Even though it is not yet Thanksgiving and being that it is my favorite holiday one might think I would have it on my mind, which I do, but tonight I made a heavy decision. I think this year for Christmas Eve I am going to have a traditional Norwegian "The Night Before Christmas."But I don't want the sound of television or video game zap, zap polluting the evening. I want it as if it is Vigmostad in 1842 with a foot of snow on the ground, 10 degrees outside, roasted spareribs on the rack and glasses of Mjop, the homemade wine that, even back then, the children would sip out of a sniffer.
My Christmas Eve's while I was growing up in New York were special times. My parents worked hard to make it so for us children and it was magical. Earlier in the evening we would go down to the church and put on a play telling the story of the birth of Jesus. Many hymns were sung, there was a candlelight vigil and a children's moment when my sister would sing to them, "Christmas was Meant for Children." There was always snow on the ground back then or falling that night. I rarely remember a Christmas go by without a nice coating of snow on the ground. The misty breath in the chilly night and icicles as big as carrots hanging from the gutters. Afterward we'd drive around town and look at all the Christmas lights that people had on display. Then we would return home, the tree ablaze with lights, candles in all the windows of the house, the bushes with white lights making the snow glow, it was very beautiful. We'd then sit around the tree and tell stories and eat cookies and chocolates and my sisters would always open up a small present from my parents which was always jewelry. Before bed we would put out cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. Grandma would always be there also for Christmas. She'd sit with a smile and tell us funny stories about her Christmas eves as a child in the early 1900's. She lived to be 101 before passing on a few years back.
So I figure this year I will make Christmas Eve special for my little one and being that she loves to bake she will make the Norwegian cookies, the bakkels and hjortetaaks. Of course I am not familiar with how to make these cookies though my great-grandmother most likely made them for my grandmother while she was growing up, so I looked up a recipe. It was as follows:
Eggs
Sugar
brandy
butter
amonium carbonate
cardimum
flour
lard
Notice the last ingredient...lard! In this day and age that is like saying a curse word. Cooking with sugar, yolk and lard has become a taboo in the age of olive oil, Splenda and egg whites, but the idea of baking cookies with my daughter using lard as in old norway seems so romantic with the Christmas music playing and the tree all lit up, glistening from the tinsel. In Norway back in the old days, to light the tree they used real candles. Talk about a fire hazard. The idea of having real flickering candles on the tree is magical and I imagine breathtakingly beautiful. The scent of the fresh pine aroma fused with the burning candles and cookies baking in the oven filled with sugar, brandy and lard, it is maudlin. For the Christmas dinner I am considering preparing a roasted rib rack served with mashed peas, boiled potatoes, Christmas sausage and cod boiled in salt water and served with a red wine sauce and lutefisk. Extravagent. You might be wondering what lutefisk is? It is a white fish that has been lying in water and lye for days. It is then cooked in the oven. The protein of the fish decreases by up to 50% and the fish turns into a gelatinous consistency. I have never had this holiday treat and to be honest it doesn't sound particularly appetizing being that jellied fish might take some acquiring, but I love fish, all seafood really and my favorite restaurant is a Norwegian eatery in Orlando, Florida with a fish buffet. It is located within Epcot and I believe it is called Akershus Princess Restaurant. Sensational atmosphere and food. After researching the preparation of Norwegian food I wonder if their food tasted as good as it did because it was both smoked and cooked in lard? We should leave the secrets to the chefs I say and enjoy the food while it is still fresh!
Norway seems to me, especially in winter to be such an enchanting land and cuisine and style of old-fashioned dress I practically want to go out and take Norwegian language classes. An interesting fact about my great-grandmother who immigrated to the United States from Norway in 1902 is that she sailed aboard the ship "The Majestic." The significance of this ship is that the Titanic was built to replace the Majestic and the captain of the Majestic in 1902 was non other than Edward Smith, the same captain that went down on the Titanic on that fateful nigh thirteen years later. With her she brought the traditions of Norway including a short record from a relative of how Norwegian Christmas was spent in the old country which is what gave me the idea. The importance of Christmas as all holidays is to make them as special and magical as possible, especially for the children. They will remember those wonderful holidays just as I did while I was growing up. An old Norwegian once said something to the effect of, "No matter where you are, you want to make Christmas special." Of course that is translated from Norwegian but it is something that is universal regardless of what country one lives in, rural or urban, rich or poor.
And if you want to get fancy and keep the atmosphere going, the following day, after everyone is finished opening presents and the light breakfast of toast and smoked salmon with a hard boiled egg, and why not throw in scrambled eggs and bacon, meat cuts, muffins with jam spread, coffee, fruits and after eights for desert you can serve up a nice farikal for lunch. Farikal is the national dish of norway and consists of mutton (lamb) and cabbage. All you do is layer the meat and cabbage in a large pot with salt and peppercorns, cover with water and simmer until the meat is tender. If you wish for a thicker situation add flour to your liking. The dish goes splendidly with peeled and halved boiled potatoes. And there you have it. You very first Norwegian holiday if you are so inclined as I will be this year. And don't forget to say grace before you eat!
By the way did you know that horse meat and whale meat are commonly used to make sausages in Norway? Other popular Norwegian dishes for your palate include:
Svinekoteletter - braised pork chops served with fried onions and potatoes.
Fiskboller - cod fish mashed together with cream, flour, heavy cream and eggs.
Krumkake - flour, eggs, heavy cream and sugar.
Smalahove - the boiled head of salted sheep.
Kjottboller - meatballs served with a heavy cream sauce.
Lapskaus - a sausage or meat stew with a variety of vegetables to your liking, potatoes, carrots, peas root vegetables, onions etc.
Stekte polser - fried sausages served with peas and potatoes.
Sodd - a meatball and mutton soup with vegetables.
Surslid - which is pickled herring that everyone is used to.
There are many more and variations of traditional recipes tweaked by the family cooks. It doesn't get any better than that. Kan jeg far se pa menyen?
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