Buttery goodness
10 Oct 2007 by Tom in Denmark
The Danes have butter and they’re not afraid to use it. Lots of thick, rich, beautiful butter. In fact, nearly every dessert we’ve tasted here is rich and buttery and delicious. They don’t care about fat free, low cholesterol diets. They just eat delicious, buttery goodness and hope for the best. The bakeries here are stocked with tons of amazing pastries that are hard to pronounce. We have two bakeries close to our place and I’ve tried to get down there every couple of mornings to get fresh bread and pastries. I don’t know what the heck I’m ordering. I just point at things and try not to look like an undecisive idiot. So far it’s worked out OK.
I don’t know why, but whenever we travel we feel like we need to fit in and not be labeled as tourists. But really, that’s exactly what we are. And every now and then, we’re reminded of our touristisity (a new word) the hard way. Remember a couple weeks ago in England when I talked about how the ultimate humiliation of an traveler was to have the merchant picking coins out of your open hand? Well, I topped that today in a market in Copenhagen. I actually had to hand the woman at the register a handful of Kroner and she picked out some coins and handed the rest back to me. I’ve been here for over a week now and I thought I had figured out the coinage. I guess not.
Another interesting thing is that some Danes can’t tell the difference between British and American accents. So when we order something in English and pay for it, the Danes will say “Cheers mate” after the transaction. It happed twice today.
Ænyhøø, we’ve been enjoying our time in the land of my forefathers. We’ve had good times with my family here. This place feels like home away from home.
11 Oct 2007 at 12:24 am
ahhh i got coined here too…it happened to me here at a supermarket. Apparently you have to pay for the plastic bags you need to carry your groceries home. It’s a good idea for the environment…
are you the only author on this. what about jamie..i’m sure she’d give a great different perspective on the trip besides beer =P
11 Oct 2007 at 12:25 am
Hey, I didn’t talk about beer in this post. I talked about butter. I’ll try to get Jamie to write something …
11 Oct 2007 at 5:05 pm
I’ve been sneered at for my love of butter, even directly mocked. But after this essay, my insecurities have now turned into an identity. Now I know for sure it is right to eat butter, it is right to not be afraid of it. How could so many Scandinavians have it wrong? Thank you for reminding me to spend time with more dairy spreads. I even went as far as using imitation.. but I always keep coming back to the real thing.
Thanks Tom.
12 Oct 2007 at 7:59 am
i’m so happy you are having a blast there and enjoying the buttery goodness. i guess it will be hard changing from buttery pastry to sausage! :) have fun. btw… i have yet to see the black socks and sandals pictures!