Store

Danish Colonial and Global Food Trade

Historical period

Denmark-Norway held trading stations and colonies: the DANISH WEST INDIES (St Croix, St Thomas, St John) from the 1670s to 1917, whose sugar was produced by enslaved Africans on plantations — the Danish transatlantic slave trade carried on the order of a hundred thousand people; Tranquebar and Serampore in India; the Gold Coast forts; and Iceland, the Faroes and Greenland under monopoly trade. Sugar, coffee, tea, rum, tobacco and spices entered the Danish kitchen through this system. ⚠ THIS IS NOT CULINARY TRIVIA. Slavery in the Danish West Indies was abolished in 1848 after a mass uprising, and the sugar in the Christmas caramelised potatoes has that history behind it.

Atlas — where and when

What is recorded

  • Sugar, rum, coffee and spices entered the Danish kitchen through Denmark-Norway’s colonial trade, which included the Danish West Indies and a transatlantic slave trade carrying on the order of a hundred thousand enslaved Africans. Slavery there was abolished in 1848 following a mass uprising. This history is recorded as history and not reduced to a note about ingredients. documented
  • The Danish West Indies: sugar produced by enslaved Africans, with a Danish transatlantic slave trade carrying on the order of a hundred thousand people. Slavery abolished there in 1848 after a mass uprising. documented

Related foodways

This foodway relates to

  • related to Caribbean documented

    The Danish West Indies, and sugar produced by enslaved people.

Recipes

No recipes are filed under this cuisine yet.