Rice to the Occasion
One of Norway’s most traditional dishes is made from an ingredient that doesn’t grow anywhere near Norway: Rice!
Rice porridge or “risgrøt” is normally a dessert in other countries, but in Norway it is the main dish on Saturday dinner tables. Risgrøt is enjoyed with a generous topping of cinnamon and sugar, with a spoonful of butter in the centre (the “buttereye”), Many people enjoy this dish with a side of cured meats and bread rolls. Our family prefers to use brown sugar because of the stronger flavour (and health factor, according to Farmor).
At Christmas, Norwegian risgrøt has a special tradition. In olden days, people used to put a bowl of grøt outside for the barn gnome on Christmas Eve, to reward him for tending the farm animals and buildings. If the gnome didn’t get his grøt (and beer), he would put a terrible curse on the livestock!
These days, Norwegians usually eat the Christmas grøt themselves, although they like to save some for Julenissen (Santa). The Christmas grøt has one special ingredient in the pot: A peeled almond. Whoever is lucky enough to get the almond in their portion gets a special prize. This is usually a marzipan pig, but sometimes the prize is simply to do the dishes!
Feeling hungry yet? Try the recipe below. Recipes may vary from one region to the next, but this one is the basic method:
Basic risgrøt
(Serves 4 – portion may be doubled but reduce the liquid slightly)
You need:
- 4 dl (13.5 fl.oz) water
- 1 1/2 dl (5 fl.oz) porridge rice (Risotto rice will do)
- 1 litre (1 quart) milk – give or take
- 1 tsp salt
- vanilla (optional)
- 1 peeled almond (Christmas only)
How to do it:
You will need a good, heavy pot with a tight lid. Boil the rice in water for about 10 minutes or until soft. Add the milk and simmer with lid until the porridge is thick and creamy. Stir occasionally to keep the porridge from sticking to the pot. Stir in the salt near the end. Serve in a deep plate and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar, then top it off with a dab of dairy butter.
Enjoy!
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Cute title – found you from the Problogger contest! Your recipe sounds very yummy!
Loved the title then read the recipe and loved it even more! lol Growing up surrounded by Norwegians in Minnesota, I still remember eating this the first time at a slumber party! Good times. Thanks,
Ava Semerau, author of And God Was Pleased
A Problogger entry
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from L-Jay:
I’ve heard that there are a lot of Norwegians in Minnesota – like a Little Norway in itself.
Værsågod! (Your welcome)
My friend from Trondheim said that his family puts almond essence into their grøt and tops it with almond shavings.
Sometimes at home we make a little extra grøt so we can have grøt-patties in the morning for breakfast. Just heat up a pan with a little butter, scoop up a spoon of left-over grøt and fry it. Serve with a good sprinkling of sugar and cinnamon.
My family generally has rømmegrøt around Christmas with an almond hidden inside.
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from L-Jay:
Our family does too – it’s a very common tradition in Norway
Another Christmas tradition that we had on the farm near Bergen was to put out a sheaf of grain for the birds to feed on. This was during the 1940′s and may not be very common anymore. For one thing, modern farm harvesting machines have done away with the old hand harvest methods and sheafs of grain that was hand tied and stacked up. The advent of bird feeders have probably replaced the old method. The birds are probably better off now as anyone can just buy a wide selection of grain and seed and help our little feathered friends survive the long winter.
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from L-Jay:
I’ve seen a few sheaves, but yeah, bird feeders are what most people do now. Actually, this year the birds have gone early. We still see a few lemmings too. They make tracks in the snow as they all use the same route to get places.
God jul!