Can a Chef Cook THIS Random International Dish? | A-Z Challenge D: DENMARK 

As a Dane, I feel like I should say that we do usually have our caramelized potatoes at Christmas as a side dish, along with braised red cabbage. So Ben wasn't far off when he said that it needed something like fermented cabbage on the side to cut through the sweetness! 😅

As a Dane, I was pretty excited to see what you'd be doing with this episode! Have to be honest though: that's just not frikadeller. It's a type of meat ball, sure, but the reference you showed is waaaaay off from how Danes define frikadeller. Frikadeller are usually never cooked in sauce but in plenty of butter so they get nice and crispy on the outside. Gravy on the side. Sage is definitely not traditional either, but I'm sure it's tasty, just not exactly Danish ;) I actually find traditional frikadeller rather boring, but I couldn't help but be disappointed in the research for this episode 😅

Usually you'd want to go with as small potatoes as possible, makes it easier to caramellise them, and you get more caramel per potato 🤤

Another Dane here: Love that you did our country and great effort! Frikadeller are usually fried in butter or margarine and are NOT served in a sauce, like you would with Swedish meatballs. Many sides can accompany frikadeller, a popular option is boiled potatoes and "stuvet hvidkål" (cabbage stewed in bechamel).

As a Dane i wouldnt reeeeaally say that you made frikadeller, seems very swedish. They are normally with a brown gravy on the side and not cooked in a creamy white sauce. Not so much balls, just cooked crispy on two sides, so a little more flat. The æbleskiver looked good, but too many add ons. But its a very good effort 😁 Thanks for giving it a good go!

As a Dane I'm a bit confused by the picture you compared the frikadeller with because in my opinion those are Swedish meatballs. Frikadeller are usually oblong and flatter and the sauce is browner and often served on the side. Good job on the candied potatoes and æbleskiver though. I absolutely love this series ❤

I love how international your audience is. There's always a local in the comments

Frikadeller usually don't go with the browned or caramelized potatoes, but I'll give a pass, since they are both iconic :P But one is a traditional mid-week meal (Frikadeller), and the two others are for christmas, only (Æbleskiver and Brunede kartofler) :D Frikadaller are usually much larger than Swedish Meatballs. Swedish meatballs are small and round. While frikadeller are larger, oval, and flat. Usually the flour goes into the mince (That's what the egg is for - You have to cook the minced pork all the way through anyways). You can both use pork, or a pork/veal mixture, traditionally :) Any sauce is made seperately, too. But all in all, great job! :D

That spin at the end and how the normals responded to it was absolutely fabulous. 😂

This is probably my favourite current series on the channel. Interesting to see both brand new foods, and new takes on food you're already familiar with - especially when we get to compare the final, semi-improvised result to the real deal. I'm not Danish, but I AM a fellow Scandinavian, and I'd never heard of that potato dish before. Well cooked!

Dane here 😊 I've never heard of caramelized potatoes with frikadeller. As someone mentioned earlier, they're a classic side for the Christmas meal, which in my mind, is roast duck, alongside pickled red cabbage and other pickles. Not to forget the country dividing salty crisps :) They also go great with creamed spinach and ham :) Great job guys, looked good 👍

Has sortedfood ever considered doing a session in how to cook the types of foods people in the UK find in food banks? We keep hearing that more and more need to use these, and it'd be great to have Ben find ways to make cheap, nutritious tasty dishes with such ingredients.

As a Dane I feel honored that you cooked some of our food on your show. It's always fun to see your small Country pop up on your favorite cooking channel.

As a Dutch person, a lot of these things sound and look familiar, though most of it is just a little different. Interesting how that works, Denmark and The Netherlands being so close together, and some of these things sound and look familiar yet they're still different.

First off I want to thank you guys for finally cooking some of our food! It's really nice to feel included

It's always nice to see Ebbers using all his knowledge all of his and technical skills in the kitchen, while still remaining enthusiastic after all these years. Great format Guys!

