Meny

Switching it up with this one… got a side-by-side comparison of my typical tebirke (technically a “Københavnerbirke”) and a white-seed, no-remonce version.

Exterior: poppy seeds aren’t as deeply colored and attractive as they usually are. Black seeds have a nutty flavor but are also a bit stale (or perhaps rancid?). White seeds are mild and soft. ★★☆☆☆/★★☆☆☆

 

Interior: remonce is disappointing, mostly just sort of wet and sweet with a bit too much artificial almond flavor.  ★★☆☆☆/N/A

 

Structure: not exactly flaky, but light and tender. Remonce-less version is surprisingly good, with a moist interior that is like a hybrid between a baguette and choux pastry. Both could benefit from a bit more salt. ★★★☆☆/★★★★☆

 

Price: 6kr

Overall rating: ★★☆☆☆/★★★☆☆

Frosty Days

It finally snowed a teeny tiny bit yesterday. Here are a bunch of photos from yesterday morning and this morning showing how lovely it is.

Chai – October 28, 2015

A few years ago, I went on a chai recipe experiment binge. After trying to make milkless “concentrates” work, I finally started adding the milk during the cooking process, which extracted a lot more flavor from the spices. Then, I tweaked the spices over and over, writing down the date, quantities, and tasting notes. This recipe was the one I discovered on October 28, 2015 – I’ve been using it ever since.

• 2″ fresh ginger, peeled and sliced into chunks
• 1T+1t. cinnamon chips or 3 whole cinnamon sticks
• 15 cardamom pods, crushed
• 12 whole cloves
• 4 allspice berries, crushed
• 1/4t. freshly ground pepper
• 1t. freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 star anise
• 3c. water
• 1c. milk
• 3T. brown sugar
• 3 tea bags or 1T. loose tea
• (optional) vanilla, lemon juice

Bring the spices and the water to a boil. Add the milk and the sugar, and return to a simmer. Remove from heat and add the tea. Steep 4 minutes and strain through a fine mesh strainer. Add a dribble of vanilla or a squirt of fresh lemon juice at the end for a pop of flavor.

You could leave the sugar out and sweeten to taste by the cup.

Spices

Spices + Water

Spices + Water + Milk + Sugar

Simmer – Looks Watery

Steep Tea – Looks Better

Strain and Enjoy

 

Election Placards

I know practically nothing about Danish politics except for the fact that “Liberal” and “Left” mean very different things than they do in the U.S. and the People’s Party is full of anti-immigrant jerks.

But I still think it’s interesting to share the election posters that are all over the city.

The sitting mayor’s got his own special fancy graphic-design-heavy poster. The young fella above him was given control of the My Aarhus Instagram account last week. Nikolaj Bang is bragging that he’s a local.

Mr. Simsek’s tagline: More Aarhus, Better Aarhus. What?

This guy looks like fun: “Freedom and Community”

Love these mini-posters: “There is also… Kaspar Daae.” Too bad it’s for the libertarian party 🙄 The giant moon in the background is an inflatable installation for an event.

Enhedslisten doesn’t play the photo game

“Do like Bent – Vote for Anders” (he was dubbed the “crown prince” for being a hand-selected successor

Two douchey looking members of the racist party vs. someone with a Turkish name

Warms my heart to see the racists’ placards getting tagged

Nice clip-on tie, creep. Not even going to talk about the mini-me with the quad-poster…

Det Gyldne Brød (Trøjborg)

Exterior: solid coating of poppy seeds with a nutty flavor reminiscent of peanut or almond. No staleness, slight bitterness. ★★★★☆

 

Interior: remonce has a subtle flavour and marzipan-like consistency. ★★★☆☆

 

Structure: nice textural contrast with flaky, well-defined layers on top while the bottom is compressed and moist due to the filling. Unfortunate undertones of artificial butter flavoring. Flakiness also makes for messy eating, with the entire top layer of seeds falling off. ★★★☆☆

 

Price: 13kr

Overall rating: ★★★☆☆

The Danish Version of Craigslist

“The Danish version of ______” is a nice little shorthand way to make things seem more comprehensible, but sometimes the comparison only makes the differences more obvious.

For example, today I found an air mattress for sale on the Danish version of Craigslist, dba.dk (short for Den Blå Avis or The Blue Newspaper). The posting was for a “like new” air mattress. A lot of information about the seller is visible as part of their profile (you have to have an account to use dba): first name and last initial, address, phone number.

