Copenhagen restaurants celebrate the 60-year jubilee of ‘The Shooting Star’

Open-faced sandwiches – or ‘smørrebrød’ as it is called in Danish – is a classical dish typically based on rye bread with toppings ranging from herring to raw beef, seafood, potatoes and eggs. The Danish tradition of smørrebrød dates to the 1880s, when restaurants in Copenhagen began serving the topped pieces of bread, and 60 years ago, a new classic was added to the list.

The Danish smørrebrød pioneer Ida Davidsen created ‘The Shooting Star’ or ‘Stjerneskud’ as a tribute to the first man in space, Juri Gagarin. When the astronaut visited Copenhagen in 1962, Ida Davidsen made the piece of smørrebrød in the shape of a space rocket for him to honour his accomplishments. It had fried fish fillets combined with salmon and shrimps on white bread topped with caviar and a lemon wedge. The dish is unique, as it’s not served on rye bread, and allegedly Gagarin loved his space smørrebrød so much that it quickly became a fixed part of the restaurant’s menu, with Ida Davidsen naming it ‘Stjerneskud’, which it is still referred to today in restaurants and cafés around the country. As a way of celebrating the 60-year jubilee on the 5th of September, several Copenhagen restaurants are serving their own version of ‘The Shooting Star’.

• The 5th of September marks the 60th anniversary of the smørrebrød dish 'The Shooting Star'.
• The word smørrebrød is a mix of the words ‘smør’ (butter) and ‘brød’ (bread) as it originally was just bread served with a butter or fat spread.
• In the 1880’s the decorative pieces of rye bread with different toppings were served around Copenhagen venues. Smørrebrød is mostly a lunch dish and is often served with a glass of snaps on the side.
• The oldest known smørrebrød’s menu goes back to 1883 and was offered in the world’s second oldest theme park Tivoli Gardens at what is today part of the Nimb restaurants.
• Several bib gourmand restaurants focus on smørrebrød in Copenhagen – Selma, Norrlyst, Bjørnekælderen and Restaurant Møntergade.
• Copenhagen wine tradesman and bar owner Oskar Davidsen started a Copenhagen smørrebrød empire that has lasted more than 100 years. His wife Petra began serving smørrebrød in 1888 to feed the wine bar's hungry guests.
• Oskar Davidsen later created the world’s most extended smørrebrød menu with 178 variations on the menu, which was more than 140 cm long.
• The Davidsen’s has a smørrebrød empire today spanning over five generations, and his great-grandchild Ida Davidsen invented ‘The Shooting star’ dedicated to the first man in space. Her son has taken over the smørrebrød business today and is currently looking for a new venue.
• There is a whole day - the 27th of August - dedicated to smørrebrød at Copenhagen Cooking.