I usually only have caramelized potatoes on christmas, and always with braised red cabbage. Æbleskiver is usually a december thing, eaten at any gathering related to Christmas. Swap the frikadeller for Roast Pork, and it's basically what most of us eat on Christmas Eve (24th). Love your videos 🥰

Lots of things you guys go about the wrong way in this one 😅 First - and by far most importantly - when making "frikadeller" (Danish meatballs), you need to start off working salt into the pork mince (beat it thoroughly for a while - your arm will get tired - or you can use a mixer 😉), until it changes colour and becomes slightly stringy. You do this to help retain moisture, both in the raw mix and when frying... and if you don't do it, you end up with a much drier and less flavoursome end result. Only after working the salt in, do you add the other ingredients. It's a good idea to blend the onion finely (almost like a puree) instead of chopping it, to not get semi-cooked bits of onion in the finished product, and a more even distribution of flavour. Because of working the salt into the mince earlier, you don't need to use as much flour as a binding agent (and you don't need to coat them in flour before frying)... some even forego using flour altogether, and just use egg only as a binding agent. You can consider replacing the milk with sparkling water, the CO2 gives you a lighter more spongy end result (good tip for the lactose intolerant), or you can use chicken or pork stock to bulk up on flavour. You want the mince mixture slightly loose, if you can roll it in your hands like you do in the video, it is much too tight... think the consistency of cooled down slightly stiffened porridge. Now let the mixture rest at least half an hour in the fridge before frying, to let it firm up a bit and let the flavours blend. We tend to fry them in an oblong shape, rather than round (like the Swedes), a typical Danish "frikadelle", will roughly have the shape and size of a large chicken egg (most shape them using a tablespoon and the palm of their hand, both slightly wetted with water so it doesn't stick as much). Also we don't soak "frikadeller" in a sauce, that's a Swedish thing for their "köttbullar". We roast them at medium/high heat in a mixture of oil and frothy butter, to get a dark brown caramelization and a slight crust, while maintaining the soft and juicy inside, and serve sauce/gravy on the side. Last, but not least... nobody in Denmark serves the caramalised potatos with "frikadeller"... they are for more salty dishes, like roast pork shoulder with crackling... "frikadeller" are usually served with boiled peeled potatoes, pork gravy and something acidic, like either a cold pickled cucumber salad or red cabbage braised in red wine.

So I just had a look in Gastronom Bogen, the text book used for Danish chefs. I must say the Brunede Kartofler and Æbleskiver is almost spot on, however the Frikadeller is a bit weird if you go 100% traditional for seasoning you only add salt peber and onion.

Frikadeller 1. Use half veal and half pork 2. Diced onion 3. Flour mixed in... 4. Salt and pepper 5. Make small balls to maximize the "crust" 6. Don't make sauce directly in pan with Frikadeller... unless you have removed some you want to save some for sandwiches.

I've never done the sauce directly with the frikadeller. When he poured the flour over I was like NOO, but then a second later I was like maybe 🤔

I love these mystery videos! For England you have to do something from hundreds of years ago, and something that is still foreign for you guys!

This series is amazing and no matter the country, the people from it are gonna have grievances with the dishes. You did a formidable job and even though I've never seen that version of frikadeller, it looked downright amazing! you did such an awesome job with the brunede kartofler and the æbleskiver! :D I really hope that you keep this series going after you run out of letters! So many new countries to replace the ones already visited! :D

So happy to see danish food on the channel. Ben is absolutely right about the fermented cabbage missing. Usually, it would be frikadeller, brunede kartofler, a brown sauce and braised red cabbage as a Keal in the winther, with æbleskiver served with raspberry jam and powdered sugar as a afternoon treat at Christmas time

Ben: " it needs something tangy, it needs a fermen..." Danes: "it needs rødkål!" (Danish pickled red cabbage)

I've been waiting for this! I really hope you guys do the whole alphabet again once you finish Z because theres so much to explore

I love this new series, extremely eye opening, inspiring, and educational! Can’t wait for the next one!!

The traditional way to shape a frikadelle is with 2 tablespoons (big once), you pick up a good portion of fars, scrape it between the spoons to create a triangle or square form, flatten them a bit between the spoons, and plop them down in a mix of oil and butter to almost shallow fry, so they get nice and crispy.

As a danish person, this is a bit of a weird mix of dishes haha, the potatoes are mostly a complementary sidedish eaten at christmas. The Æbleskiver is normally also eaten around chistmas with powdered sugar and jam of your choice, while they traditionally had appels in them, modern itterations does not have apple in them. I would personally have wanted you (espicially Jamie) to try Stægt Flæsk med Persillesovs (look it up it is fantastic).

