VILLA BOREAL · BERGLYK 8 · BOCKHOLM · FLENSBURGER FÖRDE
Schnüüsch from Angeln, Labskaus from seafarers, Matjes from Glückstadt, kale after the first frost – and on the other side of the fjord: Smørrebrød, Flæskesteg and Rødgrød med fløde. Two cuisines, one region, boundless flavour.
Angeln cuisine · Schleswig-Holstein cuisine · North Frisian cuisine · Danish cuisine · As of 2025/2026
"Broken sööt – broken sweetness: the principle of this cuisine is to offset sweet with sour, salty or bitter. A philosophy understood only here, as long as you live by the water."
This region has two cuisines in one. On the German side, the Angeln and Schleswig-Holstein cuisine – rustic, honest, shaped by the sea and the principle of broken sweetness (Broken sööt). On the Danish side, the Smørrebrød universe, caramelised potatoes and Rødgrød med fløde. Together they form a culinary landscape that is truly unique.
Fresh from the cutter, smoked, cured or raw – the fjord is the menu
On the outer Angeln fjord coast, genuine cutter fish is still available – straight from the boat. Christopher Lehuniak (cutter LAN 23) and Harald Lehuniak (cutter Odin LAN 3 FF) dock in Langballigau harbour. Plaice, flounder, cod and herring depending on season. Fish doesn't get fresher.
Matjes is not ordinary herring – it's a young herring that ripens through enzymes in brine without ever being heated. Butter-soft, mild, slightly sweet. Classically served with jacket potatoes and green beans with bacon.
Labskaus is the most honest of all northern German stories: on long voyages, sailors lost their teeth to scurvy. What remained – corned beef, potatoes, onions, matjes, beetroot – was puréed and served with fried egg and gherkin.
Smoked eel, plaice and salmon are the coast's delicacies. Eel from the fjord and the Schlei is considered one of the fattiest and most aromatic anywhere.
Pannfisch is northern Germany's leftover dish at its best: pieces of fish pan-fried, served with fried potatoes and mustard sauce. Simple, filling, honest.
In Denmark, cod (torsk) with mustard sauce and boiled potatoes is a winter classic. Gently cooked, lightly salted, the mustard sauce mild and aromatic.
Danish fish patties made from white fish, mixed with onions, eggs and spices, fried golden brown. Served with remoulade and cucumber salad.
Pickled herring is one of the oldest foods of the North Sea and Baltic coasts. Preserved in a vinegar-spice brine with onions, bay leaf and mustard seeds.
From smoked ham to pork belly – the savoury side of fjord cuisine
The kale evening is a northern German institution. Accompanied by: Kasseler, boiled sausage, pork cheek, mustard and fried potatoes.
Holstein's Katenschinken is smoked in the Kate (small smokehouse) over a slowly smouldering fire – deeply aromatic, slightly sweet, with a pronounced smoky note.
Cured pork preserved in a vinegar-spice brine and sliced cold. Served with remoulade, mustard and farmhouse bread.
Voted Denmark's national dish by popular vote in 2014. Crispy fried pork belly, parsley sauce and potatoes.
Danish meatballs made from pork and veal, with flour, milk, egg, onions and nutmeg. Pan-fried, slightly flat. Served with red cabbage, beetroot, cucumber salad and potatoes.
Danish Christmas roast pork with crispy roasted rind. Accompanied by Rødkål (sweet-sour red cabbage) and Brunede kartofler (caramelised potatoes).
On every Danish street corner for over 100 years. The bright red sausages in a roll, with sweet remoulade, crispy onions and sweet-sour pickle slices.
Schnüüsch from Angeln, buttermilk soup in summer, elderberry in autumn
Schnüüsch comes from this very region – from Angeln. A vegetable soup made from the first young seasonal vegetables: beans, peas, kohlrabi, carrots – all cooked together in fresh milk. Traditionally served with Holstein smoked ham.
