The forager also became a “porridge-er” after visiting Grød, a famous Danish restaurant chain that specializes in savory as well as sweet porridges. Besides smørrebrød themed lunches, Rasmussen also holds porridge-focused pop-ups and is seriously flirting with the idea of opening a restaurant combining her two obsessions.

With her strong belief in seasonality and eating local, Rasmussen admits that she doesn’t make Danish dishes exactly the way they are made in Denmark. She calls her approach West-Coast Nordic, and may include ingredients such as avocados, mayo with chives and tahini.

In fact, while she wants to introduce Californians to the goodness of Danish dishes, she is equally drawn to bringing Californian goodies to Denmark. In July, she did a stage at Selma, a prize-winning smørrebrød restaurant in Copenhagen. “The chef invited me to do a West Coast Nordic pop-up and I made a California BLT with bacon, little gem lettuce, tomato, charred avocado with Serrano aioli and shiso. And for dessert, a S'mores smørrebrød: flamed beach rose-scented marshmallow, crispy rye and cardamom chocolate."

Rasmussen's homemade sourdough rye bread with flax and sunflower seeds provides the perfect base for her creations. (Anna Mindess)

The backbone of smørrebrød (which literally means “buttered bread”) is the dark, dense rye that serves as base and ballast for fanciful combinations of varied toppings. It’s practically impossible to find the classic Danish rugbrød in these parts. But leave it to Rasmussen to figure out how to recreate the dark, sour loaves herself. “It's a time-intensive process that takes three days,” she explains, “but that is mostly waiting for it to ferment.” It also requires a sourdough rye starter, although Rasmussen says she just uses the spores from the air.

Steve Thompson of Euclidean Building crafted wood platters and bowls for the pop-up lunch. Guests were invited to take them home. (Anna Mindess)

Octagonal cup by Steve Thompson holds classic Danish dessert, <em>Rødgrød med fløde,</em> raspberries, elderflower cream with brown butter rye crumbles. — Octagonal cup by Steve Thompson holds classic Danish dessert, *Rødgrød med fløde,* raspberries, elderflower cream with brown butter rye crumbles. (Anna Mindess)

The culinary nutrition expert is all about collaboration, whether that encompasses working with spores in the air, seasonal plants, weeds and flowers that spring up on her path or her fellow artists. For the August smørrebrød pop-up, her friend Steve Thompson of Euclidean Building fashioned sturdy plates and cups from Douglas fir which guests could take home.

Kristen RasmussenKristen Rasmussen

Kristen Rasmussen Creates Smørrebrød Sandwiches with a West Coast Spin