Food is an essential piece of the culture puzzle. To know a culture, I think you have to know its food. While a hot dog is probably not something you’d normally write home about, I must say, the Danish hot dog won me over.

****

Back in the car after visiting the mud flats, we were both eager for lunch, and Stella had insisted that I must try a Danish hot dog. We stopped at the first diner we came across. Since we were very close to the German border, the girls in the diner spoke German as well. We ordered our hot dogs, and I must say, the Danish know how to make some gooood hot dogs. Essentially, it is a bright red, extra-long sausage with onions, fried onions, pickles, and mustard or other type of sauce. The crispy fried onions are key though. The toppings make the Danish hot dog rather difficult to tackle. Should you bite it sideways and risk things falling off? Or go for a direct bite and get a messy upper lip?

Biting into the Danish hot dog was something I could not resist filming:

After a most delightful lunch of hot dogs and chocolate milk, we piled back into the car and turned on the radio. Stella had told me how funny the Danish language sounds, and I have to say, I agree. I think it would be difficult to learn. While I couldn’t understand the radio DJs, the music was in English. I heard Cee Lo’s tame version of his song “Forget You” for the first time… now when I hear it, I can’t help but think of Denmark. And cows. We cruised by fields with windmills and cows until we made it to our next stop: the oldest town in Denmark!