Risalamande

Cold rice milk porridge is combined with a light foam of cream, and among the chopped almonds, just one is hidden whole. Danish risalamande is a Christmas dessert served with red cherry sauce. The porridge is cooked, chilled right through to the center, and finally folded together with whipped cream. It is finished with a light texture while the rice grains remain intact.

Chilling the rice milk porridge thoroughly and folding in whipped cream

The base is a rice milk porridge called risengrød. Short-grain rice is started in a small amount of water, then milk is added and the rice is softened over low heat. Some methods simmer the vanilla seeds and pod along with it. It is stirred occasionally so the bottom does not scorch, and cooked until the starch from the rice spreads into the milk.

The porridge is used only after it has been thoroughly chilled. Making the porridge the day before, refrigerating it, and finishing the dessert the next day separates the work of cooking the rice from the work of combining it with cream. Because mixing cream into warm porridge makes the foam slacken, the porridge is chilled thoroughly to the center.

The almonds are skinned, the one that will decide the gift is set aside, and the rest are coarsely chopped. Sugar and the chopped nuts are mixed into the porridge, and the cream is lightly whipped. One method is to first loosen the porridge with about one-third of the whipped cream, then fold in the rest. Loosening the thick porridge first allows the remaining foam to be combined without crushing it too much.

The rice grains and chopped almonds keep their shape. This is not a dessert in which the porridge is strained into a uniform cream; along with the smooth whipped cream, the bite of the rice grains and almonds can be enjoyed.

Serving with cherry sauce

Risalamande itself is served chilled. The cherry sauce may be warm or cold, and the red of the fruit contrasts with the white rice. The tart sauce adds variety to the gentle flavor of milk and sugar.

Household variations and the game of finding the almond

The sweetness and the amount of cream vary from household to household. Some homes use less foam and keep a firmness closer to rice porridge, while others add more for a lighter finish. The whole almond is slipped in among the chopped ones. Toward the end of the celebratory meal on December 24, the table becomes the scene of a game to find that one almond. The gift that the Danish tourism board names is a “marzipan pig,” an almond confection shaped like a pig. The gift is called mandelgave, literally “almond gift.” Tactics such as keeping one’s find secret for a while, or conversely pretending to have found it, are also part of each household’s game. The person who finds the whole almond keeps it uneaten and shows it to everyone at the end.

In the past, the prize was not an object but special treatment or privileges. The mechanism is similar to the French custom of hiding a bean in a cake for Epiphany on January 6 and making the person who finds it king for a night. Both share the practice of hiding a bean or almond in food and giving the finder a special role or a gift.

A name of French origin, and the development from milk porridge to dessert

The name is based on the French riz à l’amande, “rice with almond.” In Denmark, porridge cooked in milk was itself a festive meal richer than everyday porridge cooked in water. Porridge made with imported rice and cinnamon was an even more luxurious dish.

Rice porridge spread in the 19th century, and later a format of reworking the porridge into a dessert emerged in urban households. An 1870s edition of the cookbook that continued to be published under the name of Madame Mangor contains a recipe (the ingredient proportions and method) in which butter and wine are added to rice milk porridge, which is then bound with gelatin and whipped cream. It is flavored with vanilla, almonds, and sugar, chilled, and served with cherry sauce. It is an early risalamande recorded in a cookbook that kept being published even after Madame Mangor’s death.

It also appears in Frøken Jensen’s cookbook published in 1901, and it spread during the first half of the 20th century. During the Second World War, adding cream also served to stretch limited supplies of rice. A 1943 newspaper even includes a recipe that uses barley instead of rice, combining it with butter, gelatin, almonds, and whipped cream.

After the war, it became established as a representative Christmas dessert. In the past, many versions were set with gelatin, and there were also recipes containing egg yolks and suggestions to serve it with strawberries. The form commonly seen today, milk porridge folded together with a light foam, took root in households after passing through such variations.

The story of a late-night improvisation at the d’Angleterre

There is a story that at the Hotel d’Angleterre in Copenhagen, there was no dessert to serve an important guest late one night, so the cook mixed whipped cream and chopped almonds into leftover cold porridge and served it with cherries. It is a legend of an improvised dish in which makeshift porridge was dressed up with a French-sounding name.

Nineteenth-century cookbooks already contain methods using cold porridge and whipped cream. Food culture historian Bettina Buhl also presents the hotel origin not as history based on historical sources but as a legend. It is a story about a cook’s quick thinking in turning leftover porridge into a dessert for entertaining a guest.

Sweden’s ris à la Malta, served with oranges

Sweden has a similar dessert called ris à la Malta. It shares the combination of cold rice porridge and whipped cream, but some versions contain no almonds and are served with oranges. In contrast to Danish risalamande, which centers on cherries and almonds, it is enjoyed with citrus or with sauces made from other fruits.

Glossary