Jaunted

Islands / Food / → All Tags

Summer Islands, Installment Number One

Wolfgang Röhl's splashy ode to the unassuming Danish Baltic island of Bornholm, appearing in the May 18 edition of German magazine Stern, is a treat.

Bornholm is the easternmost outpost of Denmark. It is so far east, in fact, that it sits north of Poland, not Germany.

Röhl opens with an observation of the high esteem in which local smoked herring is held. Served with black bread and egg yolk, it does sound awfully tasty.  

According to the Bornholm tourism website's cuisine section, however, smoked herring is just part of the story. The island also produces great figs and mulberries. Local beer, chocolate, and cheese are also highly regarded.

From the accompanying photos by Marion Beckhäuser, it's hard not to find the island extremely inviting, in a lost-corner-of-Europe sort of way. Blood red cottages with tiled roofs, bluffs overlooking the Baltic, and village markets all have their beguiling effects.

Röhl stresses that nobody goes to Bornholm for the nightlife. The island is visited for museums, landscapes, flea markets, and biking. After all that herring, turning in early is probably a good idea.

[Image via Maharepa/Flickr]