Wild garlic or ramps, known as ramsløk in Norwegian, can be found along the coasts and in the forests of Norway mainly during May and June. The season is short, only a few weeks, and as quickly as they grow up, they wither before the start of summer. They are a culinary treasure, used by chefs and home cooks who wish to serve up the perfect taste of springtime. They are also incredibly nutritious, and have been used for centuries for their medicinal properties.
This delightful plant grows wild, and has a subtle garlic flavor. It makes a nice addition to soups, salads, tarts and sauces as its taste is incredibly versatile. It’s one of those greens that needs only a little imagination to go a long way. If you can’t get your hands on any wild garlic, you can substitute it with garlic chives.
Kringler. Nordic pretzels of various forms of sweet, salty, filled, crispy and soft. But one kringle stands out as one of the most well-known in Norway and it hails from Bergen. It also happens to be a permanent fixture on the 17 Mai (Grunnlovsdag) table, as it finds its place alongside spekemat (cured meats) and rømmegrøt.
A Norwegian breakfast and lunch is never complete without a slice of bread or a type of knekkebrød. These ‘crisp breads’ or ‘breaking breads’ which are flat and dry, resembling a cracker, probably originated in Scandinavia close to 500 years ago. Some sources say that crisp bread was a staple of the Vikings as they could store them for long periods of time. These crisp breads would have been baked on hot stones, while today’s knekkebrød is baked in the oven. Baking them in the oven is what makes these crisp breads so different from the Norwegian flatbrød, which is baked on a flat griddle, much like lefse.
The smell of melting butter amidst flaky dough fills the room. A slight hint of orange and vanilla. As I wait for the minutes to pass, I cozy up to my chair and read more about the famous pastry known in Norway as wienerbrød, or translated to viennese and commonly referred to as danish in English. The aroma is well-known across bakeries in Norway and the rest of Scandinavia. It’s a pastry that was indeed created from bakers in Denmark, but not solely by their own efforts. It was a result of inspiration and the borrowing of techniques, like most recipes today. By standing on the shoulders of others, they were able to create a new, inspired pastry.
