Gå til norsk versjon

If you are up North then
there is more than a ferry to loose
You are not the only one she leaves
and you will not be the last
If you are up North then
If you are up North then

Vacation. Nothing makes me more stressed out than going on vacation. The time when all pieces should fall into place and only the good times should roll.

Vacation up North. To the land where you need a ferry to travel. Where there is no difference between night and summer day. Where the dinner meant for 4 suddenly is for 8. Where there is always time, and a visitor is offered plenty of coffee and cakes.

To the North of Norway. Where autumn is orange not because of the leaves, but because of the cloudberries in the mires. Where the beaches are so sandy you could forget this is Norway, not Mexico or the Maldives, if you look beyond the red boathouses, the mountains and the cold water.

Where nature is magnificent but the weather is moody. Where mountains and beaches are wrapped in fog and storm. Where there is gratitude for the smallest glimpse of summer and 15 degree Celsius (60 Fahrenheit) is bikinisummer, worthy of sunbathing and smiles.

You never know what kind of weather awaits you when you are traveling to the North of Norway. My last summer vacation up North, the average temperature dropped to 8 degree Celsius (46 Fahrenheit). In July. The summer before was stormy, we mostly stayed indoors, my son was sick and we had a massive family quarrel.

No sun in December, this is the law in this part of the country
Night devours the day and she is always hungry
The stars have gone, they are selling themselves in stores
The sky has no borealis, and you cannot see the Polaris

If you are up North then
Just let the darkness roll
Because one night the curtain will open up
and there will be a divine Light
If you are up North then
If you are up North then

This year’s vacation started with me traveling north with chickenpox (in its last phase, doctor said it was ok to travel). The 20th of July is a magical date on the island where I come from. At that time the first cloudberries ripen, but in return the midnight sun is starting to fade away.

I came to the island of my childhood just in time to see the first cloudberries mature. It was so hot most days I could pick cloudberries on the mires in my running shoes. Simultaneously the local strawberries were also ripe and my mother had green rhubarb in the freezer for me.

We made beautiful and traditional food I associate with my childhood and the island I left when I was sixteen. Rice porridge topped with sour cream porridge. Tart rhubarb pudding with cream. Waffles with cloudberries. Reindeer stew. Pan-fried coalfish with potatoes. Always potatoes accompanying dinner. And black pudding.

The two general stores on the island are not like other stores. They always keep in stock shaved reindeer meet and frozen blood. It was the first time I bought one. A bucket with blood, labeled ”for consumption”. My mother taught me how to make my childhood favourite, black pudding with raisins, and suddenly I was there. A kid in my mother’s kitchen, munching black pudding.

We sunbathed at Silsand most days. Silsand is one of the sandy beaches on the island, lying where the road almost ends. From here there is view all the way to the town of Harstad and its wooden houses. Just a stones’ trow away lies ”End of the rock (”Bergenden”), the place to stay if you want to gaze at the midnight sun casting its spell on the distant Senja mountains, turning them blue, pink, orange and in the end, deep red.

To Silsand we brought along homemade frozen yogurt ice cream with mountains of raspberries, a dessert I made several times up there. It was up North my little two year old son had his first real berry meal consisting of nordic strawberries. And it was here he learned to throw stones in the ocean, not the sea.

Back in Oslo again. The chickenpox has been replaced with insect bites. My camera is filled with almost 500 pictures. My son is rid of his fear of bathing in the sea, and he has gotten to know for real his family living up North. He has almost turned into a Northener. He has learned to say ”Oh my God” and has driven an all-terrain vehicle.

You do not reach land before the wind has turned
What you give is just not returned
But you are not alone, there are many of us out there
Our boats crossing paths in darkness on an open fjord

If you are up North then
The winter darkness is behind you
Spring has pushed you through
You are soon on the other side
If you are up North then
If you are up North then.  

