Visiting the farmer’s market is part of my weekly routine. I love getting to know the people behind my food, as well as discovering unique ingredients! It’s as much of a grocery run as a social outing.
That’s probably why I always sniff out the local markets of places I visit. Copenhagen is home to two large produce markets, quite a few flea markets, and countless produce and flower stands along its central pedestrian streets.
My friend and I decided to visit the largest market, Torvehallerne. The plan was to just stop by for a couple of hours, but there was so much to see and eat (plus so many chats with vendors), that we spent most of the day there! We started in the morning, left in the afternoon to drop off our groceries at the apartment and check out some other things, then returned again for dinner.
Torvehallerne is a bustling market and food hall right in the city centre of Copenhagen. It is AMAZING and you can find everything in their 80 shops.
It actually has two main halls specialising in different types of produce, proteins, small restaurants, take-out places, chocolates, wines, flowers, juices, olives, dips, cheeses, and more! There were quite a few options for vegan and gluten-free diets too.
In between the two buildings were tents, filled with fresh produce and flowers. The displays were lovely. While a lot of the produce was obviously not local, the vendors had signs specifying what countries the food was from. A lot of it was still sourced from Europe, often from Portugal. I thought it was interesting, as non-local produce from back home is usually sourced from the USA and Mexico, often traveling much longer distances to our grocery shelves.
Stalks & Roots’ Walk of Flowers, with all kinds of gorgeous blooms, fruit trees, and herbs. It was in here that I discovered cappuccino roses, which are now one of my favourite flowers. They also had a dried flower stall — that was equally as beautiful — inside one of the buildings. Not being able to bring any home was painful, so I took a ton of photos instead! Although, it was almost as painful to choose only a handful of them for this blog post haha.
Our first stop was to Fresh Market, an exotic fruit stall with freshly cold pressed juices, chia seed puddings, smoothies, and salads. I chose a Lily juice, made with carrots, yellow beet, orange, lemon, turmeric, and sea berry (delicious). I was interested in their display of passionfruit-like fruits and chose out a Mélano, aka horned melon. Apparently it is part of the cucumber family. They also had fresh cacao seeds and were pulling jackfruit (not smelly Dorian) right there at their counter.
Our next stop was to The Organic Boho, an organic vegan vendor with — hands down — the best vegan + gluten free desserts I’ve ever tried! I had their berry cheesecake, covered with powdered gold of course, and my friend had the carrot cake. Their wraps were colourful and looked so good too.
Omegn & Venner is a great spot for charcuterie essentials. They had a wide selection of meats and cheeses and I absolutely loved how they had little snack cones, where I was able to sample prosciutto, salami, Tomme Fra Møn, and I believe Commendente. It was the perfect size to keep in my purse pocket for nibbles as I browsed.
Nearby was Stigs Oliven, a cute stall for all sorts of olives served out of barrels with wooden handles. I couldn’t resist the mini dried figs they had! They also had a small wine bar.
Rørt’s stall has a special place in my heart because it was the first place I tried smørrebrød in Denmark — and started off my obsession with these open faced sandwiches. I ordered Reje x Kimchi — hand peeled shrimp mixed with homemade Kimchi and emulsified red carrots on grilled rye bread, with tarragon sprinkled on top. It was delicious and I’ve been craving it ever since. They also had a very tempting Shrimchi burger, but alas I was too full!
Because no meal is complete without dessert, I stopped by Sweet Valentine for a tasty treat. It was the season for Fastelavnsbolle, decadent cream-filled pastries traditionally served around Shrove Tuesday. I choose one filled with whipped cream, vanilla crème , black currant jam, and chocolate pieces — with gold flakes sprinkled on top! I also brought home a couple bags of gold flakes for my own baking too.
There are several really impressive seafood stalls at Torvehallerne, but I was especially drawn to Hav. The name means sea in Danish, which is fitting as the coastline was less than 10km away. There were so many kinds of shellfish and so many different fish, many of which I had actually never even seen or heard of before. The show stoppers were a wall of langoustines, fully intact eels, lots of fish row + caviar, a toothy monkfish, and an Atlantic wolffish head that looked like a grumpy old man. The staff here were hilarious and kindly answered my (many) questions. With their help, I brought back freshly made gravlax and sweet dill mustard sauce.
Earlier in the day, I spotted another smørrebrød vendor — Hallernes Smørrebrød — with fancy over-the-top displays. They were seriously some of the prettiest sandwiches I have seen. I resolved to get one for dinner. Because it was near the end of the market day, most of the selection had already been enjoyed by customers who patiently waited in long lineups, but I able to get what I came for. I took home the last shrimp salad sandwich (hand-peeled shrimps in dill mayonnaise served with lemon on a thick slice of sourdough) PLUS a roast pork sandwich (roast pork with crispy crackling, homemade pickled red cabbage, and cucumber salad). My eyes were admittedly bigger than my stomach, but that meant that my lunch was covered the next day. Both of them were amazing, and that’s coming from someone who doesn’t eat pork!
My friend ordered an amazing gluten-free pizza from Gorm’s. Most of the gluten-free pizza crusts we’ve tried are basically like cardboard, especially the texture, but this crust was the same as the real deal. Nice and crispy outside, chewy inside, bubbles, and great flavour. They had a refreshing twist on Hawaiian pizza, making it with tomato, mozzarella, prosciutto cotto, cherry tomatoes, Padrón peppers, mascarpone, fresh pineapple, and fresh basil. We absolutely loved how the pineapple was shaved on, just the right amount of sweetness!
Finally, the very last place we stopped at was Mosh Eksklusive Dadler. Delicate date-based desserts, cookies, and loaves decorated the stall, with a unique range of flavours. We got date-based peanut butter cups for dessert, and I brought home French Nougat (coconut, dates, pistachio) as well as a Dadelbrød (date loaf). She has so many flavours of these, including lavender and blueberry, as well as chocolate. I chose rose and rhubarb though, as those flavours remind me of Denmark. Rhubarb, or Rabarber, is very popular there. The rose petals reminded me of The Flower Walk at the market.
Overall, Torvehallerne is a must-see for anyone going to Copenhagen. It’s paradise if you’re a foodie. If you’re not a foodie, you will become one after a visit!
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