[HPforGrownups] OT Norwegian Christmas-food (was Re: Christmas Dinner in England (long and tedious), and is now longer and more tedious)

[Amanda Lewanski]

No: HPFGUIDX 7179

Christian Stub wrote:

> I am
> trying to remember if smalahove is served for Christmas (take half a
> sheep-head, scorch off the wool, clean out brain, etc., but keep the
> eyes, boil for 6 hours and eat), but I think it is.

This is either to make the lutefisk look good, or to keep costs down by ensuring no one eats much.

> More normal Christmas-dishes will include pork-rib, with
> medister-sausage and medister-patties (medister is a 50/50-blend of
> minced beef and minced pork), with boiled potatoes, carrots, peas and
> cauliflower; and poached cod, with boiled potatoes, carrots and
> Sandefjor-butter; and stick-meat, which is a name for salted and dried
> ribs of mutton, which are boiled, served with boiled potatoes and
> mashed swedes.  The name stems for the use of birch-sticks being placed
> in the bottom of the pot to keep the ribs from touching bottom and get
> burnt.

Is there a general shortage of anything but large saucepans, or do they simply like everything boiled?

> I swear, I did not make up anything of the above!  Swedes, or Swedish
> turnips, are known in the US as rutabagers, I believe.

Cool! I've long wondered what swedes were, after a reference to them in "Watership Down."

> Christmas dinner is served on christmas-eve, at 5pm.  At noon, meny
> have rice-porridge for lunch.  A well-known custom is to hide an almond
> in one of the servings, and whoever finds it will get a treat (normally
> marsipan shaped as a pig) - its a bit like the silver-coin in the
> Christmas-pudding.

I was pressed into service on the 23rd one year to make 12 little marzipan pigs, by a friend of mine whose maiden name was Anderssen. Aha.

The main Christmas event for Poles is Wigilia, the Christmas eve dinner; interesting that both cultures have a dinner on Christmas eve. Wigilia is traditionally meatless.

Thanks for such a vivid window into Christmas in Norway. If we did anything remarkable in Texas, I'd reciprocate, but mostly we stand around in T-shirts and barbeque anything that stands still
long enough. Sigh.

--Amanda