''Stegt flæsk'' () is a dish from

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

consisting of fried pork belly and generally served with

potato The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...

es and parsley sauce (''persillesovs''). The dish is sometimes translated as '

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig animal husbandry, husbandry dating back to 8000–9000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooke ...

strips' or 'crisp fried pork slices'.Andrew Stone, Carolyn Bain, Michael Booth, Fran Parnel

page 49 and page 53 Denmark Edition: 5, illustrated 2008, Lonely Planet , 364 pages The

pork belly Pork belly or belly pork is a boneless, fatty Primal cut, cut of pork from the Abdomen, belly of a pig. Pork belly is particularly popular in American cuisine, American, British cuisine, British, Swedish cuisine, Swedish, Danish cuisine, Danish, ...

or "breast" cut of a pig is used for ''stegt flæsk'' and the strips are cut about 1/4 inch thick.

In Danish cuisine

''Stegt flæsk'' is the national dish of Denmark and one of the country's most popular foodstuffs and has been described as "a dish of pork fat, and only pork fat, in parsley sauce." An "alternative guide to Denmark" from the British broadcaster

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

described ''stegt flæsk med persillesovs'' as fried slices of pork with fat served with parsley sauce and boiled potatoes."And for those who haven't had enough of old Porky Pig, the Danes also like ''stegt medister'', a thick sausage with minced pig meat and fat, spices and chopped onion, fried on the frying pan. Figures for heart disease in Denmark were not available.
The alternative guide to Denmark: Dish of the day
What do we really know about the 16 nations taking part in Euro 2004? May 24, 2004 BBC Sport ''Stegt'' means 'fried' and ''flæsk'' means 'strips of pork belly'. It is lightly salted but not smoked. ''Stegt flæsk'' is included in ''The Art of Danish Cooking'' by Nika Standen Hazelton and ''Scandinavian Cooking'' by Elizabeth Craig where the dish is translated as "bacon with parsley sauce" ''Flæsk'' is also translated as 'bacon' in older language guides. The main difference between bacon and ''flæsk'' is that ''flæsk'' is never sold smoked, and often not salted either. By contrast, anything marketed as 'bacon' in Denmark invariably will be both smoked and salted. The dish is especially popular at certain times of the year. Since the 2000s a tradition has emerged of eating ''stegt flæsk'' on election nights as a pun on the derogatory term ''valgflæsk'' (election pork) used to describe the lofty promises politicians make during their campaigns. Stegt flæsk can also be served with apple compote. Pork is the most popular meat in Denmark and bacon and cuts of pork are used in many dishes in traditional Danish cuisine. '' Flæskesteg'' is roast pork with

cracklings Cracklings (American English), crackling (British English), also known as scratchings, are the solid material that remains after Rendering (animal products), rendering animal fat and skin to produce lard, tallow, or schmaltz, or as the result of ro ...

, usually served with ''rødkål'' red cabbage, gravy and boiled potatoes. ''Flæskeæggekage'' consists of a large pan of

scrambled eggs Scrambled eggs is a dish made from eggs (usually chicken eggs), where the whites and yolks have been stirred, whipped, or beaten together (typically with salt, butter or oil, and sometimes water or milk, or other ingredients), then heated so ...

with ''stegt flæsk'', chives, tomatoes and ''rugbrød'' ryebread on the side. '' Leverpostej'' is a liver pate of pork liver, served both hot and cold in a variety of ways. '' Stegt medister'' is a thick, metre-long, spiced, minced pork

sausage A sausage is a type of meat product usually made from ground meat—often pork, beef, or poultry—along with salt, spices and other flavourings. Other ingredients, such as grains or breadcrumbs, may be included as fillers or extenders. ...

with lard and chopped onion, pan fried and served in a variety of ways. The

noted that whilst Danish food is not limited to just pork meat and pastries, "it would be fair to say they feature heavily in the diets of Denmark's citizens". An instructional video for cooking ''stegt flæsk'' on a ceramic grill was featured on Japanese KamadoTV.

In Danish culture

Jimi and René, a musical duo from Denmark, recorded a song on their ''Volume Four To Som Os'' album called "''stegt flæsk med persillesovs''". Tobias Trier, a Danish singer-songwriter, has also sung about the dish. KiMs, a leading Danish

potato chips Potato chips (North American English and Australian English; often just chip) or crisp (British English and Hiberno-English) are thin slices of potato (or a thin deposit of potato paste) that has been deep frying, deep fried, baking, baked, ...

producer, even made a ''stegt flæsk'' flavoured potato chip (now discontinued).Current list of KiMs products
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stegt Flaesk Bacon dishes Danish cuisine Norwegian cuisine Meat and potatoes dishes Fried pork National dishes

In Danish cuisine

In Danish culture

See also

References