Thanks to industrial methods, produce and dishes that were once the preserves of the upper classes have become commonplace. Imports and new technology have evened out seasonal differences, so that most foodstuffs are on offer all the year round. At the same time exotic foods such as aubergine, avocado, fresh pineapple, baby maize, Barbary duck breast, courgettes, Chinese prawns, kiwi fruit and peppers have become everyday sights on the Danish table. The pattern of meal times has changed from the five meals a day of pre-industrialised society to the three that are common now. Most people have their midday meal away from home in the form of a packed lunch or a canteen meal.
Hot food is eaten in the evening, and most people only have a single course on weekdays.
First courses consisting of gruel, fruit soup or porridge are nowadays only eaten by older people. Among the best-known of these are open sandwiches with shrimps, smoked salmon, marinated herring, smoked herring and egg yolk, radishes and chives, smoked eel with scrambled egg, pork with red cabbage, apples and prunes, and liver paste with pickled cucumber or gherkins. Otherwise, Denmark has made few original contributions to gastronomy.