Rhubarb pudding with cream

This is the Norwegian counterpart to the more known Danish berry pudding. Cooked berries and fruit thickened with potato starch is an old tradition in Scandinavia, and something I remember from my childhood.

about 500 g / 18 oz peeled rhubarb
about 100 gr / 4 oz sugar
100 ml water
2 tbsp potato starch (or maizena)
heavy cream to serve

1. Cut the stalks into pieces. Place in a pan with the sugar. Let the rhubarb rest for at least an hour – the sugar will produce rhubarb juice.
2. Add the water and bring to boil on low heat for 10 minutes. Adjust the taste with more sugar if you find it too sour.
3. Stir the potato starch in a little water and pour into the pan while stirring with a whisk. It is important you pour it gradually until the pudding has the consistency of thin porridge. (The pudding will thicken more as it becomes cold).
4. Pour in a serving bowl, sprinkle with a little sugar and allow to cool. Serve with heavy cream.

Frozen yogurt with berries (makes 4–5)

In the summer I would rather spend my time outside than in the kitchen. So this is frozen yogurt ice cream the easiest way, made without ice cream machine. This is unpretentious food for the beach, for the hammock, for the balcony, for summer.

400 ml thick Greek yogurt (preferably full-fat)
125 g / 4 oz raspberries or strawberries
3–6 tbsp sugar (depending on how sweet you like it)

With a fork smash 100 g of the berries together with the sugar. Add the yogurt and stir a little. I like to keep it rippled. Place in the fridge at least an hour. After an hour it is more like cold cream, not ice cream. If you want ice cream scoops, freeze for 2–3 hours while you stir once in a while, particularly the edges. (Do not freeze more as it turns into granita rather than ice cream). Top with the rest of the berries divided into two and three.

Travel more?

Athens, Greek salad and holiday memories
Jambalaya and greetings from New Orleans
Tips to London and Paris, which one is the best food city?

A taste of North Norway?

Almond meringue tart with butter cream (suksessterte)
Nordic BLT with scrambled eggs
Scandinavian waffles with cardamom
Creamy rice porridge with orange sauce
Rhubarb tart 1938
Black pudding with syrup

The lyrics in this post is “E du nord” by Kari Bremnes, my translation from Norwegian to English.

The post North Norway + rhubarb pudding appeared first on Nordic Diner.

Redcurrant cordial.

How to make 100 % natural redcurrant cordial – and a few words on aspartame.

Gå til norsk versjon

In the backyard right across the street there are two shrubs with ripe and wonderful redcurrants. Some of the berries are trying to climb the fence. I think of it as an invitation to pay a visit to the berries.

Carefree beverage?

A few years ago it was discovered that aspartame was very efficient as ant poison. In Sweden a blogger tried a similar experiment where he poured Fun Light, one of the most common cordials sold in Norway, on an ant colony resulting in the colony dying. Aspartame is one of the most common artificial sweeteners, 150–200 times sweeter than sugar. Because it is so sweet a small amount will do to sweeten beverages, and small amounts are not dangerous, or? According to EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) it is safe to consume 4 litres a day for an adult weighing 60 kilos. However, there are some dissenting voices.

In a study based on rats the Italian cancer researcher Morando Soffritti, who leads a non-profit organization, found that even small amounts of aspartame caused cancer. In another study from Iceland where almost 60 000 pregnant women participated aspartame was linked to preterm birth. Thorhallur Halldorsson from the University of Iceland who conducted the study says researchers mostly disagree about the long-term effects of aspartame, and he urges children and pregnant women to avoid aspartame.

Both studies have been refuted by the EFSA, but still if they are wrong we do know little about the chemical cocktail effect – the combined effect. Most of us do not consume 4 litres beverages with aspartame, but the artificial sweetener is also used in products such as yoghurt, chewing gum, sweets, desserts, medicine and more.

Aspartame is cheap to produce and has almost no calories. This is of course exactly the point made by the companies producing these types of light beverages, or to quote Stabburet, which produces Fun Light beverage: ”FUN Light is a beverage completely without sugar, and with only one calorie pr. millilitre – or carefree enjoyment as we call it!»

«Taste of rasperries»

Looking at the text label on industrial products takes you into a world of code language. All additives in the EU are given a code, hence aspartame is E951. Looking at the label for Fun light, the word raspberries is not mentioned although this is raspberry cordial. Neither the taste, the scent nor the red colour derive from raspberries, but from artificial components. This is why it is labeled ”a taste of raspberries” instead of raspberry cordial.