When Ebbers threw the onion and it curved right into Barry's hand... very satisfying

So, time to suggest an English dish that no one's ever heard of before? My late Nan always made "Nutty Slack" for us at Christmas, took the recipe with her to the next life, I've googled it a hundred times and had nothing similar back. From memory it was a biscuity base that filled a tray and formed an outer boundary, on top was a layer of strawberry Jam, on top of that was marzipan and topped off with a final layer of length cut almonds and glace cherries, cooked until the top was golden brown. I have no idea if it was an old recipe that she renamed or if she came up with it herself, but it was a hallmark of Christmas in our home.

Love it. Sooo close, yet so far.. =) As always though it's nice to see a take on familiar dishes I've grown up with done differently. Really makes me appreciate them and think about them a bit differently. Thanks Sorted Food!

As a Dane, the only things I would have done differently were: smaller potatoes for the brunede kartofler and I would have fried the Frikadeller more so they got a more chrispy outside (they looked more like meatballs than frikadeller) and then made the sauce after in the same pan with all the leftover bits and fat

I love this series. Keep it up boys!

I love this format SO much, such an amazing way to see different cuisines around the world. I look forward to these videos every time.

I love that both of my suggestions from last episode made it! It was so great to see you make dishes I've had many times before! Thank you so much!

As a Dane, I was screaming at my screen when Ben put the butter into the sugar 😅 The sugar needs to be *completely* dissolved/slightly caramellised before adding the butter. It makes "the sugar butter situation" lump-free and a lot more smooth and glossy. As many others have commented, we usually only eat brunede kartofler at Christmas as one of many side dishes with our roast duck/pork/goose/etc, but I will definitely try them with frikadeller in the future. Thanks for the culinary visit, guys!

Great vid as always, guys. Would love to see some Latvian cooking on this series!

I have been watching u guys since the beginning of Sorted. Absolutely love what you guys do and to finally see you cook something from my country makes me so happy :)

This is one of my fav series that you guys do. Can't wait for the next one!

I don’t have anything really awesome to contribute to this video, but I just want to let you know I really appreciate this series! It’s a lovely change-up from the fun Pass-it-On and challenge videos among the normals. It provides a better insight on a realistic rendering of cuisine from around the world - totally here for it. ❤

Ben's face at having to be taught how to cook something by Jamie is perfect.

This is up there with one of my favourite series’ you guys do. I beg you guys do these more often it’s so so enjoyable to watch the cooks guess how to make another regions dish. Keep it up!!!

Pro tip to make the best æbleskiver. First, your batter could be slightly more liquid; and also whip the egg white seperately to a firm consistency and then gently add it at the end. The old grandma trick is to use an old nitting stick/pin? to turn them. When you bake them turn them (as you did correctly), first 90 degrees, then a second time in a different direction so that you leave a little finger-wide hole and the center is hollow (takes practise becaue you need just the right amount of batter and timing to turn them twice). Then as you eat them (warm of course) you fill up the center with a teaspoon full of nice jam, sometimes also dip them in sugar if you got an extra sweet tooth ... enjoy. Don't buy the premade ones, they are crap (and not hollow) .. æbleskiver needs to be homemade. Traditionally eaten in the winter time.

I was at a little Expo in Ballarat Vic, Australia and watched a lady make those little pancakes. She cooked them the way Barry did at first but flipped hers with a pointy tooth pick. I was fascinated with it. I did buy some and they were so yummy. She dusted them with icing sugar and if you wanted something a bit extra you could have whipped cream or whipped cream and jam on top. It is so nice to see foods from other countries. Thanks guys

Yes it’s back! I absolutely love this series!!

I love this, keep it coming guys

Can’t wait for the next one! I love this series!!

Yay! More traveling the world for fantastic dishesh! I love this series!

I already have a few suggestions for England. North East cuisine is something that you've never covered on the channel before and I'd love to see you give it a try. Ham and pease pudding in a homemade stottie. Saveloy Dip (Jamie will love this one). Pan Haggerty or Panaculty.

This project helps a lot of us develop new recipes and learn about what other nations like to eat! Thank you for culinary inspiration!

I love this series! Its great!

Fun video again boys! Ben seemed very much sure in his thinking, and it worked out. I saw an old episode of Jamie and Jimmy's food fight, and suddenly a very young mike and Ben popped up!

I love this series! And got so excited when the wheel landed on Denmark! The frikadeller was quite far from what we would normally do. Different shape, seasoning and the flour actually does go into the meat 😉 But I really think you nailed the shape of æbleskiver. They are usually made with buttermilk and lots of cardamom and then we dip them into jam and powdered sugar 😍 Originally they had an apple cube in the middle. We especially eat them at Christmas fairs with Gløgg(Glühwein) or with family as a midday or evening snack

Happy day seeing this series again. Right behind pass it on as things I went through the video archives and watched first.

