The Danish national dish competition has reached its final stage. There are now just eight dishes left in the running following the regional votes.
Almost 19,000 Danes voted for their favourite dish on nationalret.dk and some of the pre-vote favourites have been knocked out already. The traditional Christmas dish of roast pork and crackling, flæskesteg, is one of the surprising absentees, as are meatballs (frikadeller) and fish fillets (fiskefilet).
Dan's favourite misses out
“I am very pleased about all the debate that has gone on about Denmark’s national dish,” Dan Jørgensen, the food and agriculture minister, said in a press release.
“The competition is primarily about generating a public discussion about our food products, food and meals. It will be fun to see what the Danes choose at the end. I’m personally sad fiskefilet didn't make it, but we have lots of good dishes in Denmark.”
READ MORE: Danes to vote for an official national dish
Vote until November 16
The public have until November 16 to vote for one of the final eight dishes, after which the winner and new Danish national dish will be unveiled on November 20.
The final eight dishes and the regions they were voted in are:
Bornholm – Fried herring
North Jutland – Pork patties / rissoles with green peas
Middle and West Jutland – Burning Love (yes, it is a dish)
East Jutland – Smørrebrød
South Jutland – Fried pork with parsley sauce
Funen – Æbleflæsk (Apple pork)
West Zealand – Fried pork chops
Copenhagen – Hamburger steak with onions and fried egg