100 % natural redcurrant cordial

In a world where beverages for children also function as insecticide, I find it best to make the cordial myself. The text label for your own cordial is short: Ingredients: 70 % redcurrants from the neighbouring backyard and 30 % sugar. And then I haven’t mentioned the immaterial ingredients: The joy of making something to your family. Making your own cordial that will last the whole autumn. Giving it as a gift to someone. Transferring your joy of cooking to the next generation the same way you are walking in your grandmother’s shoes.

And if you think it is old-fashioned to walk in you granny’s shoes, transform the cordial and redcurrants into a vibrating cocktail with a Nordic twist, such as a Cosmopolitan (just substitute the cranberry juice with cordial) or daiquiri (substitute the strawberries with a little handful of frozen currants and increase the amount of sugar). Redcurrants are also useful if you make blackcurrant cordial.

Redcurrant cordial (makes about 750 ml cordial):

1 kilo redcurrants
400 ml / 13 oz water
about 225 g / 8 oz sugar

1. First, rinse the currants in water and drain well.
2. Sterilize your jars by first washing them with soap, then leaving them in the oven at 100C/212F for 15 minutes. Take them out of the oven right before you are ready to fill the jars.
3. Put the currants in a large pan with the water. Put the pan over low heat, then gently bring to a simmer. This may take some time, even an hour. Do not stir. When it boils, turn off the heat and leave to infuse with the lid on. They are finished when the currants have changed colour (greyish red).
4. Strain the currants through a muslin without pushing the berries. This will take about 10 minutes. If you squeeze with you hands, the cordial will turn cloudy.
5. Measure the amount of liquid to find out how much sugar you need. You should add at least 1/3 part sugar to 1 liter berry liquid. This will make a sweet-sour cordial.
6. Return the liquid to the pan, this time with the sugar. Boil briefly, until the sugar is dissolved, about a minute.
7. Skim off the foam and pour the cordial on sterilized jars.

I always squeeze the muslin with my hands to get the last remains of the juice, and then bring to boil with some sugar. This cloudy cordial I then keep in a little jar in a fridge to consume first.

More recipes with berries?

Blackcurrant cordial
Nordic mojito with blackcurrants
Danish berry pudding with cream
Strawberries with meringue and wild strawberry

The post Redcurrant cordial appeared first on Nordic Diner.

Danish berry pudding with cream.

Danish berry pudding with cream (rødgrød med fløde) is probably the most famous of all Scandinavian desserts. It surely is the national dessert of Denmark.

Gå til norsk versjon

A multitude of berries cooked with water or fruit juice thickened with potato starch resulting in a “red porridge” (rødgrød) and served with heavy cream. The national dessert of Denmark has been a staple since the late 19th century and together with ris a la mande they constitute the Danish contribution to the World heritage of desserts. Norway has no tradition of berry pudding, but we have a similar “fruit porridge” which consists of cooked and thickened rhubarb, also served with cream. These are desserts with an emotional ingredient: They remind you of childhood, the good childhood. Or how we want to remember childhood.

The scent of sunshine, vacation and freedom. Because it is hard to forget the enduring scent of boiled berries. They remind me of childhood the same way gravy from a roasted duck and pork roast do on Christmas Eve.

Thomas Herman, Danish star chef

Berry pudding is not the fanciest of desserts. It is the dessert most grandmothers made long time before creme brulé and chocolate fondant were household desserts. It is traditionally served with heavy cream, never whipped cream. The other defining trait is the use of an array of berries. It is made with at least three kinds of berries. According to the Housewife’s handbook dating back to 1903 redcurrants are important because they “yield the loveliest colour, but it is tastier with a mix of redcurrants, raspberries and blackcurrants.”

In some versions the berries are cooked until porridge. In other versions the berries are just dropped in the sauce at the end. The latter is the version I adhere to. I make the berry pudding in two phases: First I cook a flavourful syrup based on redcurrants, blackcurrants or cherries. When the cooking is finished I add strawberries and raspberries. Serve it either warm or cold, but if you serve it cold drizzle a little sugar to avoid the dessert developing a “skin” on top.

