鄭立勳。常滿。Bountiful。Mandy Cheng

2025年7月10日哥本哈根民生細事

有回看到倫敦人到哥本哈根旅行後，說真的好想留下居住，因為路闊屋矮廣場運河多，空間感好，且空氣清新車少人亦不多，和倫敦相差好遠。看完很好奇，來到 Copenhagen 後一面參觀，一面研究民生各事。

衣
以天氣論衣著，哥本哈根緯度和愛爾蘭首都差不多，看全年天氣也大致相同，冬季多數最低零度夏天廿二度，雲多雨天多，在愛爾蘭住了五年後，已適應這陰涼天氣，舒服過南歐式漫長熱辣辣夏天。

食
多得餐廳Noma 團隊的帶領，把丹麥烹調技術大幅提升，現在講究用本土時令材料，用心烹調。能在十多年間極速提升水平，有賴丹麥人的傳統合作互助精神，大廚們把食譜放上網址，無私分享，成績有目共睹。這個旅程，午餐和晚餐都吃得滿意，只恨胃口不比從前，不能多吃甜點餅食。

住
走過地產公司，改不了香港人習慣，張看價錢和大小。粗看千呎單位港幣六百至近千萬，以首都來說價錢可以，裝修以寛闊簡約北歐風格為主，看見舒服。

行
哥本哈根基本上完全平坦，路旁有單車徑，踩單車是人民日常，火車站貼近地鐵站，去機場和附近城市都好方便，住在二線城市，往返首都亦好容易。

語言
丹麥人平均英文水準是歐洲之冠，今趟旅行，遇上的服務人員和路人等，都可以即時轉以英語交談。

來前好奇，以Duolingo 學些丹麥基本旅遊常用字，以前一直覺得北歐語發音特別，以為會難上手。上了幾個Duolingo 單元後，意外發現和英文、法文有很多相似的字，且短些，例如 father 是 far, mother 是 mor, bread 是 brod 等，只是發音些少不同，掌握了就覺容易些。

且文法簡單好多，不分男女眾數，只分生物和死物，非常理性，見容易便不停自學玩了幾天。以為丹麥人醒目，抄襲英、法語且簡化了，細看歷史，才知道北歐語言源自八世紀，由維京人創造，在八至十一世紀維京人攻入佔領英國和部份西歐後，把語言也引入，往後混合拉丁文，文法較丹麥文複雜了。

人所共知，丹麥稅率高，但教育、醫療、失業救濟等都理想，且公共設施上佳，又注重環境保育，算得上政策優長，稅收用得其所，確是個宜居地方。

Wild bilberry

A hike up the hill behind the house confirms that bilberry is also ready to harvest, half a month earlier than last year. A good 1.5kg easily scooped using the special rake from Norway.

Some used to make bilberry muffin immediately and the rest kept in freezer to enjoy gradually.

The muffin looks and tastes great and the colour of bilberry is amazing.

180gm flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 yolks
90gm butter
90gm water/milk

2 egg whites
pinch of salt
3 tbsp sugar

big handful of bilberry

Bake at 170˚C until golden, around 25 minutes.

Khol rabi

Khol rabi grown outdoor, are ready to harvest, very good size and growing so well (not attacked) this year. Though I like to eat them raw, sweet and crunchy, someone prefer them cooked.
I got the inspiration from ratatouille, making a spiral of alternating pieces of kohl rabi, red beetroot, semi dried tomato, then drizzle olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Bake at 180˚C until soft, around 20 minutes.

Cauliflower dishes

When I am rushed to make meals, I will cut cauliflower into small pieces, they cook very fast, either stir-fry or baked.

Stir-fry cauliflower with garlic, carrots and a lot of coriander, season with salt, pretty and tasty.

Bake cauliflower with peas, left behind lamb or another other meat, and coriander stalks, season with soy sauce, pepper and olive oil, bake at 180˚C until golden, around 15 minutes, stir in coriander leaves just before serving.

Wild flowers

The afternoon turned sunny, time to have a wander around in the meadow. Can’t help to look at small flowers around, well zoomed in, to appreciated the pretty details.

Purple & green perilla

I have been trying to grow perilla, for its unique flavour, but germination proved difficult. This year I sowed 3 times, from germinating inside bathroom in March, to greenhouse in April and again in May. Finally one purple and a few green ones germinated, guess the plant, especially the purple variety, like to germinate and grow in warm day and night temperatures.

To celebrate the first harvest of purple perilla, I grilled hanger steak, seasoned with rice wine lees, miso, soy sauce and black pepper, to be eaten with perilla or basil Neapolitan leaves.

Elderflower cordial gin tonic

Mini heat wave now, 25 ˚C plus, time to enjoy ice cold sundowner. I used elderflower cordial ice cubes to make gin tonic, nice.

