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DAY 5/229 1981 – TIVOLI GARDENS TO COPENHAGEN, DENMARK

Hans Christian Andersen (2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875), was a Danish author and prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, poems and fairy tales. His statues, name and memory are everywhere in Copenhagen, including the Little Mermaid.

Andersen's fairy tales, consisting of 156 stories across nine volumes and translated into more than 125 languages, have become culturally embedded in our collective consciousness, readily accessible to children, but presenting lessons of virtue and resilience in the face of adversity. His most famous fairy tales include "The Little Mermaid," "The Nightingale," "The Red Shoes", "The Princess and the Pea," "The Snow Queen," "The Ugly Duckling," and "Thumbelina." His stories have inspired ballets, plays, and animated and live-action films. One of Copenhagen's widest and busiest boulevards, skirting Copenhagen City Hall Square where Andersen's larger-than-life bronze statue sits, is "H. C. Andersens Boulevard."

Danish cuisine originated from the peasant population's own local produce and was enhanced by cooking techniques developed in the late 19th century. Open sandwiches, known as smørrebrød, which are the usual fare for lunch, are a national speciality when prepared and decorated with fine ingredients.

Hot meals are typically prepared with meat or fish. Substantial meat and fish dishes includes flæskesteg (roast pork with crackling) and kogt torsk (poached cod) with mustard sauce and trimmings. Ground meats (pork, veal or beef) became widespread during the industrial revolution. Traditional dishes that are still popular includes frikadeller (meat balls), karbonader (breaded pork patties) and medisterpølse (fried sausage). Denmark is known for Carlsberg and Tuborg beers (well known to Top Deckers), and for its akvavit and bitters.

Cooking in Denmark includes the use of imported tropical spices like cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg and black pepper, which can be traced to the Danish cuisine of the Middle Ages and the Vikings.

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