Because it is mid-July I use the berries in season: Redcurrants for colour and tartness, raspberries and strawberries for sour sweetness, making it into a dessert celebrating summer and its endless bounty.

Danish berry pudding with cream (makes 4–5)

100 g currants (red or black)
200 ml water
50 g sugar
150 g raspberries
300 g strawberries
2 tbsp maizena
50 g blanched almonds
heavy cream to serve

1. Add redcurrants (or blackcurrants), water and sugar in a pan and let simmer for 10 minutes.
2. Wash and hull the strawberries. Divide small ones into two and big ones into three.
3. Stir the maizena in a little water and pour into the pan while stirring with a whisk. It is important you pour the maizena gradually until the pudding has the consistency of thin porridge. (The pudding will thicken more as it becomes cold).
4. Remove the pudding from the heat and add the strawberries and raspberries. Serve with heavy cream in a jug.

More Danish dishes?

Rice pudding with cherries (ris a la mande)
Pork apples (æbleflæsk)
Apple trifle (pige med slør)
The open sandwich has returned from the past

The post Danish berry pudding with cream appeared first on Nordic Diner.

Strawberries with meringue and wild strawberries.

A handful of wild strawberries embracing garden strawberries. A doll-up of meringue. The loveliest strawberry dessert.

Gå til norsk versjon

Right now strawberries are on everybody’s lips. People have strawberry moustaches, and newspapers tell stories about strawberry “cocktails” you do not want to encounter. The lovely but disputed strawberries colour the Norwegian summer red with its peak in July. What is the best way to enjoy the jewels of summer? Is it Eton Mess? With panna cotta? Or the Wimbledon way with cream, which also is the preferred manner in Norway?

According to my lovely better half, there are two ways to enjoy strawberries: Au naturel or with raw meringue. I remember the first time I made lemon meringue pie. I was so disappointed. I thought the meringue should be like a pavlova – chewy and crisp, not like a mess of fluffy uncooked marshmallows. A meringue with a thin shelter of grilled crust, otherwise almost raw. I did not understand this was exactly the point.

Later on I tried an even rawer version. At the Oslo restaurant St. Lars, I had strawberries in a bay-scented syrup with fluffy, raw meringue. This time I got it.

The bitterness of the bay leaf may not be your first choice of spice to pair with strawberries, but it works well. However, here I opt for a much more local ingredient that grows in the garden right outside my window. My garden is a typical Oslo garden with patches of green in the shades of low apartment buildings. Here a few patches have escaped the tidiness of the lawn, bringing to life wild strawberries, tiny and almost hidden by weed and grass. In Norway they are called markjordbær, ground strawberries, because they grow so close to the ground.

I flavour the syrup with the wild strawberries to let their delicate flavour embrace the garden strawberries. If you are not lucky to have a patch of wild strawberries, use a bay leaf instead or go natural. Either way, the combination of strawberries and raw meringue enhances the strawberry flavour more than cream does. And if you are lactose-intolerant it sure is a good option.

P.S. If you do not want to use raw egg whites, leave the meringue for 15 minutes in the oven at 325F.

Strawberries with meringue and wild strawberries (makes 4)

Strawberries:
150 ml water
1 tbsp sugar
1–2 punnets strawberries (washed, hulled and halved)
a handful of wild strawberries (or a bay leaf)

Meringue:
2 egg whites at room temperature
100 g sugar

1. Put water and sugar in a small pan. If you go for the bay leaf syrup, add the bay leaf and boil on low heat until reduced a third, about 15 minutes. Allow to cool and add the strawberries. If you make the version with wild strawberries, let them marinate in the finished and cold syrup for 15 minutes before you add the strawberries.

2. In a clean bowl, whip the egg whites with an electric beater for at minute before adding the sugar, a spoon at a time until the mixture is thick and glossy. Best used within an hour or two.

3. Serve the berries with a doll-up of meringue and drizzle with some of the syrup.

More recipes with wonderful strawberries?

Strawberry panna cotta
Strawberry milkshake
Eton Mess, my English summer flirt

Music: Hard way home, Brandi Carlile

The post Strawberries with meringue appeared first on Nordic Diner.