I sent a text message to the seller saying I was interested. He responded that I could come by around 4pm when he would be home from work. But around 4pm he said he had to go out grocery shopping and that he would leave the mattress in the carport for me. I got there, used an app to pay him via his phone number, packed the mattress on my bike and texted him a thank you.

I have a couple of thoughts about this:

1. I know Danes are a very trusting and trustworthy people, but I am not used to it yet
2. His house was in a nice area, the mattress was folded up in a Salling shopping bag (Salling might be the Danish version of Nordstrom), and there was a bike in the carport with a kid-carrying trailer… so he was probably a busy dad who didn’t really need the 75 kroner, just wanted to get rid of the mattress with as little hassle as possible
3. It’s really good that I speak (write) decent enough Danish to buy things from people online where I can score a good deal like this one
4. Mobile Pay is amazing; there’s almost no reason to carry cash here anymore

Anyway, I haven’t tested it yet, but it looks very clean and nice, and I’m feeling a bit Danish so I’m just going to trust him that there are no leaks in it.

Det Kongelige Bibliotek

Exterior: Poppy seeds taste fresh but bland (no bitterness). ★★★☆☆

 

Interior: Lots of sweet remonce that sticks in the teeth a bit like caramel, which is unusual but fun. Clearly contains real almond. ★★★★☆

 

Structure: crisp, flaky exterior. Dough is a bit dry, tastes like a sourdough croissant with no sweetness. ★★★☆☆

 

Price: 12kr

Overall rating ★★★☆☆

 

Lidl

Exterior: Poppy seeds are bland, no flavor contrast with sweet filling. ★★☆☆☆

 

Interior: Remonce is attractive, oozing out the sides. Nice gooey sweetness but not very flavorful. ★★★☆☆

 

Structure: light and fluffy, very little crustiness or flakiness. Dough is bland and needs salt. ★★☆☆☆

 

Price: 6kr

Overall rating: ★★☆☆☆

Aldi

Exterior: Strange artificial/burnt aftertaste (poppy seeds are not the culprit). ★☆☆☆☆

 

Interior: Remonce is sweet, slightly gooey, and has brown flecks indicating almond. Flavor is artificial but okay, quite mild. ★★★☆☆

Structure: despite attractive, layered exterior, pastry is quite bready (moist but not flaky). Doesn’t have much flavor, probably not made with butter. ★★☆☆☆

 

Price: 6kr

Overall rating: ★★☆☆☆

Things I Miss #2

Packing to move internationally was about as hard as you might imagine. I read up on others’ experiences, surveyed my expat contacts in Denmark, and looked with a critical, Kon-Mari eye at my belongings in the weeks leading up to the actual act of packing. I still felt frustrated, unprepared, and physically exhausted by the work of packing and re-packing that filled my final week in the US.

I chose to fly Norwegian for several reasons, but mostly because they don’t price-gouge for one-way flights and because upgrading to a premium (first-class) ticket was actually within reach. Premium tickets come with two free checked bags, but make sure to read the fine print: these bags are not supposed to be more than 20kg, while SAS won’t charge you an overweight fee until you cross the 25kg threshold. It it not until you actually pack and stand on a scale with a suitcase that you realise how little 20kg is and how much you’re going to end up owing at a rate of $15/kilo overweight.*

So this is a list of items that I didn’t bring either because they were too heavy or too impractical or too fragile or some other reason:

Books! Books are heavy.

A foam roller! This is too bulky.

Trader Joe’s goodies for others! These are too heavy.

Special mugs! These are too big, heavy, and breakable – the trifecta.

Ceramic turkey tail mushrooms! Too delicate, and when packed properly, too bulky

A shell shadowbox from Ruth Bancroft! This would have been a delicate carry-on item, had I had room.

A mixing bowl! I wasn’t really planning on bringing this, but I miss it.

My kitty!! Very hard to leave this precious creature behind.

And after all that, I still had two big suitcases full of things that did make the cut.

*One of my bags did end up being 5kg overweight. I had reached the end of my rope and wasn’t willing to part with anything else from my suitcase, and I reasoned that it would costs less than mailing a box anyway. But thanks to the insanely busy check-in counter at Oakland Airport, the Norwegian employee merely remarked that my bag was overweight, and didn’t charge me. I would not recommend this as a strategy for future travellers.