When you live in or visit Denmark, your choice of where to eat really counts big in affecting your monthly budget. One thing every person living in Denmark would like to either eat at home or eat out depending on the time as well as whatever costs that would come bring about.
From the onset, it would be proper to appreciate the fact that one cannot restrict oneself to eating purely at home or in restaurants. Understandably, when having a trip across Denmark or visiting a new destination within the country, the most natural thing to do is buy ready to eat food from a cafeteria, restaurant, hotel, store or anywhere else. On the other hand, when at work, it’s possible to carry food in a hot pot or lunch box to eat, especially over lunch.
On weekends and evenings, it is possible to cook a meal of choice at home and enjoy everything according to your own choice. However, even those who work within office spaces or industries in Denmark can now order readily cooked food from the many delivery services in the country including Just Eat Denmark, Hungry, Wolt, and Uber Eats.
Truth be told, buying raw foodstuff and cooking for yourself at home will really save your money in Denmark. However, this choice works best if the family size is good enough so that not much food again goes to waste. But the reality is that mixing cooking at home and eating out in Denmark is a good thing but one has to be very mindful of the costs involved at any one time.
Your Eating choices when in Denmark
A meal prepared and served at home can save you both time and money. But what would excite a Dane more is eating food made at home coated with love and affection. In Denmark, eating together with family and friends is valued and honoured. Eating amongst strangers like in a restaurant would sound a bit awkward and strange.
Rather than spend money on restaurant food, the Danes are living and spending their money on fashion. The Danes enjoy a good meal in a cosy gathering joined by family, friends, and those that they hold dear to their heart. A typical well spent day in Denmark is perfect around three different Danish families. Each family represents a generation. The grandparents, parents and children.
The existence of certain norms and rituals surrounding the daily food habits in Denmark makes the Danes love eating at home. Denmark is not really the home of restaurant culture. Danes eat at home. This could partly be related to the fact that a sit-down meal is extremely expensive in Denmark. By any chance you spot a Dane family having a meal in a restaurant then probably they are there for a birthday party.
The Three Generations based on eating choices in Denmark
What the Danes eat in their families and their traditions vary. Well, there are some who still do not enjoy spending a lot of time cooking and yet others love cooking. In some homes in Denmark, cooking is done together whereas there are families who prefer to do it alone.
Nonetheless, there are some similarities in the way food are a social gathering. It is also an aspect of a social structure in every Dane’s daily life. Particularly, a lot of similarity is evident from the kinds of food eaten by various generations especially on food habits.
Some habits have been passed on to the next generation. Most people have learned their cooking skills and abilities from either their parents or grandparents. For this reason, it is very possible that your food, your parent’s, and grandparent’s food is comfortably the same. But grandparents’ is more experienced.
What is the Essence of Eating at Home for the Danes?
The Danes believe that you can learn a lot about someone when you share a meal together. A Dane will not hesitate to invite you together with your friends to their home for dinner. They pride themselves in cooking a meal at home and enjoy it in the company of people so dear to them.
Other than being good at time keeping, a Dane enjoys the aspect of readying their home to receive a visitor. Of course, this would include the cooking of a favourite Danish cuisine. Other cultures allocate the role of cooking to women. Gender equality and role sharing are the core issues in Denmark. Danish men thrive in making very delicious dinners for the family.
Basically, a family man would ensure that every one in their family is happy and comfortable. Coming home after a tiresome and busy day at work, is worth warm welcoming at home and a chat during a family dinner.
But what is the point of spending so much money buying an expensive meal from a restaurant while you can eat at home. Food in the Danish restaurants are extremely expensive. You could actually save lots of money by making a simple meal at home. As a matter of fact, a Dane would even go as far as carrying packed breakfast and lunch to eat while at work.
A Typical Dining Setting in a home in Denmark
A dining setting can either be outside or inside the house; it does not matter. What is important is to always have the whole family at home present to enjoy every meal. While outside, the dinner set is most likely to overlook the garden at the back porch. Very stylish and elegant. It is just to let you know that it is a special occasion for the Danes.
Dinner without wine and a rose at the centre of the dinner table is not a complete dinner set in a Danish home. It is just interestingly similar to an informal dinner at a local restaurant in Denmark. Dinner at home for the Danes is embraced with love from that family touch. Absolutely nobody would want to miss such a setting.
Food, Cooking and Daily Routine in a Danish Home
The chores are distributed among the Danes when preparing family meals. While someone is cooking, another is setting the table and it is rare to find them out for dinner. Danes do not eat out for breakfast either. I believe it is a culture or rather a routine for a Dane to make a meal from scratch. I mean, they never enjoy eating fast food.
While at the dinner table, the family gathers with everyone sitting in the same chair every other day. Every family member has their seat reserved at dinner and this means that even guests would have their own seats. Having a flower bouquet or roses at the centre of the dinner table seems to be a norm. Moreover, candlesticks are also lit at the centre of the table.
Every night, the Danes enjoy their meals while taking their time to eat and chat. It builds strong family bonds and this way it is easier to get to know more about someone, especially a guest. But after finishing their dinner, they help each other to clear the table.
After dinner, the family would happily continue enjoying each other’s company by moving to the living room to watch TV. Later, they eat a small portion of a midnight snack. Stewed fruit or maybe a strawberry or gooseberry would be fine before going to bed.
Food as a Family Gathering
A particular scenario that has a family gathering for their meals in Denmark, is very typical for their grandparent’s generation. The grandparents have plenty of time to cook and they love to have the family for dinner. However, it varies on who cooks dinner in the family and also the kind of food to be prepared.
When a family eats, they get to talk and interact a lot when the entire family sits until all have finished talking. If you are not the kind that loves eating at home with family at dinner and enjoys fast food. Simply say goodbye to becoming friends with a Dane because there is bound to be a problem.
Spotted Changes for People in Denmark Regarding Food
Most Danes thrived in spending a lot of money on fashion. It is shifting and at least the Danes are open to spending more of their disposable income on food. To be particular, people in Denmark are opening their doors to eating out. There is also a changed attitude towards food that may not be Danish too.
Eating out is becoming more accessible for all with the introduction of more restaurants that come with favourable prices. The presence of chain restaurants in Denmark is contributing excessively towards this sort of change.