Nordic blackcurrant mojito

I love exotic drinks. Drinks with names that remind me of faraway places. Caipirinha, Pina Colada and Mojito. But to some I live in an exotic place, so why not serve a mojito with nordic blackcurrants?

I recently was in London where I ate and drank at the restaurant Wahaca. Their drinks were gorgeous, one of them a mysterious red coloured sweet and sour mojito. The red drink was an Hibiscus mojito.

I remember hibiscus vividly from my vacation in Guatemala a decade ago, drinking a refreshing and cold tea named Agua de Jamaica. In Mexico hibiscus is called Flor de Jamaica and the dried flowers is considered a delicacy and often found in markets. But there are few Mexican markets in Oslo, so I had to figure out something else. Why not make a Nordic mojito using blackcurrants and redcurrants? The result is quite similar in colour and taste.

If you have some leftover blackcurrant cordial (syrup) this is perfect. Second best is to muddle the blackcurrants with sugar. Cheers. Skål!

Nordic blackcurrant mojito (makes 1)

50 ml / 1,7 oz white rum, preferably Havana Club
1 tsp sugar
½ lime
40 ml / 1,4 oz blackcurrant cordial (or a handful of blackcurrants muddled with 2 tbsp sugar)
1 sprig fresh mint leaves
soda water
ice cubes

1. Muddle the fresh mint leaves and the lime gently with the sugar to release their oils.
2. Pour over the blackcurrant cordial and the rum. Stir.
3. Add a handful of ice cubes and top with soda. Stir again. Garnish with a mint sprig.

Such a good drink needs an equally delicious companion, such as potato and beet chips.

More summer drinks?

Blackcurrant cordial (solbærsaft)
Ginger lemonade with lime and passion fruit
Rhubarb lemonade with lime

The post Nordic blackcurrant mojito appeared first on Nordic Diner.

A sky full of purple rain

One afternoon after work I hopped on my bicycle and headed towards Ekeberg. I had received the Green Card. I could enter her garden and pick all the berries I wanted. So I climbed the steep and windy roads to Ekeberg, past the villas with the great views, and found myself in Hege’s garden. My goal were the redcurrants and the purple star, the blackcurrants. The minute I started picking, the sky opened up to fill the air with rain. Was it purple rain?

During WW2, when war made oranges unattainable in Great Britain, the British government encouraged people to grow blackcurrants and distributed blackcurrant syrup to children under age two as a source of C-vitamin. More than other natural sources blackcurrants are rich in Vitamin C, even three times more than oranges. They also contain high concentrations of Magnesium, Iron, Calcium, Vitamins A and B and are full of antioxidants called anthocyanins. This is what gives blackcurrants their dark purple colour.

Try to make your own blackcurrant cordial. All you need is a pan, a muslin, bottles and some patience. And sometimes good friends or neighbours.

In this recipe I make a cordial using both blackcurrants and redcurrants. The redcurrants give an extra tart and reddish cordial. Though using about 2/3 redcurrants it is the blackcurrants that dominate the flavour.

Blackcurrant cordial is called solbærsaft in Norway.

Blackcurrant cordial (makes about 750 ml)

350 g / 12 oz blackcurrants
650 g / 23 oz redcurrants
400 ml / 13 oz water
about 300 g / 10 oz sugar

1. First, rinse the currants in water and drain well.

2. Sterilize your jars by first washing them with soap, then leaving them in the oven at 100C/212F for 15 minutes. Take them out of the oven right before you are ready to fill the jars.

3. Put the currants in a large pan with the water. Place the pan over a low heat, then gently bring to a simmer. This may take some time, even an hour. Do not stir. When it boils, turn off the heat and leave to infuse with the lid on. They are finished when the currants have changed colour.

4. Strain the currants through a muslin without pushing the berries. This will take about 10 minutes.

5. Measure the amount of liquid to find out how much sugar you need. You should add at least 1/3 part sugar to 1 liter berry liquid.

6. Return the liquid to the pan, this time with the sugar. Boil briefly, until the sugar is dissolved, about a minute.

7. Skim off the foam (optional) and pour the cordial on sterilized jars.

Music: Purple rain by Prince

For the next post I pose a riddle: What do you get when I am able to pick blackcurrants right after coming home from a trip to London? The result is a Nordic mojito

more summer drinks?

