Grillbarmad - Danish Fast Food

Traditional Danish fast food unfortunately is declining in popularity. Hotdogs at pølsevogn on the streets are still quite popular, but classic grillbarmad is slowly being replaced by more exotic foreign fast foods like falafels, bagels, pizza and american burger chains.
Grillbarmad is a style of food served in grillbars, small neighbourhood hole in the walls that serve simple takeaway food rooted in Danish culinary tradition.

Similar to chippys in the UK, grillbars often cater to the after club scene and provide comfort food for hangovers the next day.

Here are some classic items on a typical grillbar menu:

Pølser - various types of Danish hotdogs
Bøfsandwich - a Danish burger with ketchup, crispy onions, remoulade and pickles
Ribbensandwich - thick slices of roast pork, red cabbage, and pickles on a bun
kyllingesandwich - grilled chicken with lettuce, tomato, and mayo on a bun
fiskefilet - breaded fried fish with pommes frites and remoulade
Frikadellesandwich - danish meatball burger with red cabbage, crispy onions, remoulade and pickles
Biksemad - a fry of small beef cubes, potato, and onion served with beets and fried egg
Pølsemix - french fries topped with cut up hotdog pieces, raw chopped onion and  curry ketchup
Brændende kærighed - fried bacon cubes and caramelized onions in gravy over mashed potatoes
Boller i karry - pork meatballs in mild curry sauce on mashed potatoes
Buggi burger - a very large burger (up to 1 pound) with tomato, lettuce, and mayo (no one seems to know what "buggi" means but it is used on menus all over Denmark)

Pølsemix and Biksemad

There are several different styles of grillbar and what they offer varies.

•  Pølsevogn. I wrote an earlier article on Danish hotdog stands you can read here
•  A pølsebod is like a korvkiosk in Sweden offering hotdogs as well as pommes frites and bøfsandwiches
•  A Pavillion tends to be in the countryside near family campgrounds and parks. It serves the above plus ice cream and breakfast items
•   Havnegriller lie outside harbours in coastal towns and have plated items like battered shrimp and fries, wienerschnitzel, pølsemix, and frikadeller
• Gryden such as "Vikinegryden" and "Den Sorte Gryden" can be found in larger towns and serve all the Danish grillbar items as well as steaks and roast pork for takeaway

Danish Kinagrills

a Kinagrill offers pølser, ribbensandwich, and sometimes biksemad as well as old school Chinese food for Danish tastes, like sweet and sour pork balls, chop suey, giant eggrolls and of course boller i karry








    The other major type of grillbar is a shawarma grill which offers middle eastern food with pommes frites as well as kyllingesandwich and fiskefilet. In Copenhagen, Vesterbro and Nørrebro have a rivalry over who has the best shawarma. I side with Nørrebro.

Flyvergrillen

A unique grill bar by the Copenhagen airport is Flyvegrillen. This grillbar has been operating on the edge of the runways since 1972 catering to plane-spotters and families. It offers all the classics and has model airplanes hanging from the ceiling.

Recipe For Frikadeller Sandwiches



Frikadeller is the national dish of Denmark. I used to buy frikadeller sandwiches at a  smørrebrød takeaway at Nørrebros Runddel, but it's long gone now. I translated this recipe from 'Frøken Jensens kogebog' which was released in 1901 and is considered the definitive source of 19th century Danish cuisine.

Ingredients

200gr ground veal

200gr ground pork
100-150 ml flour
300-400 ml. milk1

2 eggs

1 finely diced onion
2 tsp. salt
pepper to taste

1. Beat the pork, veal, flour and onion together in a mixer until well blended

2. Slowly add the eggs and milk a little at a time while mixing

3. A good frikadeller farce needs to be homogeneous and well blended

4. Let the mix rest in the refrigerator for an hour

5. Form into oblong egg sized balls

6. Fry in butter on both sides until well browned and cooked in the centre

To make the sandwich you need the standard Danish condiments pickled red cabbage, bread and butter pickles, crispy onion bits, ketchup, and remoulade. Remoulade is a danish specialty which is difficult to find outside Denmark. Blending tartar sauce with some mustard and finely chopped gherkins is a close approximation. If you live in Toronto Hansen's Danish Bakery on Pape ave sells bottled remoulade from Denmark.
 Slice the frikadeller in halve and serve on a toasted kaiser roll topped with the condiments.



The Travelling Rib Show

Every summer a phenomenon known as Ribfest takes place all over North America. Professional "rib teams" travel across the country competing in rib cook-offs against one another for top spot in several categories including: Best Ribs, Best Sauce, Best Pulled Pork, and the Peoples Choice Award. In the past 10 years the ribfest has become an increasingly popular event drawing thousands of visitors and creating a circus/carnival atmosphere wherever it stops.

All the teams surround their BBQ pits with colourful banners proudly proclaiming the pedigree of their wares. "Best Ribs Louisville 2006" says one. "Best in Show Nashua New Hampshire" proclaims another. Out front of each pit stands a tout drawing the customers in to try the ribs, or chicken, barbecued to perfection by the waiting teams.
Coleslaw, beans, girls in cowboy hats, and bands playing ZZ Top or B.T.O all accompany the stacks of ribs on the grills.

 On June 3, 1972 the first formal barbecue cook off, The World Championship Cow Country BBQ Cookout in Uvalde, TX, started the ball rolling and barbecue cook-offs have sprouted up all over since then. Chicago is said to be the home of the first ribfest, but major events are held from Dallas,Texas to Timmins, Ontario. The Toronto Ribfest draws about 150,000 people to Centennial Park every year.
Vendors selling corn, candy apples, and blooming onions, as well as children's carnival rides tow their rigs from town to town every weekend. One couple from Florida I spoke to spends their whole summer earning tuition for school working these events. Maybe one year I'll become a "rib carny" for the summer and join the BBQ circus.

There is no way I can give you my rib sauce recipe. Not because its secret, but because I don't measure any ingredients and it comes out different every time. Coleslaw is the perfect side for ribs and the coleslaw they make in North Carolina known as Lexington Red Slaw is one of my favourites, So I'll give you my recipe for that instead. Lexington slaw uses ketchup and hot sauce instead of mayonnaise to give it extra tang.

Lexington Red Slaw

2 lb white cabbage shredded

 1 red onion chopped

1 red pepper diced

1 cup cider vinegar

1 cup ketchup

1 tsp smoked paprika

3 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

few dashes of hot sauce

combine and serve with grilled ribs and baked beans

You can see more photos of Toronto Ribfest 2011 at my photoblog - http://adventurefoodiephoto.blogspot.com/2011/07/toronto-ribfest-2011.html