Rødgrød (), rote Grütze (), or rode Grütt (), meaning "red
groats", is a sweet fruit dish from
Denmark and
Northern Germany
Northern Germany (german: link=no, Norddeutschland) is a linguistic, geographic, socio-cultural and historic region in the northern part of Germany which includes the coastal states of Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Lower Saxony an ...
. The name of the dish in Danish features many of the elements that make Danish pronunciation difficult for non-native speakers, so , literally "red porridge with cream", is a commonly used
shibboleth since the early 1900s.
Traditional preparation
''Rødgrød'' or ''rote Grütze'' was traditionally made of
groat or
grit
Grit, Grits, or Gritty may refer to:
Food
* Grit (grain), bran, chaff, mill-dust or coarse oatmeal
* Grits, a corn-based food common in the Southern United States
Minerals
* Grit, winter pavement-treatment minerals deployed in grit bins
* ...
, as revealed by the second component of the name in Danish, German, or Low German.
Semolina and
sago are used in some family recipes;
potato starch is today the standard choice to achieve a creamy to pudding-like
starch gelatinization
Starch gelatinization is a process of breaking down the intermolecular bonds of starch molecules in the presence of water and heat, allowing the hydrogen bonding sites (the hydroxyl hydrogen and oxygen) to engage more water. This irreversibly d ...
. The essential ingredients that justify the adjective are red summer berries such as
redcurrant,
blackcurrant
The blackcurrant (''Ribes nigrum''), also known as black currant or cassis, is a deciduous shrub in the family Grossulariaceae grown for its edible berries. It is native to temperate parts of central and northern Europe and northern Asia, whe ...
,
raspberries,
strawberries
The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid species of the genus '' Fragaria'', collectively known as the strawberries, which are cultivated worldwide for their fruit. The fruit is widely ap ...
,
blackberries,
bilberries and stoned black
cherries
A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit).
Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The nam ...
.
[Darra Goldstein: ''Fire and Ice: Classic Nordic Cooking'', Ten Speed Press, 2015. .] The essential flavour can be achieved with redcurrant alone; a small amount of blackcurrant will add variety; sugar is used to intensify the flavour. The amounts of starch, sago, semolina differ with the solidity desired; 20 to 60 grams on a kilogram or liter of the recipe are usual; sago, groat or grit have to soak before they can be used.
The preparation is basically that of a pudding: The fruits are cooked briefly with
sugar
Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...
. The mass should cool down for a moment so that the starch—dissolved in fruit juice or water—can be stirred into it without clumping. A second cooking process of one to two minutes is needed to start the
gelatinization; remaining streaks of white starch have to clear up in this process.
''Rødgrød'' or ''rote Grütze'' is served hot or cold as a
dessert
Dessert is a course (food), course that concludes a meal. The course consists of sweet foods, such as confections, and possibly a beverage such as dessert wine and liqueur. In some parts of the world, such as much of Greece and West Africa, and ...
with milk, a mixture of
milk and
vanilla sugar,
vanilla sauce, (whipped)
cream,
vanilla ice cream, or
custard
Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on sweetened milk, cheese, or cream cooked with egg or egg yolk to thicken it, and sometimes also flour, corn starch, or gelatin. Depending on the recipe, custard may vary in consistency fro ...
to balance the refreshing taste of the fruit acids.
Variants
There are several commercial variants of ''rødgrød'', sold in
German supermarkets. ''Grüne Grütze'', a
green variant, is made from
apple,
gooseberries,
kiwifruit and
rhubarb
Rhubarb is the fleshy, edible stalks ( petioles) of species and hybrids (culinary rhubarb) of ''Rheum'' in the family Polygonaceae, which are cooked and used for food. The whole plant – a herbaceous perennial growing from short, thick rhizo ...
by a Danish producer. This unusual combination may be inspired by the more traditional Danish dish of ''stikkelsbærgrød'' (gooseberry jelly). In ''blaue Grütze'', the
blue variant,
blackberries,
bilberries,
plum
A plum is a fruit of some species in ''Prunus'' subg. ''Prunus'.'' Dried plums are called prunes.
History
Plums may have been one of the first fruits domesticated by humans. Three of the most abundantly cultivated species are not found i ...
s,
blackcurrant
The blackcurrant (''Ribes nigrum''), also known as black currant or cassis, is a deciduous shrub in the family Grossulariaceae grown for its edible berries. It is native to temperate parts of central and northern Europe and northern Asia, whe ...
, and
grapes are usually used. ''Gelbe Grütze'' consists of
peaches, yellow gooseberries,
banana
A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...
s, gold kiwifruit, or other yellow fruits.
In Poland, parts of
Russia, the
Baltic states
The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...
,
Finland, and
Ukraine, ''
kissel'' is known as a
dessert
Dessert is a course (food), course that concludes a meal. The course consists of sweet foods, such as confections, and possibly a beverage such as dessert wine and liqueur. In some parts of the world, such as much of Greece and West Africa, and ...
similar to ''rødgrød''.
In the US Virgin Islands, formerly the Danish West Indies before the US purchased the islands in 1917, it is known as ''red grout'' and is made with tapioca, guava, and sugar, served with a custard sauce.
In Southern
Brazil, ''
sagu'' is a popular dessert made with
tapioca pearls
Tapioca pearls, also known as tapioca balls, are edible translucent spheres produced from tapioca, a starch made from the cassava root. They originated as a cheaper alternative to sago in Southeast Asian cuisine. When used as an ingredient in ...
, sugar and red wine, mainly appreciated by Italian and German-origin families.
See also
*
Danish cuisine
Danish cuisine ( da, det danske køkken) originated from the peasant population's own local produce and was enhanced by cooking techniques developed in the late 19th century and the wider availability of goods during and after the Industrial Rev ...
*
Fruit kissel
*
List of fruit dishes
*
List of porridges
*
List of shibboleths
Below are listed various examples of words and phrases that have been identified as shibboleths, a word or custom whose variations in pronunciation or style can be used to differentiate members of ingroups from those of outgroups.
Original s ...
References
External links
Use of "Rødgrød med fløde" as Danish shibboleth during World War IIYouTube video with Danes pronouncing "Rødgrød med fløde"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodgrod med flode
Danish desserts
Porridges
German desserts
North German cuisine
Schleswig-Holstein cuisine
Hamburg cuisine
Fruit dishes