Rhubarb lemonade with lime
Ginger lemonade with lime and passion fruit
Strawberry milkshake

The post Blackcurrant cordial appeared first on Nordic Diner.

Ginger lemonade with lime and passion fruit.

Ginger is widely used in a range of beverages such as ginger tea, ginger beer or the Moscow mule cocktail. But it is also wonderful in ginger lemonade with lime or passion fruit.

Ginger has a taste that grows stronger and stronger until it tastes like chili. Lime always brings a kick to food and drinks, but if you want to add a serious tropical twist, add passion fruit.

Passion fruit is one of the most sensual fruits that grows on earth with an extraordinary scent and taste. Looks can be deceiving. The passion fruit looks ordinary, but when halved it reveals a delicate orange-yellow pulp. Look for passion fruits with a wrinkled surface.

Ginger lemonade with passion fruit. The evening I was about to photograph the drinks, it started to rain fiercely. When the rain stopped I discovered that my photo studio, i.e. the backyard, was transformed into the best location ever for shooting a drink: This photograph is literally soaking wet.

This is a simple everyday lemonade that takes you far away. Serve in a jug or in individual glasses.

Ginger lemonade with lime and passion fruit (makes 4 or one jug):

100 g / 3,5 oz sugar
100 ml / 3,4 oz water
4 cm / 1,6 inches piece of fresh ginger
2 limes
2 passion fruits (halved)
sparkling water
ice cubes

1. Peel the ginger and slice thinly. Leave in a pan with the sugar and water. Boil for 10 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat and allow to stand for about two hours. Then add the juice of the 1,5 limes. (The rest of the lime is garnish).Pour the sirup in a glass, about one third of the glass. Add lots of ice cubes.

2. Depending upon which drink you want: For the lime version, add the remaining lime (in slices) and top with sparkling water. For the passion version, add the passion fruit halves (or scoop out the pulp) and top with sparkling water. Stir well.

3. If you want to make a jug, add the sirup, lime slices and passion fruit halves, ice cubes and top with sparkling water.

More summer drinks?

Rhubarb lemonade with lime

The post Ginger lemonade with lime and passion fruit appeared first on Nordic Diner.

Strawberry milkshake.

Strawberry milkshake made with fresh strawberries and vanilla ice cream is a real treat in the summer.

The Norwegian food writer Henry Notaker once said “Sugar is the Americans’ favourite spice”. I guess he had ketchup on his mind, but you could also add marshmallows in the fruit salad or frying bacon with sugar to make candied bacon. Then there is the love of ice cream. Serving strawberries with ice cream to make milkshake instead of strawberries and cream. Putting ice cream in soda drinks. Having cookie dough or brownies in the ice cream. I might as well admit it: I want it all! When I first arrived in the U.S. I bought the biggest cookie I could see.

But there is another America. Such as the Creole kitchen of New Orleans, the Tex-Mex kitchen of Texas, soul food of the Afro-Americans  or the super food of California. America has small villages like Woodstock where the only supermarket is organic and tiny  seafood restaurants on the coast of Maine serving chowder (soup) and lobsters. You think of fast food? I think of slow food. Barbecued ribs roasted for more than 8 hours. And the very best ice cream from Ben & Jerry’s, ice cream that has been fair-trade for decades.

If you leave out the ice cream, you get the liquado. This is the Latin-American type of milkshake, only healthier. Made only with milk, fruit and sugar, liquado is closer to the name – milkshake!

American food is the ultimate comfort food

And the ultimate comfort place is the diner with its most celebrated beverage: The milkshake. Like the milkshake that has existed since 1900, my journey also started long ago. I do not know when but sometimes in my childhood, a desire coming from the American films I watched on television. One of them being the Thorn Birds, an American TV-series from 1983 starring Richard Chamberlain. I sent him a fan letter, receiving a signed photograph. I did not know at that time that he was gay (well, I did not know that I was either).

