Another very hot record breaking temperature type of day in Budapest.  I do not know how people without air conditioning are coping. Being a Friday I think a lot of people are making arrangements to visit friends with summer places either at the lake or in the mountains.  Another reason not to have a second home .

 This morning early I went to the grocery store, it was packed with people getting all their supplies for the weekend get-a-ways. I walked around trying to decide what I would make for dinner in this heat.

Smorrebrod! 

Suddenly it came to me. I could make some Danish open face sandwiches !

So lets start with the most important ! It is easy to find Danish beer here but not so easy to find the Aquavit, the caraway seed drink that is drank with the beer chaser. They also drink Gammel Dansk  which I actually prefer,  it is a Bitter similar to Jagermeister and so we will substitute.

I lived a few months in Denmark and I loved how they put these smorrebrod together. The ladies would find what was left in the fridge and make these amazing sandwiches.  The word sort of means bread and butter and depending on what goes on the bread determines the bread you use. Usually it is a dark heavy rye bread with a slightly sour taste that is out of this world. They slice it very thinly and cover it with a thick layer of butter.  If you work in a smorrebrod kitchen you are judged on how perfect your butter layer is , it has to be so many millimeters!

 As there are only two of us and it is hot , I will just make 1-2types.

 I have decided to make shrimp and egg, this calls for a white bread. You butter the bread thickly and then cut into half and place a lettuce leaf on it .

Now you are ready to add the shrimp, mayonnaise, egg and dill .
I use Hellmans mayonnaise as I like the taste but if you have the energy you can make your own also ( probably would taste better).

You will put salt and pepper on this and then serve with drinks that are ice cold. These are NOT eaten with your fingers! A fork and a knife is beside each plate and you eat slowly drinking between bites. When your shrimp sandwich is finished you are given another plate and cutlery and you start with the other types of sandwiches, usually meat or in my case I made a tomato and egg sandwich and a salami sandwich .

You should put raw purple onions rings on the salami and not use the egg and tomato but this is how my husband likes it . There are actually 'rules' as to what you put together with what food. I never got around to learning this as I was not there for so long. When I returned to Canada it was just nice to be able to make a different type of sandwich.

In a Danish buffet there are so many wonderful flavours, but to have a smorrebrod it is better with many people and lots of drinks and laughter.

Dill is used a lot in the sandwich preparation and so the lady of the house alwasy has some on hand.

Toppings  from Wikipedia......

Traditional toppings include marinerede sild, which are pickled herrings (plain, kryddet – spiced, or karry – curried), slightly sweeter than Dutch or German herrings; thinly-sliced cheese in many varieties; sliced cucumber, tomato and boiled eggs; leverpostej, which is pork liver-paste; dozens of types of cured or processed meat in thin slices, or smoked fish such as salmon; mackerel in tomato sauce; pickled cucumber; boiled egg, and rings of red onion. Mayonnaise mixed with peas, sliced boiled asparagus and diced carrot, called italiensk salat (lit. Italian salad), remoulade or other thick sauces often top the layered open sandwich, which is usually eaten with utensils. It is custom to pass the dish of sliced breads around the table, and then to pass around each dish of toppings, and people help themselves.
Hundreds of combinations and varieties of smørrebrød are available, and some traditional examples include:

• Dyrlægens natmad (Danish: Veterinarian's midnight snack) — On a piece of dark rye bread, a layer of liver paté (leverpostej), topped with a slice of corned beef (salt kød) and a slice of meat aspic (sky). This is all decorated with raw onion rings and garden cress.
• Eel — Smoked eel on dark rye bread, topped with scrambled eggs and sliced radishes or chopped chives.
• Leverpostej — Warm rough-chopped liverpaste served on dark rye bread, topped with bacon, and sauteed mushrooms.
• Roast beef — thin sliced and served on dark rye bread, topped with a portion of remoulade, and decorated with a sprinkling of shredded horseradish and toasted (ristet) onion.
• Roast pork (Ribbensteg) — thin sliced and served on dark rye bread, topped with red sweet and sour cabbage, and decorated with a slice of orange.
• Spiced meat roll (Rullepølse).
• Tartarmad — raw beef mince with salt and pepper, served on dark rye bread, topped with raw onion rings, grated horseradish and a raw egg yolk.
• Smoked salmon (laks) — Slices of cold smoked or cured salmon (gravad laks) on white bread, topped with shrimp and decorated with a slice of lemon and fresh dill.
• Stjerneskud (Danish: Shooting Star) — On a base of buttered white bread, two pieces of fish: a piece of steamed white fish on one half, a piece of fried, battered plaice (rødspætte) on the other half. On top is piled a mound of shrimp, which is then decorated with a dollop of mayonnaise, red caviar, and a lemon slice.

As you can see from the Wikipedia information , there are many types of open face sandwiches.
It is also fun to put these together as they taste wonderful and are light and easy and perfect for a hot day .
You should never get caught up in the rules just have fun.

Lift your glass and drink to your health ....skael!  ( rhymes with coal)