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- Cuisine:
Steffan Jensen, head chef at Campaspe Country House, talks about Danish cuisine.
How has your heritage influenced your cooking?
Growing up in the south of Denmark (Haderslev), fresh produce was always on my doorstep. When I was a kid my dad used to take me fishing to the local bay or fjord (guaranteed success) and mum would always cook whatever we caught – most commonly flounder, ocean trout, gurnard, eel and cod.
I grew up in a small town surrounded with farms. My parents used to buy half a cow, veal or pig from a local farmer and then freeze it all – they still do that today. We had a large veggie patch in the back yard growing everything from cabbage, carrots, potatoes and rhubarbs. We also had a large green house where you could find tomatoes, zucchinis and cucumbers. Back then there wasn’t any fast food restaurants in the south of Denmark, so everything was good old-fashioned home cooking, something I’m very grateful for as it has certainly influenced my own cooking, especially the fresh fish we would catch and eat on most days.
This interview is part of a series on chefs representing each of the countries in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. More interviews.
Ingredients
Roast pork with crackling1 pork belly
Salt
2 bay leaves
Thyme
1 liter duck fat
Pommes fondant (white potato base)
2 baking potatoes
250 g butter
250 g water
1 tbsp vinegar
Caramelised potatoes
8 new potatoes
50 g sugar or 100 g clear honey
50 g butter
200 g water
Braised red cabbage
1 red cabbage
100ml red wine vinegar
100 g sugar
1 shallot
2 oranges
2 cloves
2 star anis
2 cinnamon quills
1 liter water
Apples in red currant jelly
4 small apples (native Jonathan or Jazz are great due to their size and tangy taste)
Water
Pinch of salt
100g red currants
50 g sugar
2 gelatin leaves
Juice of 1 lemon
Red currant sauce
100g poaching fat from the pork (the fat used to cook the pork belly)
20g flour
200ml chicken stock
Preparation
Roast pork with cracklingDe-bone and skin the pork belly the day before and salt it lightly, then add the thyme and the bay leaves and leave over night. The next day, rinse the salt off gently and roll the pork with the herbs up like a roulade using butcher string – lay in a tray and poach slowly in the duck fat for approximately 3 hours until the meat is tender (the best way to check this is: if you can put a wooden spike all the way through the meat with ease). Leave to cool down. Before serving: brush with melted butter, sprinkle with honey and roast in the oven until warm and caramelized. Cut into desired portions. Cut the pork skin into thin strips and roast them slowly in their own fat until golden and crispy.
Pommes fondant (white potato base)
Peel the potatoes and cut into 3 or 4 pieces depending on the size of the potato. With a round cutter, cut into round shapes and cook them gently in the butter, water and vinegar until tender.
Caramelised potatoes
Caramelise the sugar or honey until golden, add the butter and let it melt, then add your potatoes and caramelise the potatoes well before adding the water and let the potatoes simmer until done.
Braised red cabbage
Cut the cabbage as thin as you can, half the oranges, chop the shallots – bring everything to the boil and let it slowly cook until the cabbage is done – the cabbage needs to be tender but still with a bit of bite. Drain the cabbage and reduce the liquid into a syrup. Apples in red currant jelly
Peel the apples and cut in to half, discard the seeds and turn them in the lemon juice (to avoid discolouring). Lay the apples in a sauce pot and cover with water and the salt and poach until tender.
Leave the gelatin in cold water to soften. Mix the currants and the sugar and heat slowly in a pot. Blend the currant mix that is now turned into a marmalade (you might need to add 1-2 spoons of water) add the gelatin and pour it into the whole in the apples where the seeds used to be. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Red currant sauce
Syrup from the cabbage (the reduced syrup from the liquid used to cook the cabbage) In a sauce pot heat the fat up, add the flour and beat it into the fat. Add the chicken stock and let it cook through. Add a bit of red currant syrup to desired to taste.
***
On a large round plate, arrange a bit of cabbage in the middle, rest the pork on top and put a few strips of crackling on top of the pork. To the left of the pork dress the apple with a few herbs. Arrange the caramelized potato on top of the fondant and finish with spooning the sauce around.
If you enjoyed this Denmark: Roast pork with crackling recipe then browse more meat recipes, entertaining recipes and our most popular hainanese chicken rice recipe.
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