Oct 20, 2025
My first encounter with Danish food was Rødgrød med Fløde, a tongue-twisting berry pudding with cream, made by the Danish grandmother of a childhood friend. The funny thing was, the “boiled dinner” she made for us on repeat wasn’t actually boiled at all, but steamed.
When I later tried to trace its origin, I discovered that the traditional Danish boiled dinner features a smoked pork loin, and that the meatloaf at the center of her dish had no counterpart in Danish cuisine. It was a kind of mash-up between forloren hare, a baked meatloaf sometimes wrapped in bacon, and kødboller, meatballs simmered in broth.
I was always enthralled by my friend’s Bedstemor. I loved listening to her talk. The way she formed English sentences with Danish grammar, and the soft sound of her accent. I adored her elven size, the sweetness of her smile, and that she saw me as an apt pupil in the kitchen.
I remember thinking it was a bit odd to steam a meatloaf. But since my mother’s baked versions, slathered in ketchup, were pretty awful, I was open to persuasion.
Bedstemor used the same tiered steamer setup our Italian neighbor used for pasta. The large insert, our neighbor used for straining noodles, held the carrots and potatoes. The meatloaf, shaped more like a colossal meatball, sat in the smaller colander above. When it was done, both baskets came out and wedges of cabbage were simmered in the liquid left behind.
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