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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 โ€” 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. โš  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 โ€” where and when

What is recorded

  • Sugar, rum, coffee and spices entered the Danish kitchen through Denmark-Norwayโ€™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.