Rejemad

The story

Smørrebrød, the Danish open sandwich, grew out of Copenhagen's working life. In 1857 the city had about 160,000 people and 800 taverns, and factory workers ate their packed lunches there at midday; those without one could buy buttered bread with toppings, the start of the city's smørrebrød restaurants. In 1883 Louise Nimb introduced the order slip at her restaurant in Tivoli, where guests ticked off the pieces and the bread they wanted. From 1888 Oskar Davidsen sold smørrebrød from his wine shop in Frederiksberg, and his slip grew to 140 centimeters with up to 170 varieties. Ida Davidsen, the fourth generation of the family firm, peeled shrimp in the family business as a child and in 1974 opened her own restaurant, whose list runs to 178 kinds. Rejemad is one of the plainest: buttered white bread heaped with small shrimp, mayonnaise, dill and lemon. Danes eat smørrebrød mostly at lunch, fish and shellfish first. Valentine's Day has caught on in Denmark only since the 1990s. Serve rejemad on small plates as a starter, with a knife and fork and a cold glass of beer or white wine.