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Papua New GuineaFlavors · Denmark
Hot sausages served in a bun from the pølsevogne, the hot‑dog carts that have operated in Danish cities since 1921, with mustard, ketchup, remoulade, fried onion and pickled cucumber slices. The first carts appeared in Copenhagen.
Traditional dish from Denmark
Also known as: pølse i brød, hotdog, ristet hotdog, røde pølser, pølsevogn
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
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Pølser — Denmark
Pølser are sausages, and on the Danish street the word refers to the hot dog served from the pølsevogne, the sausage carts. The sausage is served boiled or grilled, in a bun with mustard, ketchup and often remoulade — the yellow mayonnaise‑based sauce with pickles, raw onion and crispy fried onion — and thin slices of pickled cucumber. The røde pølser, red‑skinned sausages, are the best known.
Copenhagen’s city council authorized the sale of hot sausages on the streets in 1920, and the first carts began circulating in the city in 1921. The idea caught on and spread across the country; by the 1970s Denmark had more than 700 pølsevogne.
Since then the number has fallen sharply, and today fewer than a hundred remain. Many carts began selling meat sandwiches as well, and new carts appeared offering organic sausages and more elaborate versions. Even so, the pølsevogn remains a typical element of the Danish street scene.
In 2025, in a public vote on Denmark’s living cultural heritage, the pølsevogn finished second, with almost 7,000 votes.
The classic order is the ristet hotdog, with the sausage grilled in the bun with all the toppings, or the sausage served separately with the bun on the side for dipping in mustard and ketchup.
Denmark
Street food from across the country; the first carts began operating in Copenhagen in 1921.
Pork sausage (boiled or grilled), hot‑dog bun, mustard, ketchup, remoulade, raw onion and fried onion, pickled cucumber slices.
Standing by the cart, eaten with your hands; in the bun with all the toppings or with the sausage served separately and the bun on the side.
All year round, as a quick street snack at any time of day.
Your questions
The Danish hot‑dog cart. The first ones circulated in Copenhagen in 1921, and the cart is seen as a typical feature of the country’s streets.
Sausage in a bun with mustard, ketchup, remoulade, raw and fried onion and slices of pickled cucumber.
It’s the hot dog with the sausage grilled, served in the bun with all the toppings.
Flavors of Denmark
Soft little dough balls fried in a cast-iron pan with round cavities and served with powdered sugar and jam. Despite the name, which means apple slices, they generally do not contain apple: they are the Danish Advent and Christmas sweet.
Nordic spirit flavored with caraway and, sometimes, dill, served chilled in small glasses at Danish celebratory lunches, alongside herring and beer. In Denmark, the drink’s industrial history is linked to Aalborg.
Flattened meat patties made from ground meat, typically half pork and half veal, fried in butter until a crust forms. They are homestyle food across Denmark, served with potatoes, a dark gravy and pickles or cabbage.
Cold rice pudding with whipped cream, chopped almonds and vanilla, served with warm cherry sauce at the end of the Christmas dinner. A whole almond is hidden in the serving dish, and whoever finds it receives a gift.
Thickened compote of red fruits such as strawberry, raspberry, currant and cherry, served cold with cream or milk. It’s the classic Danish summer dessert, and the name is famously hard to pronounce.
A slice of rye bread with butter and a generous, carefully arranged topping, eaten with fork and knife. It’s Denmark’s traditional lunch, and the tall, decorated version became famous in Copenhagen restaurants in the late 19th century.
Slices of pork belly fried until crispy, served with boiled potatoes and a white parsley sauce. It was chosen as Denmark’s national dish in a vote held by the Ministry of Food in 2014.
Honey and spice cakes made from a dough that rests for months before baking, often coated in chocolate. They have been produced in Christiansfeld, the Moravian Church town, since 1783, with recipes kept secret.
Sweet yeast pastries with layers of butter, shaped as a snail, bow, braid or envelope, filled with custard, remonce or fruit. The first Viennese bakery in Denmark opened in Copenhagen in the 1840s, and the city became associated with the pastry the world calls Danish pastry.
Rye bread with smoked herring, raw egg yolk, radish, chives and onion: the smokehouses’ dish from Bornholm. The name means sun over Gudhjem, and the yolk plays the role of the sun over the village where the island’s first smokehouse opened.
Soft yeast cake topped with a layer of melted butter and brown sugar that forms syrupy pools on the surface. It is regarded as the cake of Fyn, and the earliest records are from Odense, in 1830.
