Risalamande

Written by: Logan Henriksen

Miniature Danish flags drape the dining room chandeliers like tentacles. Porcelain plates are littered with meat patties titled Frikadellers, crumbs from bread called RugbrØd, and browned potatoes. December 26th is crowned as Danish Boxing Day, a day dedicated to Danish traditions and food. The odours of pickled fish and beets swathe your grandma’s kitchen. Easily fifteen napkins lay crumpled on the dining table, abandoned cutlery bathing in the sunlight from the mountain-view windows. Entrées are thrusted into your arms, but you shouldn’t let yourself eat everything.

Later this afternoon, you will play the Almond Game. You will shovel rice pudding, also known as risalamande, down your throat in an attempt to find the single blanched almond hidden within the dessert. If you are the one to acquire the almond, you win the game and will be showered with prizes. 

You will politely decline more food, then suggest to your cousins a snowball fight in grandma’s backyard. That way, when aunts beckon you inside for dessert, your stomach will be whining again. You will tuck yourself into the table and wait for the glass dish of pudding to be brought around. 

Your uncle will remind everyone of the rules. “Earlier today I hid an almond in the pudding. If you find the almond, hide it until the rice pudding is gone and everyone feels like vomiting. No cheating or you will be disqualified.” 

Your mom will scoop pudding into your bowl and your grandpa will drench it with warm cherry sauce. “Ready,” your uncle will say, “set…go!” You will marvel at the pudding for your first bowl. The vanilla and whipped cream will feel soft on your tongue, the porridge consistency like a hug. 

Once you begin your second bowl, the hunt for the almond will become rhythmic. Eat, scan for the almond with your tongue, feel disappointment, and swallow. Don’t let your cousin distract you, he enjoys tricking people into thinking he’s found the almond. When you are physically unable to ingest another mouthful, you’ll drop your spoon and wait for the winner to be announced. 

“Will the person holding the almond please stand up?” your uncle will say. Of course, your grandma will stand! Cheers will erupt as she does a proud dance. Your uncle will present her with a gold medal, treats, and bragging rights. 
​
You’ll win next year.


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Ingredients

🇩🇰 3 cups of (at least 2%) milk
🇩🇰 1 cup arborio/dessert/pearl rice
🇩🇰 1 vanilla bean (if lacking, use vanilla extract)
🇩🇰 1 tablespoon of sugar
🇩🇰 2 tablespoons of port/sherry/rum
🇩🇰 2 cups of whipping cream
🇩🇰 1 cherry pie filling
🇩🇰 150ml cranberry sauce
​BONUS: 1 blanched almond if playing the Almond Game

Recipe

  1. Cook 1 cup of dessert/arborio/pearl rice in 2 cups of milk.
  2. Cut a vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the seeds inside. Stir the bean and seeds into the rice to cook.
  3. After 20 minutes of cooking the rice, incrementally add more milk and stir until it has a porridge consistency.
  4. [OPTIONAL STEP] “Put the rice to bed” by taking the pot of pudding and tucking it under the duvets. Once you decide the pudding has “rested” enough, take it out from under the blankets and put it in the fridge to chill. 
  5. Remove the vanilla bean from the pudding.
  6. Add in the sugar and rum/port/sherry. Take a fork to break up the rice and mix everything.
  7. Mix 2 cups of whipped whipping cream into the pudding.
  8. If playing the almond game, add one blanched almond into the pudding before transferring it into a serving bowl. 
  9. If cherry sauce is sought-after, mix cranberry juice with a cherry pie filling on the stove. Stir the sauce until it is the desired consistency and is warm.
  10. This recipe should serve 5-6 people if playing the Almond Game. The amount of cherry sauce is based on personal preference and more pudding might be required if eating competitively. ​