Not only has the sun finally made more than a fleeting appearance in Denmark
this week – but it seems as though the grumpy old evening frost has gone for
good and that temperatures are slowly but surely crawling their way up, woo hoo!
Which, as usual, basically mean winter coats and gloves in the morning on the
way to school. [Umm, or actually not on the way to school – because our
kids’ teachers are still locked out from schoolfor the third week running = no
lessons!] Try again…winter coats, boots and gloves in the morning on the way to
work. Then take them all off in the afternoon and grab an icecream on the way
home.
But if you want something that is quintessentially Danish to soothe those
forårskriller – ‘spring tickles’ – then what better than a bowl of
koldskål? Don’t know what that is? Here’s my post about it from
last April, when the temperatures were even higher… Velbekomme!
A taste of Danish summer
(first published 27 April 2012)
The Danish weather gods are on a roll! For the past week we’ve had sun, blue
skies and temperatures of around 20 degrees celcius. Shorts and sandals (and
bare legs – eek!) have been brought out of hiding. We’ve been eating lunch and
dinner in the garden. And fighting over the seats in the shade. Out on the
street you can’t move for bikes, skateboards, scooters and rollerblades. And
the best part? According to the Danish Meteorological
Institute, it looks like the fabulous weather is going to continue. At
least for another 3 or 4 days, yay!
And with our first taste of summer weather comes…our first ‘taste’ of summer
– koldskål!
The Danes have been eating koldskål for over a hundred years.
Personally, I love the name. Kold = Cold. Skål = Bowl.
Koldskål = Cold bowl!
It’s traditionally made with buttermilk, raw eggs, sugar, vanilla and lemon.
Today you buy it readymade from the supermarket. And the Danes buy lots of it.
Millions and millions of liters of it during the summer months. When
the temperatures start to rise, so do the sales of koldskål… And what does it
taste like? Hmm, even though I’m a ‘Dairy Queen’ (pass the cream, please, and
yes, I’ll have a little bread with my butter), koldskål is definitely
an aquired taste. A weird mixture of sweet and sour. But a very ‘fresh’ taste.
It looks like thin yoghurt and you normally serve it in a bowl and throw a
handful of little crispy biscuits called Kammerjunkere (available from
the supermarket or bakers) over the top. Or a few strawberries.
You can eat it for lunch or dinner. Or as a mid-morning or afternoon snack.
Or drop the kammerjunkere and just drink it straight out of a glass.
Some people even eat it for breakfast. In our house we usually eat it after
dinner, for dessert.
My kids aged 9 and 11 are addicted to it – we’re already on our second carton
this week. But hey, when the weather is this good, who’s counting?
Velbekomme! 