Denmark

In Copenhagen earlier this summer as part of the birthday week European tour (see the past week of posts), I took the “Black Gold” licorice tour. It’s not well advertised, and I was the only person to show up, so I felt a bit bad for the tour guide who did a whole two-hour walking tour just for me. It included a lot of education about the history of licorice as a medicine, a “medicine” (tonic/elixir), a sweet, and a savory ingredient. I got to chew on a real licorice twig, eat a number of sweet and salty licorice candies (including many of the traditional licorices made with ammonium chloride salt– a noticeable ammonia/fishy taste which I liked), licorice ice cream, licorice syrups, meringues, intensely salty licorice menthol hard candies popular with sailors, and even a beer brewed with licorice. ...

When I ate at Kiin Kiin earlier in my visit to Copenhagen, the chef/owner(? – sorry, industry friends, for not knowing) stopped by to chat at one point, and asked where else I was eating on my trip. I mentioned Geranium as my other major meal and he was very enthusiastic and excited I was eating there, putting it up with Noma as an elevated nordic food experience. And there I was a few days later, eating things like this (only the center piece is edible– a chocolate egg filled with toffee and rolled in pine dust, nestled in a bed of fragrant evergreen tips): ...

The tail end of my food-oriented birthday trip through Europe involved a 4-day solo jaunt to Copenhagen (for the first time), after finding surprisingly inexpensive flights from Paris. True to my typical solo traveler form, I stayed in an inexpensive hostel, got around by bicycle, spent most of my days outdoors wandering the city and surrounding areas… and also ate several extraordinary (in taste and experience as well as price) meals. ...