North Wild Kitchen

Tag: dill

  • Sosekjøtt & Spring Mashed Potatoes

    Sosekjøtt & Spring Mashed Potatoes

    Norwegian sosekjøtt and Spring Mashed Potatoes
    Norwegian sosekjøtt and Spring Mashed Potatoes

    The sun is setting behind the mountain’s edge and as I look out the window, the trees sway in the gentle breeze. There’s an undeniable change happening as winter’s grasp seems to be giving way. Spring is officially here. And today, it’s Sunday.

    In the pot – gently simmering away – is a dish so simple, so classic, so unbelievably comforting it’s a wonder we don’t eat it more often. It’s the ideal Sunday dish; when the whole family has more time to take things slow, which in turn is reflected in the meal. Pieces of fatty chuck steak slowly cook in a rich, beef sauce flanked with onion slices a bay leaf. After a few hours, it’s ready. This perfect and simple stew called sosekjøtt, also referred to as kjøtt i morke “meat in the dark”.

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  • Creamy Norwegian Cod Soup (Torskesuppe)

    Creamy Norwegian Cod Soup (Torskesuppe)

    Norwegian Creamy Cod Soup (Torskesuppe)Norwegian Creamy Cod Soup (Torskesuppe)While winter means a barren landscape void of fruits and vegetables and wild herbs, life is teeming and thriving under the waters. In fact, winter in Norway is the best season to feast on fish and seafood along the coast despite the love affair we associate with consuming them during the warm, summer months.

    Cod is one type of fish that happens to be in the best condition during the colder months. There is even an old saying in Norway stating that cod is at its best when eaten in all the months with the letter ‘r’ in them – meaning, all months except for May, June, July, and August.

    Torsk har ypperlig kvalitet i alle måneder med “r”.

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  • Gravlax with Dill-Stewed Potatoes and Mustard Sauce

    Gravlax with Dill-Stewed Potatoes and Mustard Sauce

    Norwegian gravlax with dill-stewed potatoes and served with a classic mustard sauce (Gravlaks med sennepssaus og dillstuede poteter)Norwegian gravlax with dill-stewed potatoes and served with a classic mustard sauce (Gravlaks med sennepssaus og dillstuede poteter)Lifting the weight and removing the board revealed a two-day culinary journey. Nothing difficult, nothing too time consuming. An act of osmosis. Curing. Transformation. And as the sharpened knife slowly pierced into the orange-pink, dill-infused delicacy, the thrill of knowing the next time step would be getting a taste reached across to everyone in the kitchen. A smooth, grainy and subtly sweet mustard sauce and a warm, hearty bowl of creamy potatoes dancing with dill to round it all off. Luxury at its finest and also its simplest.

    Yet, the delicacy we know today has a much different story than its beginning. Gravlax (gravlaks) first appears in documents from the 1300s, informing us of the preservation methods used during these times. During the Middle Ages, people ate many forms of saltwater and freshwater fish that we continue to enjoy today. Salmon held a special place, valued and desired. Unlike today, where we have greater access to fresh salmon, salmon was more of a prized possession. In fact, in a well-known story about the god Tor, who is referred to as the ‘big eater’, Tor has his fill of eight whole salmon (among other things) at a wedding banquet in Jotunheimen. This gives us an idea as to the value placed on salmon and that protecting the surplus of salmon was important, and worth the risks. (Notaker, Ganens Makt)

    Norwegian gravlax with dill-stewed potatoes and served with a classic mustard sauce (Gravlaks med sennepssaus og dillstuede poteter)Norwegian gravlax with dill-stewed potatoes and served with a classic mustard sauce (Gravlaks med sennepssaus og dillstuede poteter) (more…)

  • Norwegian Spring Potato Salad (Potetsalat)

    Norwegian Spring Potato Salad (Potetsalat)

    Norwegian Spring Potato SaladThe roosters and hens have given a whole new meaning to the term ‘free range’ these days. Making their rounds, they circle up into the woods and around the kitchen garden just before sunbathing and slumbering below my kitchen window. They continue on following a makeshift pathway down a small slope to the main lawn and heading back to their coop for another siesta. They make this journey a couple of times a day and the roosters crow every once in awhile as if to give me some sort of sense that their journey under the sun is going well. Very well.

    Norwegian Spring Potato Salad

    Norwegian Spring Potato Salad (more…)

  • Eggs til Påske

    Eggs til Påske

    Egg til PåskeEgg til PåskeAs the sun rises, I find myself in the room I grew up in. The interior may have changed over the years I have been gone, but the memories have been imprinted across the walls, something that new paint cannot erase.

    Yearning for the new day, as every morning person does, I walk down to my favorite room in the house. Mom’s already in the kitchen. Stove warming, coffee brewing. Eggs being cracked along a well-worn bowl. Our family traditions are always evolving. We keep to a few habitual rituals, but otherwise, our tradition is to be untraditional. And as I sit back, I reflect on the traditions which families and cultures set. Questions about where they come from and what does our table say about the way we celebrate and embrace them dance around in my head. Food is the heart and soul of any celebration and taking the time to the understand what’s on our plate and why can be just as important as the celebration itself.

    The Norwegian Easter, or Påske (from the Hebrew word pasach or passover), is a mixture of traditions stretching far back throughout the ages. The traditions stemmed out of evolving Lutheran practices, pre-Christian or heathen times, Judaism, and some from the era prior to the Reformation when Norwegians were Roman Catholics.  The Easter egg, coming from an old heathen tradition symbolizing fertility, did not take hold in Norway until the 1900s, when keeping hens made it ways into the country’s animal husbandry. During fasting times, eggs were banned, so on Easter Sunday, people were once again allowed to eat boiled eggs for breakfast and this became known as the Easter egg. For Norwegians, the egg is a more natural symbol of rebirth and Easter than the bunny. For this was the time of year when hens began to lay eggs. (Science Nordic) (more…)

  • Påske Lamb with Orange & Dill Sauce

    Påske Lamb with Orange & Dill Sauce

    Visiting friends usually means finding yourself sharing cake and coffee amongst a centerpiece of overflowing, grapefruit-sized oranges gleaning from a warmer Spanish climate. A tradition owning itself to a time when merchants would return to Norway in the Spring with the year’s first harvest from Southern Europe. It’s a recently new tradition, very much like most of the traditions practiced today. From yellow adornments to colorful eggs to chocolate and the Sunday meal. Most borrowed, all evolved. History, combining a variety of faiths and practices, to today’s more global and commercial influences have all contributed to the celebrations surrounding Easter, whether practiced religiously or not.Paske lamb with orange & dill sauceServing lamb, for instance, is not an old tradition. For the long, dark Norwegian winters delay the gestation period for sheep, meaning lambs are not large enough to be ready by Easter. The lamb is either imported or from last year’s yield. Nonetheless, lamb is important to the table today. Often served on the bone, it is roasted with simple herbs and seasonings.

    Paske lamb with orange & dill sauce (more…)