Liven Up Your Lunch Box with Danish Sandwiches

When I visited Denmark years ago, everyone ate little open-faced sandwiches, called smorrebrod, which are popular throughout Scandinavia. People ate buttered bread with cheese, jam, and chocolate for breakfast. For lunch, they ate savory toppings such as ham, pickled herring, liver paste, fish eggs, or hard boiled eggs.

Most Danish adults work, and many people bring a packed lunch from home. The typical Danish packed lunch ("madepakke"-for package) carried in a lunchbox consists of a few pieces of smorrebrod from home.

This classic Danish sandwich is a buttered piece of dense, dark rye bread covered with one or more toppings. The bread is thinly sliced and similar to Polish, German, or cocktail rye bread sold in the US. Buttering the bread is essential: smorrebrod literally translates as "buttered bread."

Some traditional toppings my Danish hosts packed for lunch that you will probably enjoy include:

• Thinly sliced roast beef with mayonnaise
• Shrimp and mayonnaise salad
• Smoked salmon (lax) with cucumber
• Fish eggs (caviar) and cream cheese
• Hard-boiled egg and sliced cucumber or tomato
• Havarti and strawberry jam on white bread
• Havarti and sliced cucumber on white bread
• Thinly sliced ham and cucumber, with mayonnaise
• Slices of liverwurst (liverpostej)
• Thin pieces of chocolate or Nutella on white bread

To build each smorrebrod, first spread the butter. Follow this with the protein. Finish with the garnishes (mayo, caviar) and vegetables.

To pack the smorrebrod, wrap each piece individually in plastic wrap. This holds the toppings on the bread. Then stack the sandwiches on a piece of aluminum foil and wrap with the foil. Plan on about 2 to 3 pieces of bread for lunch.

My Danish hosts insisted that the smorrebrod be eaten in a specific order. Start first with the seafood sandwiches. Progress to the other savory sandwiches. Finish with the cheese and sweet sandwiches, which are usually prepared on white bread similar to Vienna or French loaves.

Finish off your lunch with some American style healthy sides, such as carrot sticks or a piece of fruit. Or pack a small container of homemade soup to reheat.