I spent New Year’s Eve 2012-13 in Copenhagen, the only city in Northern Europe I have ever visited.
Very well organized, but extremely expensive. Three days are more than enough to visit it, and I have a wonderful memory of Tivoli Park decorated for Christmas, disappointment over the small and insignificant mermaid statue, and a bad memory regarding the food.
Nothing noteworthy.
The famous smørrebrød are just tartines of dark bread with insane prices!
It was the ethnic restaurants that “saved us”, the best meals we had were at a kebab restaurant and a Mexican restaurant, although the New Year’s Eve dinner at a very trendy nightclub was delightful, because it was of international flavor.
I would have liked to try the Stegt flæsk recipe, which I have recreated over the years during my ethnic dinners at my cultural association, but I never found it in any restaurant.
A recipe with an unpronounceable name but simple, a rustic and quick dish.
Crispy oven-baked pork served with potatoes and parsley sauce (persillesovs).
In the past, the pork was only fried, hence the name stegt which indeed means fried, and flæsk ‘strips of pork belly’, today it is more often baked.
The recipe is also featured in my book “In cibo veritas, creative and ethnic cuisine” available in the shop.
The same cut, but with rind, is used for another Danish recipe:
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very cheap
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 4 servings
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Danish
Ingredients
- 21 oz pork loin (or pork belly – sliced)
- 2.2 lbs potatoes
- 2 tbsp butter
- 3 tbsp flour
- as needed milk
- as needed parsley
- as needed salt and pepper
Preparation
Peel the potatoes. Put them in a pot, cover with water, add salt, and set on the stove. They need to boil for 15-20 minutes.
Pat dry the pork slices (they should be 0.2 inches thick) and season with salt and pepper.
Then fry them in a pan for 1 minute on each side over moderate heat, lower the heat and keep turning the slices until they are golden and crispy.
Alternatively, you can bake them in the oven (356°F) for about 10 minutes.
Pat dry the excess fat.
Keep them warm in the oven while you prepare the parsley sauce: melt the butter in a pot, add chopped parsley, flour, and mix. Add a little milk. Stir and, if needed, add more milk until the sauce reaches a consistency you like.
Serve by plating with the bacon and potatoes drizzled with parsley sauce or with the sauce on the side.
Here is a photo at Tivoli Park in Copenhagen during my trip in December 2012.
CURIOSITY:
Flæsk Stegt is included in the Art of Danish Cooking by Nika Standen Hazelton and Scandinavian Cooking by Elizabeth Craig where the dish is translated as “bacon with parsley sauce” .
