Welcome to The Book of Smørrebrød – the complete story about Denmarks oldest culinary tradition.
On these pages you can read the entire book for free, the text is identical to the printed book which has been on the market since 2019. The reason I am now offering the book for free, is a wish to share the story more widely, and help Danish smørrebrød becoming acknowledged by UNESCO as a Cultural Heritage.
Here is the ultra short story: The word “smørrebrød” means” bread with butter, and 300 years ago that was essentially what smørrebrød consisted of. In the 1800’s this changed dramatically, as the humble peasant food was reinvented in Copenhagen and celebrated as a new gastronomic/fine dining trend. The popularity lasted almost 100 years, but In the 1970’s smørrebrød fell out of fashion. Gastronomy had changes and become all about foreign food; fine french food, american fastfood, italian pizza and pasta or middle eastern shawarma or kebab took a large bite our of the smørrebrød popularity.
Noma founder, chef René Redzepi and Noma restaurant manager James Spreadbury sharing smørrebrød during an interview with Ole Troelsø.
In the 1990’s Denmarks gastronomy was strengthened, and gradually a national pride emerged leading to the birth of Noma and The new nordic cuisine celebrating local ingredients. Smørrebrød was elevated to a gourmet position and won fame in 2018 by being placed no. 5 in respected international publication by Lonely Planet, “The world’s top 500 food experiences – ranked!”
To get the whole story please continue the the Prologue in chapter 1 – or browse the Table of content.
Please enjoy The book of Smørrebrød
Ole Troelsø
Copenhagen, July 2024