I am glad this series is back!

The 'aebleskiver' really reminds me of 'poffertjes' we have in the Netherlands! And the name 'frikadeller' reminded me of the 'frikandel', but that's WAY different than the Danish one 😂

I was surprised when they said they'd never had potatoes with caramel/sugar before. I think it's common in other parts of the world. My favourite Korean side dish is potatoes in a salty/sweet glaze (gamja jorim or gamja bokkeum). Sweet and savoury and addictive!

I think this A-Z Challenge is brilliant. I am not all all sure that you don’t need to ditch the alphabet and just got with EVERY COUNTRY!!! The geography of food is not only fascinating, it’s really important for our global community to have connections. This is wonderful. The way you added a snip of singing while cooking in one country, the spices and even wondering what time of day the foods would be eaten. So good!! MORE PLEASE!!!

LOVE this series!

Challenge “D” and “Beat Your Meat” in the same video Ben is having a field day with the innuendos 😂

I would love to see the A-Z challenge done in a pass it on episode where there cook has to choose/use ingredients in alphabetical order!

Jamie pronounced the danish words beautifully 😍 and thank you guys for always making great videos! Cheers from Denmark!

As a Dane, this gave me a lot more respect for our cuisine. The frikadeller the Barry and Ben made are definitely closer to swedish meatballs. My mum and her mum use spoons (table and teaspoon respectively) to shape the meatballs before frying them off in butter or margarine to get a nice thick sear on each side. We eat them hot or cold, sometimes in sandwiches. The caramelised potatoes are typically a Christmas side dish as others have pointed out. I'm not sure how everyone does it, but this Christmas we made them in the oven. You want that caramel to seep into the first few milometers of the potatoes, often rendering the whole thing quite soft. As for the æbleskiver, these i have personal experience making. I'd recommend having the batter on the thinner side, and flipping them twice, in 90 degrees intervals. They are typically served with strawberry or raspberry jam and powdered sugar, both for dipping. These are also a Christmas time food, typically served as an after lunch desert, alongside hot chocolate and/or coffee. Should be noted this is all how it's been done in my family for generations, and will likely vary from family to family.

Pretty good work guys! I find it hard not to pick at details, because these are so traditional 😆 Ben is absolutely right, usually it would be served with pickled beets for the Frikadeller or braised and pickled cabbage for the potatoes. Other than that, you got yourself a happy danish fan here 🥰

Food brings everyone around the table! Love all the dishes from around the world

That frikadelle recipe Ben is making is something alright! As a Dane it hurt a little bit 😂

My grandmother would kill me if I tried to cook frikadeller in the sauce, its usually a brown gravy served on the side. And chocolate on æbleskiver? No go. Otherwise, stellar jobs Sorted, glad to see my culture represented.

Glad this series is back!

I absolutely have the urge now to break out my aebleskiver pan and get to work! Great show! Thank you Sorted! ❤

Loved the episode. Some pointers, you can make a pan sauce for your frikadella, but take them out of the pan before making the sauce. You can use oats in your mince, but we usually use flour and eggs instead. The brown potatoes were a bit to big, we don’t put peber on them and they are usually only served at Christmas. We don’t usually put things in our æbleskiver. But well done, the food looked great😊

The Frikkedeller looks more like you tried to make Swedish meatballs, but the Brune Kartofler seemed pretty decent

Love this series

I’ve been loving all of the dishes that have been created during this series. They all look so good… Also, since next episode is going to be an English dish (or dishes), it’d would be fun if James could either join in with the cooking process or be the one giving out the hints. Granted, he’d need to be free and agree to it, but it’s fun to think about…

Seems more like a Danish christmas episode, but still amazing dishes! Normally the Æbleskiver don't have filling, but seems lovely, and never seen the sauce made around the Frikadeller, always been two separate so they get nice and crispy on the outside 😋 I always had Frikadeller with something like a pepper sauce, which might have been good in this one? But would have been fun seeing them try to handle a Medisterpølse.

I just love this series because I get to travel the world from my living room. Although… it would be even better if it was accompanied by the food they’re making in the video. 😉

this is by far my favourite cooking series on youtube. Great job boys!

