With the first day of spring officially here, I start thinking about foods that resemble sunshine. In Norway, we celebrate the return of the sun after a long, dark winter and the northern lights are replaced by the midnight sun. That doesn’t mean we switch out our drinks though, as coffee is just as popular in the summer as it is in the winter.
With St. Patrick’s Day approaching, I started thinking about all the green food I truly enjoy and my mind came to kålruletter or stuffed cabbage leaves which is a classic Norwegian dish. Typically they are stuffed with ground pork, but since pigs are my friends, not...
Fastelavn is celebrated the Sunday before Ash Wednesday and evolved from the Roman Catholic tradition of celebrating the days before Lent. Often referred to as the Nordic Halloween, children will dress up in costumes and gather treats for the fastelavnfeast. Although we don’t see as much of this tradition in Norway, it’s still practiced in Denmark, who I think are the masters of fastelavn and are known for parades and festivities across the country.
Who has heard of kringle? The kringle is a popular Scandinavian pastry here in the U.S. among those familiar with Nordic cuisine. Often times referred to as the Nordic pretzel because of its similarity in shape, it is said to have arrived in Scandinavian in the 13th century with the Roman Catholic monks. Denmark might be better known for its kringler, and although I’m Norwegian must admit the Danes perhaps have a slight upper hand on coming up with creative varieties of this delicious knot-shaped pastry. The Danish are thought to be the ones who brought kringle to the United States too, so kudos to them for that!
Sjakkruter, translated loosely to ‘checkers’ or ‘chessboard squares’, are fun looking butter cookies that many Norwegian homes count as one of their obligatory 7 types of Christmas cookies every year. I like to call them Norway’s version of the American black and white cookie, although they are very different both in flavor and texture.
Many Norwegian food fans are very familiar with kransekake, the show-stopping cornucopia-shaped marzipan-like almond cake made for special occasions such as weddings, confirmations, baptisms, and Christmas. Kransekakestenger however, are less known.
Before I went vegan, I worked at Swedish restaurant Aquavit, located in midtown New York for a while. This also happens to be where I met my American husband, who worked as a chef there at the time. I fell in love with both the food and the chef, and naturally have...
Krumkaker are cone shaped, waffle-like cookies with a pretty pattern, and a very classic and popular in Norwegian cuisine, particularly around Christmas time. I would venture to say it's probably the most well known and made pastry besides lefse, and a true symbol of...
Julebrød is Norwegian for "Christmas bread", although in some parts of the country this same bread is called "julekake", or Christmas cake. Not sure why, because although this bread is slightly sweet because of added sugar and dried fruits (raisins, and...
One of the most popular and well known Norwegian Christmas cookies is kokosmakroner, translated to coconut macaroons. It simply won't be a complete, authentic Norwegian cookie tray without these guys. Kokosmakroner are probably the easiest and quickest cookies to...
With the first day of spring officially here, I start thinking about foods that resemble sunshine. In Norway, we celebrate the return of the sun after a long, dark winter and the northern lights are replaced by the midnight sun. That doesn’t mean we switch out our drinks though, as coffee is just as popular in the summer as it is in the winter.
With St. Patrick’s Day approaching, I started thinking about all the green food I truly enjoy and my mind came to kålruletter or stuffed cabbage leaves which is a classic Norwegian dish. Typically they are stuffed with ground pork, but since pigs are my friends, not...
Fastelavn is celebrated the Sunday before Ash Wednesday and evolved from the Roman Catholic tradition of celebrating the days before Lent. Often referred to as the Nordic Halloween, children will dress up in costumes and gather treats for the fastelavnfeast. Although we don’t see as much of this tradition in Norway, it’s still practiced in Denmark, who I think are the masters of fastelavn and are known for parades and festivities across the country.
Who has heard of kringle? The kringle is a popular Scandinavian pastry here in the U.S. among those familiar with Nordic cuisine. Often times referred to as the Nordic pretzel because of its similarity in shape, it is said to have arrived in Scandinavian in the 13th century with the Roman Catholic monks. Denmark might be better known for its kringler, and although I’m Norwegian must admit the Danes perhaps have a slight upper hand on coming up with creative varieties of this delicious knot-shaped pastry. The Danish are thought to be the ones who brought kringle to the United States too, so kudos to them for that!
Sjakkruter, translated loosely to ‘checkers’ or ‘chessboard squares’, are fun looking butter cookies that many Norwegian homes count as one of their obligatory 7 types of Christmas cookies every year. I like to call them Norway’s version of the American black and white cookie, although they are very different both in flavor and texture.
Many Norwegian food fans are very familiar with kransekake, the show-stopping cornucopia-shaped marzipan-like almond cake made for special occasions such as weddings, confirmations, baptisms, and Christmas. Kransekakestenger however, are less known.
Before I went vegan, I worked at Swedish restaurant Aquavit, located in midtown New York for a while. This also happens to be where I met my American husband, who worked as a chef there at the time. I fell in love with both the food and the chef, and naturally have...
Krumkaker are cone shaped, waffle-like cookies with a pretty pattern, and a very classic and popular in Norwegian cuisine, particularly around Christmas time. I would venture to say it's probably the most well known and made pastry besides lefse, and a true symbol of...
Julebrød is Norwegian for "Christmas bread", although in some parts of the country this same bread is called "julekake", or Christmas cake. Not sure why, because although this bread is slightly sweet because of added sugar and dried fruits (raisins, and...
One of the most popular and well known Norwegian Christmas cookies is kokosmakroner, translated to coconut macaroons. It simply won't be a complete, authentic Norwegian cookie tray without these guys. Kokosmakroner are probably the easiest and quickest cookies to...