August 1 - Copenhagen 

  On Monday morning, the cold I had felt coming on the day before, kicked in so, Bill and I laid low in the apartment so that I could feel better for our evening plans . Camilla and Addi, our home exchange hosts, had promised to come over and give us a lesson on the proper way to prepare the traditional Danish open face sandwich and, boy, did they deliver, with a unique and fabulous feast.

  Bread is a very important part of the Scandinavian table, primarily rugbrod, a dark, heavy sour dough rye which, Camilla informed us that this delicious bread serves as the base for the smorrebrod. This culinary Danish treat is traditionally served during the holidays with the meal sometimes lasting for hours as there can be as many as eight or more different types of smorrebrod served, one after the other . 

  Our meal, however, only had four variations which was more than enough! So, we joyfully watched as Camilla prepared the ingredients for our feast. She instructed us that there is a very specific way to prepare the layers on the smorrebrod and, if not followed, drives Danes crazy. Apparently, Addi, who is Camilla's partner and is American, constantly breaks the rules . It was a riot watching them bicker over how to prepare the smorrebrod. 

For the first round, we slathered our bread with mayo and the lard that Camilla had saved when she fried the pork belly (to be used later) to a crisp. The bread was then layered with pickled herring, roe (cod fish eggs) and crispy onions.

Second course was perfectly cooked new potatoes on the bread, then a healthy squirt of mayo on top, then, the crispy onions. The pork belly was served on the side with all the courses along with a mixture of apples, onions, thyme and a little sugar that had been cooked in the lard.

Next course was, once again, the bread, covered with lard, then layered with liver pate, onions, a veal slice and aspic on top.

The last one was pastrami with a horseradish spread and, for dessert we had a soup made of buttermilk, lemon and vanilla in which we added crunched up little cookies. And, of course, each part of the meal was accompanied by beer and aquavit.

I honestly think it was the strangest combination of foods I had ever eaten. I'm not a big fan of pickled herring or liver but everything else was delicious and I, along with the rest of the gang, dove right in and ate until we were stuffed. I think it must have been a cure for my cold because I was much better the next day as we boarded the train to Helsinger to see Hamlet's Castle.