Smørrebrød

What makes it smørrebrød

• Dense rye bread, sliced thin and buttered to the edges.
• Topped generously, so the bread barely shows.
• Eaten with cutlery, in a set order — fish before meat.

Where it comes from

The name is simply butter and bread. It grew from the packed lunches of farm and factory workers — rye bread with whatever was left over — into something more elaborate in the restaurants of late nineteenth-century Copenhagen, whose smørrebrød menus grew famously long.

There's an order to a smørrebrød lunch: herring first, then other fish, then meat, then cheese, usually with cold beer and aquavit.

How it varies

Æg og rejer

Sliced hard-boiled egg piled with small prawns and mayonnaise.

Leverpostej

Warm liver pâté with bacon and mushrooms or pickled beetroot.

Stjerneskud

'Shooting star' — fried and steamed fish fillets with prawns, on white bread.