Copenhagen Post – Food Blog

The Copenhagen Post has introduced a new food blog culumn in their In and Out Guide and they’ve invited Zarah Maria, Jennie and me to write it based on the content of our blogs respectfully. I’ve decided that I’ll post my own writings here when they have been published.

The first one was came out on 19th September:

The sun has just set and it’s barely 8pm. The calendar on my fridge says September, and although we’ve been blessed with a few warm and sunny days lately, I must face it. Summer’s over; it’s autumn now.

I love the Danish autumn though: the colourful trees with their bright yellow and powerful red coats, the blue water peeping out between the naked branches at the far end of my garden, the brown leaves on the lawn of my cottage, the scents so earthy of moist decay, the red squirrel collecting acorns for its winter storeroom at the feet of the old oak in the middle of the garden, and the mild damp smell of nuts and mushrooms. Cold mornings, regretting not wearing my gloves cycling to work and being greeted by the most stunning sunrises that colour a sky decorated with clouds.That is really something.

And it’s also a great time of year for preparing simple but delicious meals that offer a tender steak, new potatoes with thin peel – which are surprisingly still available – and seasonal vegetables from Lammefjorden, the most delicious in Denmark in my opinion.

My laziness makes me focus on simplicity. Complex recipes listing two dozen different ingredients, hours of simmering stocks made of fish shells or leftover bone and fat is not really my thing. So, I often end up with a lump of red meat in my basket from a good butcher in my local area of town, Frederiksberg, or from one of the delicatessen shops around the city centre. The autumn offers so many kinds of tasty roots – like parsnips, celeriacs, red beets and carrots – that are best marinated in olive oil, garlic, fresh rosemary and thyme and a lot of salt and black pepper and afterwards cooked in the oven. Some of the acidity and sharpness that they sometime comprise turn into sweet and gentle flavours that match a grilled steak perfectly. And with a nice glass of the deli- cate and fruity Italian Valtellina wine (made from 100 percent Nebbiolo grapes) accompanying the food and, of course, a rumbling fire in the wood stove when the darkness falls: that’s what I really like about autumn.