Words at the Danish table
Danish looks easier than it sounds – half the letters get swallowed. These are the words that keep coming up in Danish recipes, with a pronunciation hint that follows the sound.
How to read it
- d after a vowel
- A soft, almost English „th“: „mad“ sounds like „math“.
- ø
- Like the vowel in French „peu“.
- å
- A long o.
- g at the end of a word
- Nearly vanishes: „kage“ is „kay-uh“, not „ka-ge“.
- r
- Deep in the throat, more a vowel than a consonant.
At the restaurant
| Dänisch | Say it like | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| undskyld | own-skewl | Excuse me. This is how you get attention – the final d is silent. |
| må jeg bede om menukortet? | maw yigh beh om meh-noo-kor-tet | The menu, please. Literally „may I ask for the menu“. |
| hvad kan du anbefale? | vath kan doo an-beh-fah-leh | What do you recommend? In Denmark you use the informal „you“ even in restaurants. |
| må jeg bede om regningen? | maw yigh beh om rye-ning-en | The bill, please. |
| det smagte dejligt | deh smag-teh dye-lit | It tasted wonderful. |
| velbekomme | vel-beh-kom-meh | Enjoy your meal – and also the reply to „tak for mad“. |
At the table
| Dänisch | Say it like | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| hygge | hoo-guh | Cosiness. At the table it means candles, time, and nobody rushing you to get up – not a dish but a condition. |
| tak for mad | tack for math | Thank you for the food. Said after the meal to whoever cooked; children learn it as one of their first sentences. |
| smørrebrød | smur-ruh-broth | An open sandwich as a dish in its own right: a slice of rye bread, densely topped, eaten with knife and fork – never picked up. |
| frokost | fro-kost | Lunch – not breakfast, despite the look of the word. Breakfast is morgenmad. |
Ingredients
| Dänisch | Say it like | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| fløde | flur-thuh | Cream. It sits inside flødesovs, the cream sauce, and flødeboller, the chocolate-covered marshmallows. |
| kål | kawl | Cabbage. grønlangkål is creamed kale; brunkål is white cabbage browned slowly with sugar. |
| hyldeblomst | hoo-luh-blomst | Elderflower. Steeped into a cordial it is the smell of Danish summer kitchens – and the base for juice, jelly and sugar. |
| mørbrad | mur-brath | Pork tenderloin. Literally „tender roast“ – the softest cut, often stuffed and baked. |
| rugbrød | roo-broth | Dark rye sourdough, dense and grainy. The base for every smørrebrød. |
In the kitchen
| Dänisch | Say it like | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| bagt | bagt | Baked. honningbagte gulerødder are carrots baked with honey. |
| svøbt | svurbt | Wrapped. baconsvøbte pølser are sausages in a bacon coat – the bacon goes around them, not beside them. |
| kage | kay-uh | Cake. The g all but disappears when spoken: appelsinkage sounds like „a-bel-seen-kay-uh“. |
| sovs | sowss | Sauce. flødesovs is the cream sauce that belongs with almost any roast. |