But it was still years before I could go to there myself. I had to turn 30 years old. But then I really did it. Landed on American soil at JFK, New York and finally saw the skyline of Manhattan. It was the summer of 2001 and two months before the towers of World Trade Center were to collapse. I made it to the bookstore on the ground level of WTC, inhaling the views from Brooklyn Bridge and having lunch in Central Park. Then taking the bus up north to the little village of Woodstock, forever associated with hippies and the Woodstock Festival that actually took place in White Lake in the neighbouring county. Here I ate my very first American cookie at the café Heaven and got married, before jumping on the train to go, like so many before me, west. To San Diego, Santa Monica and San Fransisco. Dreaming the California dream.

Later I have come back twice. The second time a journey by car from New York to Southern Florida. The third time driving from Memphis to New Orleans to New York. Most of the time I have had decent or wonderful meals. Be it in a backyard in Brooklyn, in an ice cream parlour in Kingston NY, in a live blues club in Memphis or at home as a guest.

The milkshake was invented around 1900 with its predecessor dating back to 1885.

Strawberry milkshake (makes 4):

1 punnet strawberries (500 g / 17 oz strawberries)
4 large scoops of vanilla ice cream
200 ml / 7 oz milk
2 tbsp sugara (optional)

1. Wash and hull the strawberries and pat dry. All ingredients should be cold, so put the strawberries in the freezer for an hour.

2. Assemble the strawberries in a large blender. Add the milk and blend well. Add the ice cream and blend until smooth.

Music: Chris Isaac.

Also with strawberries:

Eton mess, my English summer flirt
Panna cotta with strawberries

The post Strawberry milkshake appeared first on Nordic Diner.

Raspberries with cookies and custard.

Raspberries are still standing in the shadow of their bigger brother, strawberries. Most Norwegians eat them as jam. But close your eyes and taste. They taste like sweet lemons.

What is your relationship with raspberries?

I used to like sweet desserts, desserts with caramel and lots of sugar. Desserts like deep-fried bananas or brownies. But something has changed. It started with my girlfriend. While I had a sugar tooth, she was more into desserts with a sour kick. So I embarked on a journey one summer promising that I make her ten different desserts with berries. I tried desserts ranging from the classic Danish Rødgrød med fløde (cooked berries with cream) and Swedish pancake torte to Britain’s Eton mess. Since that time I have made many more berry desserts.

The Norwegian raspberry season is in July and August – now is the time to use them straight from the fields. But do try to eat them as more than raspberry jam. Serve them with custard in a raspberry jam jar.

“Pastry cream or crème patissière is to chefs what concrete is to builders” (French chef Raymond Blanc)

Pastry cream or custard (vaniljekrem) is one of the most versatile creams in every chef’s kitchen. It is served as a filling in a whole range of pies and pastries, including “Verdens beste”, the cake considered Norway’s best cake. In contrast to custard sauce (vaniljesaus) it is also easy to make. So try pastry cream next time instead of whipped cream.

For this dessert I serve the raspberries with havreflarn, a Norwegian oat biscuit

It is sweet and chewy and a cross between an American oat cookie and a French tuile. Make a batch of these Norwegian cookies and store in a box for later. They are accessories in your kitchen’s dessert pantry – put them on top of ice creams, strawberries and whipped cream – or bake them in the oven with plums or peaches. Like accessories in clothing they add the little vow factor to your presentation. Havreflarn  taste like they have been made by the best French pastry chef – but they are easy as pie to make!

Raspberries with custard in a jam jar.

Havreflarn (Norwegian oat biscuits) (makes 14)

100 g / 3,5 oz butter
100 g/ 3,5 oz sugar
100 g / 3,5 oz oats
1 organic egg
25 g / 1 oz flour (gluten-free or ordinary flour)
1 tsp baking powder

1. Preheat the oven to 175C/350F/Gas 4. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.

2. Melt the butter in a pan and mix with the oats. As with most cakes, you have to be strict about the measurements, in this case particularly the butter.

3. Add the baking powder to the flour and mix well. Whisk the egg and sugar pale and fluffy (eggedosis) with an electric hand mixer. Mix the oats with the whisked eggs and gently fold in the flour.

4. With a tablespoon, place the batter on the baking sheet leaving some space around them. Bake for about 6-7 minutes until golden. When finished, leave to cool.

