Sep 20: Traditional Danish; Modern Danish

Lunch

Our first day in Copenhagen so we went walking and exploring some of the more touristy attractions. We doubled back to Cafe Toldboden once it opened as it promised traditional Danish food.

Foodie Greg had a huge plate of smoked salmon while Foodie Philip had fried herring with pickled beets and both caramelized onion and fresh onion. Both were great. Foodie Philip is working up to pickled herring.

Both were served with an unleavened grain bread that was very good and reminded us of the Village bread we get from Trader Joes.

Lunch was 259 Danish Krone with beer or about $9.20 per serve for the food.

Fried herring
Fried herring

Dinner

At the recommendation of our AirBnB host, we went to Höst and chose their ‘normal’ level package: three course meal with wine pairings and some surprises. Definitely not cheap, but one of the absolutely best meals we’ve ever had.

Apparently we should refer to this style as New Nordic but the headline works better the way it is.

It’s hard to remember every dish in details as there were so many of them, but here we go.

The first surprise was an amuse bouche:

amuse bouche
Amuse bouche: At the top, on the rock is a soft cheese with oyster cream. Bottom left, malt and tarragon cured beef. The turnover is made of picked celeriac and filled with a crab puree, while the crisp potato cup was filled with creamy potato puree and topped with chives. All were delicious!

A second non-course followed. The combination was reminiscent of a favorite: Filet Americaine.

Bone filled with a steak tartar topped with creme freche. 
Bone filled with a steak tartar topped with creme fraiche.

And yet another little surprise.

Amazingly fluffy cheese balls that kept morphing flavor as they were consumed.
Amazingly fluffy mushroom puffs that kept morphing flavor as they were consumed.

Next up, bread and butter. It’s odd to think that this was once just ‘bread and butter’ before industrialized food production took over.

Home churned butter and sourdough bread. A perfect crust and crumb.
Höst churned butter and Höst made sourdough bread. A perfect crust and crumb.

Now to the appetizer! The flounder was perfectly seared on one side and buttery soft on the other. The greens were amazing, possibly even better than the flounder.

A perfectly cooked filet of flounder with kohl rabi, spinach and parsley and an oyster sauce.
A perfectly cooked filet of flounder with kohl rabi, spinach sitting on a parsley puree with an oyster sauce.

Before we got to the main course, there was another surprise!

Squid and cabbage topped with a buttery-textured egg yolk swimming in a toasted yeast chicken broth.
Danish octopus with salted cabbage topped with a buttery-textured egg yolk swimming in a toasted yeast chicken broth.

This combination was both surprising and delicious. The egg yolk had been sous vide to the texture of soft butter, or a very heavy cream.

The egg yolk was probably the most 'eggy' thing we've ever tasted.
The egg yolk was probably the most ‘eggy’ thing we’ve ever tasted.

Finally to the amazing main course. We chose this menu because the main dish was pork belly.

Pork belly with tomato, cress and sauce chyron topped with little pillows of Danish cheese.
Pork belly with tomato, cress and sauce chyron topped with little pillows of Danish cheese.

Every component of this dish perfectly complemented the others. The pork belly was so tender it melted into the dish.

We had a small break before dessert. The Foodies don’t normally eat dessert but exceptions should be made for food this good.

Corn ice cream, fresh raspberries, caramelized popcorn and goat mild yoghurt with chanterelles.
Corn ice cream, fresh raspberries, caramelized popcorn and goat mild yoghurt with chanterelles.

Corn ice cream? Oh, yes, definitely. Give us more!

Coffee was complemented by mousse filled chocolate truffle.

Host: Just one more bite! Marshmallow bottom with a mousse filling coated in white chocolate
Host: Just one more bite! Marshmallow bottom with a mousse filling coated in white chocolate.

Of course, the wine pairings – from the sparkling white to begin, to the chablis with the appetizer, Rosso di Montepluciano with the main, and Moscato d´Asti with dessert – were a perfect match at each stage of the meal.

With a small tip – not normal in Denmark – this amazing meal was about $83.85 per serve. Definitely not cheap, but absolutely worth it for this meal. This includes the wine pairing which has a separate value of about $25.

We’re booked to go back and try the Signature Dinner on Friday before we leave Copenhagen.

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