Denmark is a country in Scandinavia, somewhat southwest of Sweden and south of Norway with northern Germany as its southern border made famous by its ubiquitous pastries.

The United Kingdom of Denmark shares strong cultural and linguistic links with its neighbours Sweden and Norway.

From the 8^th to the 10^th centuries the Danes, the Swedes and the Norwegians were collectively known as the Vikings who terrorised, invaded, colonised or otherwise made their presence known in most of the inhabited countries in Europe in turn.

They were famed as great seafarers and explorers, conquering many regions of England under what is referred to as the Danelaw.

United and Christianised in around 965 by Harald Bluetooth it is believed that Denmark became Christian for political reasons so as not to get invaded by the rising Christian power in Europe.

The cuisine of Denmark, like that of the rest of Scandinavia and northern Germany consists of large quantities of fish and meat.

Smørrebrød, (left) originally smør og brød, (butter and bread) consists of a piece of rugbrød (buttered rye bread), a dense, dark brown bread with a pålæg (topping) that can consist of a multitude of commercial or homemade meat, fish and cheese items. These are then pyntet (decorated) with suitable accompaniments, to create tasty and visually appealing sandwiches.

Hot meals traditionally consist of ground meats, such as frikadeller (meat balls), or of more substantial meat and fish dishes such as flæskesteg (roast pork with crackling) or kogt torsk (poached cod) with mustard sauce.