"Denmark's flat-bottomed meatball — pork and veal lightened with sparkling water — is equally good hot from the pan and cold on rye bread the next morning."
About Frikadeller
Denmark's beloved meatball — a flat-bottomed oval patty of minced pork and veal, onion, egg and milk, pan-fried in butter until golden outside and pillowy within; served with boiled potatoes, cream gravy and pickled beets for dinner or cold on smørrebrød the next day; every Danish household considers its recipe definitive.
Frikadeller — a staple of Denmark's cuisine
Denmark's most beloved everyday meatball is a flat-bottomed oval — not a sphere — of minced pork and veal combined with onion, egg, sparkling water and a little flour to lighten it, pan-fried in butter until the exterior is a consistent golden-brown and the interior remains just slightly yielding. The sparkling water in the mixture is the Danish secret: the carbonation lightens the texture in the same way that beaten egg whites lighten a soufflé, but more gently.
Frikadeller has two lives: hot for dinner with boiled potatoes, cream gravy and pickled beets; cold the next morning on buttered rugbrød as a smørrebrød topping. The cold version — with a layer of remoulade and raw onion on top of the cold meatball — is considered by many Danes to be the superior iteration. The meatball gets better overnight, which is the highest praise a Danish dish can receive.
What to Expect
Frikadeller arrives at a Danish dinner table in a pan, still faintly sizzling. You eat the first one while it's hot — the crust gives, the inside is slightly soft, the butter flavour is present throughout. The second frikadelle, eaten cold the next day on rugbrød with remoulade, is possibly better.
Why Try It
Frikadeller is Danish home cooking at its most honest — unpretentious, reliable and genuinely satisfying in both its hot and cold incarnations. Every Danish household has a recipe and considers every other family's recipe a slightly inferior version of their own.
Insider Tips
Use half pork and half veal for the best flavour — all-pork frikadeller are slightly coarser.
The sparkling water in the mixture is important — don't substitute still water.
Eat cold leftovers on rugbrød with remoulade — this is the best application.
