Smørrebrød

Ingredients

• Rye bread8 slice
• Butter — softened100 g
• Pickled herring200 g
• Small prawns200 g
• Eggs — boiled3
• Lettuce leaves8
• Red onion — in thin rings1
• Mayonnaise4 tbsp
• Dill20 g
• Capers and lemonto taste

Salt and spices grow more slowly than the rest: doubling a dish does not double the pepper.

Weight converts to ounces and volume to cups. Grams of flour are not turned into cups, because that depends on how tightly it is packed.

Method

1. 1

   Butter every slice right to the edges. The layer should be visible to the eye rather than translucent.

   6 min

2. 2

   For herring: a lettuce leaf, then pieces of herring, onion rings and capers. The lettuce keeps the brine off the bread.

   6 min

3. 3

   For prawns: lay them in tight overlapping rows, then a spoon of mayonnaise, a slice of lemon and dill.

   8 min

4. 4

   For egg: overlapping rounds of boiled egg, a line of mayonnaise, dill and a pinch of salt over the top.

   5 min

5. 5

   Serve at once, with a knife and fork. Smørrebrød is not picked up by hand; it is not built for that.

About the dish

The butter is not there for flavour but as a waterproof layer: it seals the pores of the bread and stops moisture from the topping soaking the crumb. It goes right to the edges and thicker than feels decent.

The bread must be rugbrød, a dense sourdough rye full of grain. Wheat bread goes soft and cannot carry the weight.

Each classical smørrebrød has a fixed order of layers. Not out of tradition but because the wet is kept off the bread by the dry: lettuce under herring, dill over prawns.

Worth knowing

• — Assemble immediately before serving. Within half an hour even buttered bread starts giving way.
• — The topping should cover the bread completely. Visible rye edges count as carelessness.
• — The order of eating is fixed in Denmark: herring first, then other fish, then meat, cheese last. That applies to a lunch of several smørrebrød.

Nutrition

Per serving at the base yield, calculated from the ingredients rather than measured in a lab.

Calories

480 kcal

Protein

26 g

Fat

28 g

Carbs

32 g

More from Denmark

• Frikadeller — Danish meat patties — flat rather than round — fried in butter to a dark crust.