VARME HVEDER

Tomorrow is Store Bededag ("Big Prayer Day"), so this evening I was invited to eat varme hveder ("hot wheat buns") at my mother-in-law's.

In the olden days, Store Bededag involved real praying. So when the bells rung out, all work and trade had to stop. Including baking. The bakers adjusted by making wheat buns the night before, which their customers could warm up on the day itself.

Modern life being what it is, Danes are no longer prepared to wait until the next day for their treats, so the hveder are now eaten the night before. They are toasted in the oven and eaten either savoury, with cheese and sausage, or sweet with jam. I had four of them, two of each, washed down with strong coffee and a cleansing ale. I was particularly taken by my mother-in-law's boysenberry and blackcurrant jam, which I had never tasted before.

Since tomorrow is a prayer day, I think I will join in for a bit. I will be praying that it holds dry, while I lay my flagstones on the back lawn and then go for a cycle ride.

Walter Blotscher