Love this format

brunede kartofler are usually the little ones from the tin (at least where I’m from) for maximum caramel to potato ratio

would be cool if you guys took a trip to copenhagen and did one your food tours, preferably from cheap to expensive, it is after all home to 2 very successful restaurants, anyways as always enjoy the content to the fullest

I have been waiting more than 5 years for you guys to cook something from little Denmark! Loved the episode, and was really impressed by how quickly you got hold of the æbleskrive technique

This channel never disappoints. Every second is crammed with entertainment and innuendos. So proud to call myself a normal.

And as the series goes on you can always do season 2 by removing the ones done from before from the wheel (and adding ones that were missing like Croatia IIRC) Which means this could be a what 212 episode long series eventually? I think there's 212 countries in the UN or the Olympics or something...

I’ve made æbleskiver before. They’re really good.

Love how Ben just took over the kitchen, and Baz's only cooking job was peeling par boiled potatoes. He did make dessert look amazing on the plate! Good job sticking to your strengths boys!

this is my favourite series on youtube, full stop!

Haven’t watched it yet, but I genuinely love this series. PS you should totally do a good tour of India or Indonesia! Huge countries with a variety of cuisine and friendly people.

As a Dane I have been waiting for this one!

Really loving this series! I do think the thing that would push it over the top would be to bring in an expert to taste the final dishes and share their expertise. I'm sure you can find locals in London (and even put a call out to viewers to help identify those experts), and I think it would help make this a more authoritative learning experience for viewers versus a "best guess"

@SortedFood history lesson time. Brunede kartofler was invented in the olden days by servant staff. During Christmas time it was common for the aristocracy to serve roasted chestnuts as a side to the main dish, which added a savory sweetness to the whole. A local delicacy during the time, and quite expensive considering they ripened a few months earlier and needed to be properly stored. The servant staff obviously couldn't afford such extravagant food, and thus substituted for butter and sugar roasted potatoes to approximate the experience. Over time this substitute replaced the roasted chestnuts, and is now considered one of the hallmarks of Christmas and part of fine dining.

What I’m eager to see is the Danes being frank with their opinions.

lol thats not very close to danish frikadeller, we use half veal mince half pork, and the use of oats and sage is a abomination 😅 and to cook the frikadeller in the sauce, is a norwegian and swedish tradition, not danish. the potatoes have be a lot smaller, and cook ind the caramel for longer, for the caramel to soak in to the fully boiled potato ;)

great episode! 6:40 barry's reaction to the caramel potato LOL

I love this series, so many new ideas for this American to try. I’d love to make these potatoes for the Holidays (as some people have mentioned that’s when they’re served), it would really elevate my traditionally American holiday feast!

you guys are max RU-vid

My father and grandmother are rolling around in their graves at this version. But to be honest there are as many different ways of making frikadeller as there are families in Denmark. For instance in my family we put rolled oats in the meat mixture rather then flour. It makes for a firmer frikadelle. And sorry there aren't actually any apples in æbleskiver. They went out of the recipe like a 100 years ago. To turn the æbleskiver we tend to use a nittingnedle. The "brunede kartofler " are usually made with small waxy potatoes. And NO there is not pepper in the potatoes. They are just awfully sweet. Hence why I don't eat them.

the technique on the balls is to use a "wood knife" to dig into along side and lift and subtly rotate them, this applies a torque to the open edge which compresses it a little and helps along the sphering some. If you watch the people pro-cooking them with chopsticks they twist the stick while doing it. you can use this tech to also fill them with cheese/whatnot and give a dollup of batter over-top... AND you can also use a surface batter onto them when they're done to add flavor, color, crispy and stiffness.

This is a fun series, can't wait for the next one. I would love it if you guys can get Alton Brown to do a collaboration. Maybe show off some of the gadgets he made and have Ben and the normals try them out

As a Dutchie I’m wondering if the frikandeller are anything like our frikandellen… 👀

just yet another dane adding my voice to the chorus :) Thanks for "visiting" our food culture, always fun. I have never in my life seen chocolate on æbleskiver - usually you dip them in jam/jelly and then in powdered sugar so you were not far off. They are served as a snack between meals usually. And the vast majority are eaten in december. Like many other comments, I have never seen frikadeller cooked in sauce. To me its supposed to be a crisp panfried meatball. I was never much a fan of the super beaten version where you no longer have any texture left in the meat but I recognise that is a personal preference ;) love the format, keep it up!