Pears, beans and bacon is one of the most famous dishes of Schleswig-Holstein cuisine – and the perfect example of Broken sööt: sweet pears meet salty bacon.
Buttermilk, milk, salt, lemon zest – a cold soup for hot days. The Klüten are small semolina dumplings cooked in the soup.
A sweet-sour soup made from ripe elderberries – served warm as a starter or cold as dessert. Elderberries grow wild everywhere along the fjord.
Mashed swede with butter and bacon – plain and nourishing. Today it's experiencing a renaissance in slow-food restaurants.
South Jutland kale is finely chopped, cooked in butter, finished with cream or buttermilk – sweeter, creamier than the hearty northern German kale.
Rote Grütze, Mehlbüdel, Rumtopf and Danish puff pastry
Red berries – strawberries, raspberries, redcurrants, blackberries – thickened with starch into a creamy compote, poured over with liquid cream. A summer classic on both sides of the fjord.
An egg-lightened flour dumpling cooked in a water bath. Eaten sweet-salty – the typical Broken sööt: with cherry compote and bacon.
Fresh seasonal fruit is layered with sugar and Flensburg rum in a ceramic pot – strawberries in June, cherries in July, peaches in August, plums in September.
Warm, thick bean soup with sugar and spices, served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Broken sööt in its purest form.
Yeast-dough balls baked in a special cast-iron pan. Hot from the pan with icing sugar and jam.
The only dedicated Danish bakery in Flensburg. Copenhagen-style Birkes, Cremeboller, Kanelsnegl, Spandauer, vanilla cream slices, rum balls and artisan breads.
27 layers of butter, filled with cream, marzipan or jam. Kanelsnegl, Spandauer, direct puff pastry. Freshly baked daily in every Danish bakery.
Cold rice pudding with chopped almonds and whipped cream, served with warm cherry sauce. Hidden in the pot is a whole almond – whoever finds it gets a present.
Cold buttermilk soup with egg, lemon zest and vanilla – sweet, refreshing, light. Accompanied by kammerjunkere: small crispy butter biscuits.
Smørrebrød, Smørrebrød and more Smørrebrød – plus everything around it
Smørrebrød is not a sandwich – it's a composition art. The base: a slice of dense rye bread, generously spread with salted butter. Rule: fish always on white bread, meat always on rye.
Small round potatoes are caramelised in a sugar-butter mixture over high heat. Sweet, nutty, irresistible.
Danish soft ice is creamier, denser, sweeter – plus the liquorice sprinklers that go on virtually every soft ice in Denmark.
Rum in coffee, aquavit with fish, grog in a storm – the fjord's drinking culture
On Nordstrand, a farmer christened his child and served guests secretly fortified coffee. The pastor discovered it and cried: You Pharisees! – the name stuck. Never stir – drink through the cream.
The local drink of the Angeln population – a punch-style hot drink made from rum or grain spirit with water.
A small beer – preferably Flens – and a Köm or corn schnapps on the side, drunk after a day's work. A living ritual in Flensburg and Angeln.
Rum, sugar, hot water. The Flensburg maxim: rum is a must, sugar is optional, water is unnecessary.
Pale yellow aquavit with typical caraway aroma. Usually drunk cold, as an accompaniment to beer or fish.
In Denmark it's called Akvavit or simply Snaps – drunk cold and promptly, with fish dishes, with Smørrebrød, at every feast. Skål!
Gløgg is the Scandinavian mulled wine – more intense, sweeter, with cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, ginger. Served with almonds and raisins.
Produced in Flensburg until 2000. In 1983 Die Toten Hosen wrote a drinking song about it. The slogan: The great clear spirit from the North.
Schleswig-Holstein cuisine has a secret: Broken sööt – broken sweetness. Always serve sweet with a counterpoint: fruit sauce with salt meat, compote with fried fish, prunes with roast goose. The culinary balance principle of this region.
Schnüüsch from the garden next door, matjes in June, grog in a storm and Rødgrød med fløde on the other side of the fjord – that's the taste of this trip.
CHECK AVAILABILITY