Bathed in long shadows created by the warm sunlight flooding the space, Copenhagen’s Torvehallern is a jewel box of gourmet flavours waiting to be discovered. This glass-encased pair of food halls is Copenhagen’s biggest and busiest food market with over 60, 000 weekly visitors. After our all-too-brief visit, I understand why. Oh, what I wouldn’t give to have a local market like this at home!
Gathering together the best that Denmark and the rest of Europe have to offer, these two modern glass structures offer a treasure trove of opportunity for any bourgeoning foodie fortunate enough to live in the area.

Stig – the charming olive maker at Stig’s Oliven {pictured below} – was our favourite vendor by far, though I must confess he threw us off at first by loading up a full plate of food for us without our asking! In friendly and generous Danish style, he quickly set us at ease again by offering it to us as “samples” to have with our lunch.

Without a doubt, his garlic olives are the best I’ve ever had, and I quickly made my way back after we’d eaten lunch to snap up a large vacuum-sealed bag of them to bring home. They are now one of the most treasured items in our larder, carefully hidden away from the unmoderated olive-eating appetite of my son and his epicurean tastebuds.

Not surprisingly, there are no lack of fromageries at the Torvehallern, with local Danish cheeses as well as gorgeous imports from all over Europe. France makes a very strong showing in this department.

The inventive, colourful and unexpected combinations at Hallernes Smørrebrød were positively inspiring, even if we didn’t know what half of them were! This is food to be enjoyed with the eyes as much as with the tastebuds, an everyday art form to be savoured over lunch. 

In the end, we chose to sit outside, bathed by the warmth of the sunlight and ignoring the chill of the wind as we ate our simple but absolutely gorgeous lunch of smoked salmon fillet encrusted with dill, accompanied of course by Stig’s generous samples of olives, artichokes and dolmas. Very few vegetables were harmed in the making of this particular lunch, but all the gorgeous protein gave us the fuel we needed to keep exploring.

 

From florals to fresh herbs, nuts and chocolates to intoxicating dried spices, the variety at Torvehallern is truly a feast for the senses. I can’t imagine there are many ingredients a galloping gourmet could long for that would not be found within these two expansive glass edifices.

The truth is, Torvehallern left me longing for an authentically European market to shop at weekly back home, not to mention an endless supply of Stig’s olives! Seriously, I don’t know what we will do when they’ve all been eaten! If only a trip back to Copenhagen were an option {sigh}. Perhaps our new motto will be: “Don’t cry because all of the olives have been eaten. Celebrate because you got to eat some of them.”

Wishing you all a flavourful weekend filled with generous surprises and random acts of kindness.

xo
s.