www.silverguide.site –

The “chickpea trail”, as described by Federico De Blasi, is a wonderful example of historical cross-border cultural and trading links founded on food (Tracing one delicious snack around the Mediterranean showed me that modern borders are absurd, 26 June). But such links need not be ancient and can sometimes be newly forged.

A few years ago, my family and I went on holiday to Denmark. In between Legoland and the airport, we stopped at roadside services for lunch. As we ate our chicken and chips, I spotted a man eating what appeared to be an enormous burger covered in gravy – using a knife and fork, as to do otherwise would have been logistically challenging

I had always thought that gravy was a uniquely British invention and holidays to France, Spain and Italy had done nothing to change that view. However, after some quick Googling, I discovered that the man was eating a bøfsandwich, colloquially known as a “gravy burger”.

This creation is local to Jutland, although is now spreading around Denmark and probably dates back to the 1950s. There is even an organisation, De Brune Riddere, which champions the bøfsandwich, and each year its annual awards, including for best gravy, are broadcast on Danish television.

Because there are few things more important than good gravy, I contacted the founder of De Brune Riddere, Lasse H Görlitz, and struck up a correspondence. Some months later, I found myself in a smoky pub in Aarhus, drinking Fernet-Branca with Lasse and some very friendly locals discussing gravy, Brexit, sausages and a lot of things that ultimately became a little too hazy to recall.

This year, I am looking forward to our holiday to Montreal, where I hope to meet Thierry Rassam, the co-founder of La Poutine Week. I don’t know if he likes Fernet-Branca, but I am sure he has opinions on gravy.
Rob Fink
Ipswich, Suffolk

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