Yes-WAY!
Hey, it's our second month in a row, and though we have been exceedingly busy, we managed to pull a dinner together - a bit haphazardly, perhaps - but we did it!
Initially, our dart landed in Italy, but we have done an Italian meal in the past, and couldn't find anything region-specific enough to justify revisiting Italy, just yet.
Our second dart landed in Norway. As usual, we had a very vague idea of what we were in for. We were marginally familiar with the idea of lutefisk - probably vestigial memories of Rose's stories on Golden Girls. By the way, Lutefisk is cured with LYE. Hard pass. We began our research, hoping that we had other options.
There are lots of other options, of course, but Norwegian food seems to both be vast and elusive, if that is possible. The national dish is Farikal, a simple lamb and cabbage stew, so we thought that was a must-make. Incidentally, the *unofficial* national dish is frozen pizza, so it seems even Norwegians are not entirely sure about Norwegian food.
It seems that nearly every recipe I found indicated one or more of the following:
1. This recipe is a really popular dish - especially at Christmas.
2. This recipe takes several days to make.
3. Potatoes!
Obviously, we ruled out recipes that took several days to make. I realize that part of living in a cold climate is probably being cozy and cooking for days on end, but it's already kind of warm here and we could barely eek out one day to spend on this project.
Our odd little menu ended up as follows:
Farikal - (as mentioned above) with steamed potatoes and carrots
Fiskekaker - fried fish patties with a mustard dill sauce
Lefse - a potato crepe-type-thing
Oslo Kringle - Kind of like a danish, with the flavor of an ice cream cone
(Recipes linked above the pictures below.)
Hey, it's our second month in a row, and though we have been exceedingly busy, we managed to pull a dinner together - a bit haphazardly, perhaps - but we did it!
Initially, our dart landed in Italy, but we have done an Italian meal in the past, and couldn't find anything region-specific enough to justify revisiting Italy, just yet.
Our second dart landed in Norway. As usual, we had a very vague idea of what we were in for. We were marginally familiar with the idea of lutefisk - probably vestigial memories of Rose's stories on Golden Girls. By the way, Lutefisk is cured with LYE. Hard pass. We began our research, hoping that we had other options.
There are lots of other options, of course, but Norwegian food seems to both be vast and elusive, if that is possible. The national dish is Farikal, a simple lamb and cabbage stew, so we thought that was a must-make. Incidentally, the *unofficial* national dish is frozen pizza, so it seems even Norwegians are not entirely sure about Norwegian food.
It seems that nearly every recipe I found indicated one or more of the following:
1. This recipe is a really popular dish - especially at Christmas.
2. This recipe takes several days to make.
3. Potatoes!
Obviously, we ruled out recipes that took several days to make. I realize that part of living in a cold climate is probably being cozy and cooking for days on end, but it's already kind of warm here and we could barely eek out one day to spend on this project.
Our odd little menu ended up as follows:
Farikal - (as mentioned above) with steamed potatoes and carrots
Fiskekaker - fried fish patties with a mustard dill sauce
Lefse - a potato crepe-type-thing
Oslo Kringle - Kind of like a danish, with the flavor of an ice cream cone
(Recipes linked above the pictures below.)
Farikal (with potatoes and carrots)
I honestly was dreading eating this. I like cabbage, but only fried with onions and bacon and all that Southern goodness that I am used to, the once or twice a year that I make it. I have never liked it boiled or steamed, aaand - I don't like lamb all that much either, but I was totally stoked that I could make this in the crock pot. You know what though? It was pretty good! The simplicity of the meat and seasonings... worked well together, and with the steamed potatoes and carrots, it was a well-rounded meal, that I would probably wouldn't make, but would definitely eat, again.
Now *this* is the thing I was looking forward to, and was sadly disappointed. I expected it to be like a crab cake or a tuna croquette, but no. The batter was - odd.
We didn't use nearly the amount of milk that the recipe called for and it was still ridiculously soupy. They firmed up a little, while frying, but the end result was just okay. We added a dill mustard that added to the flavor, it may actually be a necessity. Recipe here: Dill Mustard Sauce
We didn't use nearly the amount of milk that the recipe called for and it was still ridiculously soupy. They firmed up a little, while frying, but the end result was just okay. We added a dill mustard that added to the flavor, it may actually be a necessity. Recipe here: Dill Mustard Sauce
These were pretty tasty, but they were -difficult- to work with. The dough is basically delicious mashed potatoes with flour. It is really easy to break the rolled dough, but much like the fish cakes, they firmed-up once they cooked.
There were some beautiful dessert options from Norway, but they seemed to all involve a special gadget. A pizelle or heart waffle iron makes a pretty dessert, but also requires equipment that I did not feel the need to invest in. So, we searched-on for a recipe that didn't require a big cash outlay, and found Oslo Kringle. We just needed our ingredients and a sheet pan. Perfect!
I have never had anything quite like it. The taste and texture was as though a danish pastry and an ice cream cone had a baby covered in an almondy glaze. It was quite good and tasty. I recommend it if you are looking to try a light, sweet dessert (or breakfast?) that is a bit different than the usual American fare.
I have never had anything quite like it. The taste and texture was as though a danish pastry and an ice cream cone had a baby covered in an almondy glaze. It was quite good and tasty. I recommend it if you are looking to try a light, sweet dessert (or breakfast?) that is a bit different than the usual American fare.
This is a special liqueur, drunk at holidays, but because we had seen it mentioned in Boardwalk Empire, we were curious to try it.
It was... interesting.
Somehow, it tasted like mouthwash, but not minty. It is very strong, and must be an acquired taste.
It was... interesting.
Somehow, it tasted like mouthwash, but not minty. It is very strong, and must be an acquired taste.
The best part about drinking this is shouting the Norwegian toast "SKAL!" when you drink it. Definitely shout "SKAL!" It makes it go down smoother, or at least makes you feel like a badass viking while you make the face you are going to make while this completely strips your throat on the way down.
One more beverage note: Norwegians love coffee! They are the second-largest coffee consumers in the world, so if Aquavit isn't your thing, just have a cup of joe. Or have one when you are recovering from your Aquavit hangover.
That's it! Our mini-tour of Norway was kind of weird, kind of good, surprising, and definitely different. I'm glad we tried it, but if I ever find myself in Norway, I will probably be eating lots of frozen pizza.
That's it! Our mini-tour of Norway was kind of weird, kind of good, surprising, and definitely different. I'm glad we tried it, but if I ever find myself in Norway, I will probably be eating lots of frozen pizza.
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