Good berry year

Everything ripen like 2 weeks earlier this year, from garlic to tomato to berries. Harvested 5 kgs each of raspberries and blackcurrants, some blueberries and black mulberries.

Blackcurrants are cooked with honey and sugar, then blended smooth with pips and skins to make jam, or thick coulis.

Raspberries are too watery, first squashed and placed in oven to dry at 75C for 4 hours to reduce water content. Cook with brown sugar and pass through Kitchenaid to get the pips out, a much thicker coulis.

Summer veg garden

Come back from holiday to find both greenhouses are like jungles inside, seems like there is much more growth while I am not looking!

For cauliflowers, all of them grow at the same speed, meaning all ripen at the same time. That means I have been eating cauliflower dishes for a few days.

Corns Painted Mountain are ripening, harvested 3 cobs. Amazing to see they are all of different colours, so pretty. They are the harder with more starch less sweet type and have to boil for at least 20 minutes to soften.

The violet one is especially unique with the heart not beige but also deep bluish violet. I boil the heart in water to get the colour/nutrients out to make soup.

Also surprising to see tomato St Sulpice, medium size, turned red, so early in the season. The first time in my experience, a hot May do make a big difference.

2025年7月3日高稅收用得其所

相約住在倫敦的朋友同遊 Copenhagen 和附近城市，參觀多個地方，吃了多餐，第一個印象是服務人員都有禮有笑容，沒有急趕快手做完想長話短說的態度。

第二是處處都寫得清清楚楚，是那位丹麥建築師的設計，而內𥚃的不同裝置如燈飾、藝術品等等，亦列明是由那些丹麥工藝師所做，那尊重和欣賞自家人的風氣，顯而易見。

以丹麥只有五百多萬人口，能培育出各類人材，不能不說政策成功。

遊走了一個星期，對這個國家和友善人民有很好印象，於是細看書本，好奇想知道為何丹麥會有優良政策，平和民風。

原來丹麥在十三世紀時國力最強盛，有大片國土，亦統治挪威和瑞典兩國，然後十五世紀後開始打敗仗，先後失去兩國。

到1864年被Prussia （德國前身）取得南部兩大片土地，失去40%人民，成為現在的細小國土，只有五百萬人口的單一種族國家。這個敗仗，對丹麥人打擊很大，人民很自卑。

那時一位牧師哲人，想到以這數量人口，往後國家富強安穩，得全民有思考能力，能討論政策，成為一個commited community，大家分享經驗互相支持才成，追求cooperation 和equality 這兩大理念。

首先是教育，在各遍遠地區建特殊學校，收十幾歲的少年入住入讀一年，基本知識外，主力教人際關係，各項美術、音樂、手工藝、農耕等科目以啓發潛能，和最重要的辯論和哲學兩科，令年輕人思考，和有表達能力。

這學校，到目前有七十五所，近年又加建為成年人而設的類似學校，讓任何年紀的成年人可以持續學習。

合適有理念的教育，的確是為國為民的最重要投資。

Tour of Denmark, around Copenhagen, eating & others 8/8

Admiralgade 26, yellow tail

Admiralgade 26, mackerel

Admiralgade 26, seared cod

Admiralgade 26, grilled eggplant

Roughly 20 years new Nordic cuisine started to take shape in Copenhagen, the aim is to encourage using local and seasonal ingredients, and cook well. Like most northern European countries, Denmark went through the post war industrialisation, women joined the work force and focus is on efficiency and cooking interest dwindled.

Pluto, confit quail thigh

Pluto, ham cheese waffle

Pluto, raw beef salad

The pioneers of this movement made a lot of effort, from opening restaurant, pastry shop to talking to chefs and wholesalers in the area to work together. Also went to school and on TV to give demonstrations. The thinking was it should be tackled from all area, not just by one restaurant.

Kanalen, pheasant and corn

Kanalen, summer deer in cherry sauce

Kanalen, meat skewer, cheese popadam

Kanalhuset lunch, Smorrbrod : herring, plaice, roast beef

I can see the result now, lots of pastry, bread, cake shops, most restaurants serve tasty and well presented dishes. Very easy to find organic produces in supermarkets, and I feel eating very well. Eating in restaurants is more expensive then other European countries as VAT on food and drink is 25%.

Spiseloppen, various starters

Spiseloppen, veal & kale

Spiseloppen, chicken & green sauce

Being a capital, Copenhagen is surprisingly not crowded, with wide roads, not many cars, most citizens ride bikes, and a lot of squares, parks and canals, it is a very very pleasant city to wander around. City centre is lined with well preserved elegant old buildings, and at the edges are new buildings of eye catching designs that still merge well into the whole picture. I left very impressed with Copenhagen city management.