What is smorrebrod? The origins of the Danish open sandwich

PLATE UP

I apologise: I cannot possibly think about smorrebrod, the iconic Scandinavian snack, without recalling the episode of The Simpsons where Homer is playing golf and is struggling to get out of a bunker. "Use an open-faced club," Mr Burns yells. "A sand wedge!" Homer smiles: "Mm, open-faced club sandwich." OK – now that that is out of the way, we can talk about smorrebrod, surely the undisputed king of the open-faced sandwich world.

This Nordic nosh is basically anything delicious piled on top of a slice of bread: maybe some salted beef or pickled fish, perhaps pate or smoked eel, or if you prefer, prawns with mayonnaise, or gravlax with dill. As long as the sandwich is topless and tasty, you have yourself a smorrebrod.

FIRST SERVE

I've labelled smorrebrod Danish, which could be mildly controversial, as this is a style of eating you will find throughout much of Scandinavia, and its true origins could probably stretch to any of those nations.

What's known about smorrebrod's history is that it was invented in the 19th century by Nordic farmers (or, more correctly, their wives), who would go off into the fields each day with leftovers from the previous night's meal piled on a "trencher", or slice of bread that functioned as a plate – one that would soak up all of the topping's flavours, and be eaten at the end.

Smorrebrod was popularised commercially in the late 1800s by a Copenhagen wine bar called Restaurant Oskar Davidsen.

ORDER THERE

If you're in Copenhagen, you can't go past Restaurant Ida Davidsen (idadavidesen.ik), the smorrebrod eatery run by the fourth generation of sandwich-mad Davidsens.