specialty food isle or the international isle. We have also found it at places like World Market, and of course at IKEA. If you can’t find it locally, once again you can turn to the online Scandinavian food stores.
The dessert: risalamande with cherry sauce
To get the traditional dessert risalamande with cherrysauce on the dinner table, it’s really not necessary to order anything online, you can just head to the store.
In Denmark we have special rice for this dish—or at least we thought so. What in Denmark sells as porridge rice (grødris), is really just arborio rice—also better known as risotto rice. It's sold nearly everywhere and is easy to get your hands on.
For the sauce, all you need is a few cans of cherry, a bottle of cherry juice, vanilla beans, starch, some port or cherry wine.
If you are a bit worried about using rice meant for risotto, and you don’t fancy yourself a good cook, you can of course opt to order your ‘grødris’ and pre-made cherry sauce online. Nearly all of the Scandinavian stores sell it. For the cherry sauce you'll have to pay a premium price though.
Roast pork loin (flæskesteg)
Getting your hands on a true Danish-style flæskesteg is not an easy task in the US. We’ve never seen them sold in stores here, so you have to do a bit more legwork. The trick is to leave the skin and fat on top of the roast; something that most Americans are unaccustomed to - not knowing how delicious it is.
It’s also expensive; at least if compared to what we pay in Denmark. If you want flæskesteg on your table this season, you will likely have to pay a high mark-up price. We recently bought two pork loins at our nearby organic butcher (The Organic Butcher of McClean) and had to shell out $83 for 6lbs. Yes, that’s more than $13 per lbs.
It doesn’t necessarily have to be this expensive, though. Your local butcher may sell at lower prices than that, but you should at least expect similar prices per pound as for goose.
Here’s what you need to ask for and how to get your roast pork in house:
At your local butcher ask for a pork loin with the skin and fat on. Notice that we are not asking for pork roast. The cut is usually from the shoulder or the neck of the pig.
Some butchers may be willing to score the skin for you, but many are not. If you end up having to score the skin yourself, use a utility knife. The two loins we got recently had extremely thick skin, and none of our knives worked—no matter how sharp. It resulted in a trip to Home Depot to find a heavy-duty utility knife. It did the deed.
You can make it yourself, but few people are willing to go through that tedious process. We know that we’re not. On this one, we turn to the online stores, except for on the rare occasion where we have been able to find it at World Market, or we’ve simply brought it back from Denmark in our suitcase.
