Egg salad and Danish summer salad (radish and cucumber salad)

A very common lunch in Denmark is what I have heard described in English as an open sandwich. I'm not a big fan of that term, since the term "open sandwich" is in its essence an oxymoron. The verb "to sandwich" means to insert or enclose something or someone between two other people or things. Similarly, the noun "sandwich" means two pieces of bread or a split roll with a filling inside, and there can thus be no such thing as an open sandwich. At least that's what the linguist inside me says.

In Denmark, one of these open sandwiches is simply known as a mad, which translates directly into a food. That really says something about how common these are in Denmark - they are the quintessential food. If made with rye bread, we call them a rye bread food (rugbrødsmad). If topped with ham, they're called a ham food (skinkemad), with egg, an egg food (æggemad), with cheese, a cheese food (ostemad) etc. Today, I had two of them for lunch - one with egg salad and one with a cucumber and radish salad, known here as summer salad.

Egg salad:

2 organic eggs
2 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp creme fraice (I used 18% today, but less will do)
1/4 tsp curry powder
Cress, as much as you like

Boil the eggs for 8-10 minutes. Let them cool down a little, then peel and chop. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix it all together. Done!


Summer salad:

Around 10 radishes, thinly sliced
Half a cucumber, thinly sliced and quartered
200 ml creme fraiche 18 %
1 tbsp rygeost (Danish smoked soft cheese made with cows milk and buttermilk)
Salt and pepper
Chives

Mix all the ingredients together. Done :)