Skankynavia: Kærnemælkskoldskål (Danish Dairy Delight)

Anders Arhoj on Aug 03, 2011

Let's start this post by trying to pronounce its title. Easy, no? The Danish language is in a league of its own.

Imagine a gurgling sound, the deep noise of a drunk blond viking with too much mead in his mouth. While Americans speak with the front of their mouth, Danes create the words way back in the mouth coming almost from the throat. You can actually keep a conversation going in Danish for very long without even opening your mouth more than a few millimeters.

Give up, huh? Well, phonetically the title spells: kæɐ̯nəˌmεlˀgsˈkʌlˌsgɔˀl and as usual when our modern, depraved brains give up, Google steps in and pronounces it for us.

So back to the actual subject of this post: kærnemælkskoldskål. Kærnemælk means buttermilk and koldskål is the name of a classic Danish dessert. It's perfect for those long warm evenings when you sit outside in your garden having dinner under the trees. During the early summer months in Denmark, it often doesn't get dark until 1am, and then already at 3:30am the sun is peeking back up from the horizon. Kærnemælkskoldskål is also great after a meal or as a cooling afternoon dishy snack. It's available pre-made in all Danish supermarkets, and if you're not in Denmark you can easily make this dish yourself.

Most Danes are very much into dairy products, even the government recommends you drink half a liter of milk per day for good health and so most Danes like this dish a lot. It's not really considered a fine dining experience, just more like an everyday dessert for the whole family--therefore it might be frowned upon if you served it for guests. But of course, only in this country. For everyone else it would be considered a nice, simple and light dessert that can easily be "dressed up" to look like a classy work of art.

You can serve it plain or as most do with kammerjunkere which are sweet vanilla flavoured biscuits. Watch this (lame) Danish commercial for kammerjunkere:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIBeUiOtatY

You can buy these biscuits, make them yourself, or actually just use any that you can find--it's the combination between the lemon sour dairy koldskål and the sweet biscuits that really does the trick. But you can also sprinkle granola and/or freshly sliced fruit on top for extra delight.

Let's make it!

KÆRNEMÆLKSKOLDSKÅL

INGREDIENTS
for 2 people

4 pasteurized egg yolks (I'm missing an egg in the picture, there should be 4)
4 spoons of sugar
Half a stick of vanilla or two teaspoons of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of shredded organic lemon zest
1/2 liter of buttermilk
1/2 liter of yogurt
2-3 spoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice

METHOD

1. Start by parting the eggs--you want only the yellow yolks.

2. Whip the yolks with the sugar and vanilla.

You want a fluffy light eggnoggy looking texture.

3. Wash your lemon--you want it to be organic to avoid any poisonous pesticides getting into your dessert.

4. Shred a good teaspoon full of zest. This gives the dessert a certain bite.

Introducing Danish organic "old days" kærnemælk (buttermilk) from Osted Dairy:

[Is this kind of packaging available in the US? It's a sustainable and carbon-fingerprint light design. Very flexible and strong, it keeps the milk safe while avoiding annoying old school paper cartons. It takes up very little space in the trash can when folded and when burned it turns into non-toxic fumes.]

5. Pour a half a liter of the sour milk into the yolk mix while stirring elegantly with a spoon.

Introducing yogurt:

Same packaging as the kærnemælk. While I really do like the technical and environmental side of the design, the aesthetics (label/logo/info layout) is just a mess and very un-sexy. It's probably designed by the dairy farmer himself, DIY-countryside style. It could be much much nicer to look at though.

6. Shake it well and pour half a liter in as well while stirring.