Frikadeller: The classic Danish comfort food dish (2024)

At this time of year in Scandinavia, as nights grow colder and darker and people gather around fires and cosy tables, the meatball really shines. A classic comfort food beloved by all three Scandinavian nations – Denmark, Sweden and Norway – meatballs are simultaneously an easy weeknight meal for busy families and the kind of dish you'd see on the menu for a large gathering or celebration.

The origin of the meatball is more than a little unclear. According to food historian Nina Bauer, like the pancake, the meatball was invented simultaneously in many countries worldwide, so no one country can lay claim to it. It remains, however, a classic food across Scandinavia, though not without its differences.

"We all have different words for them," Bauer said. "In Denmark, we call a ball of meat that is pan-fried a frikadelle."

The Danish meatball is a little rugged in texture and can be served in multiple ways – with a lightly spiced curry sauce, for example, or a rich gravy. A Swedish meatball, in comparison to the crispy, pan-fried Danish version, is often a little smaller, with a very smooth, even texture and a rounder shape. You shouldn't be able to spot any of the individual ingredients in a Swedish meatball, such as diced onions, plus it's eaten with lingonberry jam. In Norway, the meatball is larger and flatter and more like a meat patty, served with a brown gravy.

"In Denmark, we trace the roots of the frikadelle back to the 1600s, with a recipe, maybe German in origin, written for a sausage without a casing seasoned with saffron and ginger. This sausage without a casing becomes a meatball eaten in a soup and stew," said Bauer.

When meat grinders and cast-iron stove tops became common in Denmark in the mid-19th Century, everything changed for the meatball and its role in society.

"Before then, it was an aristocratic food because you needed a servant to work on the meat with a knife all morning," said Bauer. "The arrival of the meat grinder democratises it all and a kind of euphoria takes place, where people start to think about what to do with it."

Today, the modern-day Danish meatball comes in different guises. Trine Hahnemann, cook and author of the recently published cookbook Simply Scandinavian, said this is partly because there is a lot of minced meat available in Denmark, thanks to the many milking cows on its farms.

"When they get slaughtered, you have to make mincemeat out of them," she said. "You can't use the meat in any other way. So, we have many traditional meals that stem from this minced meat, including frikadeller (plural) and meatballs in curry sauce. I grew up eating meatballs in a celeriac sauce, and we always ate the leftovers the next day on rye bread."

Food waste is a big focus for Hahnemann, who notes that the meatball is so important that she has never written a cookbook without a frikadelle recipe in it. "It is a good way to get use out of your leftovers," she said. "You can put vegetables in them and stretch out the meat."

Hahnemann's meatball is quintessentially Danish, but she acknowledges that the addition of courgette and sparkling water is a little unusual. If you don't eat red meat, you can use minced chicken instead of pork and beef, advises Hahnemann. Or, for a vegetarian version, grate a variety of root vegetables to replace the minced meat.

Her best advice for making a light fried Danish meatball is to do something her family has been doing for generations. "If you want them to be not too heavy, go easy on the flour," she advised. "Don't use milk because that makes them heavy –use sparkling water. That's a piece of advice my grandmother passed on to me. It feels counter intuitive, but it makes the meatball lighter and fluffier."

Serves 4

Method

(Recipe from Simply Scandinavian by Trine Hahnemann/Quadrille, photography ©Columbus Leth)

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