The culture of Denmark

Denmark, already our penultimate country! In this blog I want to give you some info about the specialties of Denmark.

But first some quick facts and statistics

Location:  Northern Europe bordering Germany 68 km 

Capital:   Copenhagen 

Climate:   temperate; humid and overcast; mild, windy winters and cool summers 

Population:  5,413,392 (July 2004 est.) 

Ethnic Make-up: Scandinavian, Inuit, Faroese, German, Turkish, Iranian, Somali 

Religions:  Evangelical Lutheran 95%, other Protestant and Roman Catholic 3%, Muslim 2% 

Government: constitutional monarchy

 Food and drinks

The most typically Danish meal is the traditional lunch, also called smørrebrød. It consists of open sandwiches on thinly sliced rye bread. Furthermore, the meal contains fish such as marinated herring, smoked eel, crab, or breaded plaice filets with remoulade. Slices of roast pork or beef, hams and liver pâté are also parts of the delicious meal. The sandwiches are richly decorated with different vegetables, such as onion rings, radish slices, cucumbers, tomato slices, parsley. There is also a little bit of mayonnaise added to the recipe so it is not dry.

When you like desserts, you definitely have to try the æbleskiver, these are just like small pancake doughnuts which are fried in butter. It is served hot with jam and sugar.

Danish people like to drink alcohol, buying it in shops is already legal at the age of 16, when you visit a bar you have to be 18 to buy alcohol.

Now you know what to eat in Denmark, it is also good to know what kind of table manners Danish people have…

• When you are invited to a Danish home:
• Arrive on time because Danish people are very punctual
• Remove your shoes before you enter the house
• Never discuss business cases while eating 
• Wait to be told where to sit, most of the time, there is a seating plan 
• Taste everything, it is a way to show your respect for the host(ess)
• Men are always seated to the left of the hostess
• When the host says ‘skol’, you can start eating

Sports

The national sport of Denmark, is football. Other sports you can practice in Denmark because of its popular locations, are fishing, canoeing, kayaking and a broad-range of other water-themed sports.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Denmark

http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/denmark-country-profile.html

http://goscandinavia.about.com/od/scandinavianculture/ss/denmarkculture.htm