What’s cooking in Denmark?
Stegt flæsk med persillesovs, Grilled porc with parsley sauce
Rikke and I met in Amsterdam where we were both working for an international association. Rikke is from Denmark, but lived in the Netherlands for ten years because she had found a job there. She met her Dutch husband in Holland, and years later, after the birth of their first child, they decided to move to Denmark where they now live as a family of 4. They live in Sæby, in the region of North Jutland, and are very happy there. I’m glad Rikke wanted to share a Danish recipe with us! Even more because I sometimes see some similarities in the Danish and Dutch cultures, also when it comes to food! This dish however, I had not heard of yet, and so we loved to try it out. According to Rikke Stegt flæsk med persillesovs is the Danes’ all-time favourite dish!
What Rikke says about this recipe:
Stegt flæsk med persillesovs, is Denmark’s official national food. It’s a very old dish that has won the hearts, and tummies, of Danes for centuries! In the past, the pork was fried, hence the old name ‘fried pork’ which the dish retains today. It’s now much more common to cook the pork in the oven. The meat used is pork belly, cut into thin slices, and served with potatoes.
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Ingredients, serves 4:
- 1 kg potatoes, peeled
- ½ teaspoon of salt
- 16 lightly salted pork belly slices (sprinkled with a little salt a few hours before cooking)
For the parsley sauce
- 25 g butter
- 2 ½ tablespoons of plain flour
- 3 dl semi-skimmed milk
- 1-2 dl water from the boiled potatoes
- 2 dl finely chopped parsley
How to prepare:
- Bring the potatoes to the boil in lightly salted water, then simmer till ready. (I cooked the potatoes for 15 minutes)
- Blot the pork slices dry (important!) and place them on baking paper in the middle of a preheated oven (180 degrees). Turn them regularly. For me the total oven time was: 30 minutes. It depends of course on your oven and the thickness of the slices of meat.
- When the pork looks crisp and delicious, remove from the oven and place on a piece of absorbent paper.
- Start making the parsley sauce.
- Melt the butter in a pan. Add the flour, mix with a whisk and warm through.
- Add the milk to the mixture, ½ dl at a time. Whisk thoroughly until the milk is absorbed.
- Once all the milk is added, add a little of the water from the potatoes until you have the consistency you want.
- Salt to taste and then add the finely chopped parsley. Let the sauce simmer for 1-2 minutes before serving.
We were very happy to learn about this Danish recipe! This will keep us nice and warm during Autumn and Winter! Thank you Rikke!