The raspberries

500 g / 18 oz raspberries
3-4 tbsp sugar

Mix the raspberries with the sugar and crush them slightly with a fork, leaving some for garnish.

Custard or pastry cream (recipe by Eivind Hellstrøm):

200 ml / 6,8 oz double or heavy cream (Norwegian 38 % kremfløte)
300 ml / 10 oz whole milk
1 vanilla pod
4 egg yolks
50 g / 1,8 oz sugar
4 tbsp cornflour (corn starch or maizena)

1. Cut the vanilla pod in two and split lengthways. Scrape out the vanilla seeds and place both seeds and the pod in a small pan with the milk and the double cream. Bring to boil and take off the heat and leave to infuse with the lid on.

2. Separate the eggs and leave the yolks in a big bowl. Whisk together the egg yolks, cornflour and sugar for two minutes with an electric hand mixer.

3. Add the hot milk while whisking with the electric mixer. Then pour the mixture back into the pan. Bring to boil while you continuously stir with a spatula. Boil for at least 1 minute. Leave the pan in cold water if you want the custard to cool down quickly. When cold, remove the vanilla pod.

You can always spot true vanilla: Watch for the vanilla spots.

To serve: Use a glass or a jam jar, spoon a little bit of raspberries into the glass, then some custard. Repeat. Garnish with a few raspberries and the oat biscuit (either crumbled on top or divided into two).

P.S: Do not throw away the egg whites. Use them to make another berry dessert, Eton mess.

Music: Lana Del Rey’s Gods and monsters

If you have leftover oatmeal cookies, put them on plums:

Roasted plums with cookie topping (havreflarn)

The post Raspberries with custard appeared first on Nordic Diner.

Eton mess with strawberries, cream and meringue.

I am sorry tiramisu and crème brûlée. I am messing with someone else. In the summer I long for strawberries and Eton mess.

How many English desserts have you heard of? Britain has many delicious desserts, yet I dare say few people outside Britain has ever heard of them. The British dessert is the shy guy in the corner never being asked to dance.

Typical British dessert

Eton mess is probably the most typical British dessert after strawberries and cream. It has traditionally been served at the annual cricket match between Eton and Harrow, two of Britain’s most prestigious boarding schools. There are only four boys-only boarding schools in Britain. Eton and Harrow both belong to this exclusive club. Eton College was founded in 1441 and is situated near Windsor which is home to Windsor Castle. At Eton boys from 13 to 18 years old attend before entering Oxford or Cambridge.

Eton’s arch-enemy is Harrow School from the town of Harrow in northwest London. While Eton has educated 19 prime ministers, authors like George Orwell and the poet Percy Shelley. Harrow may not equal Eton in the number of prime ministers, but Harrow has educated the greatest of them all, Winston Churchill. Eton and Harrow are called public schools – a confusing term that might make you believe these are ordinary schools when they indeed are private schools.

Fagging was a tradition at public schools until the 1980s

Fagging is a system where younger students (called fags) act as servant to older students. The author Roald Dahl who also attended public school recalls in his autobiography ”Boy” how he in the winter had to warm the toilet seat for older boys at Repton. Roald Dahl had to choose between two boarding schools, Repton and Marlborough, and in his familiar style he chose the former because it was easier to pronounce. Public schools also had a tradition with punishment, e.g. flogging day at Eton, a tradition that was not ended until 1984.

No wonder the boys needed respite!

A jolly good cricket game and a jolly good dessert. Eton mess consists of strawberries, cream and meringue mixed into a ”mess”. You can use many types of summer fruit but strawberries is the most traditional choice. Try it also with slightly poached rhubarb or crushed raspberries.

Eton mess is the perfect dessert: It is easy, delicious and clever. In many dishes like custard, ice cream, mayonnaise, béarnaise or spaghetti carbonara, you only use the egg yolks which means that you have to throw away half the egg. Instead of wasting food, whip the whites with sugar to make meringue. Eat immediately or store in a box for later and you will have a delicious dessert in no time. Once the meringue is done, Eton mess is as easy as whipping cream. In Norway meringue is known by the name ”a girl’s kiss” (pikekyss).

Eton Mess (makes 3)

3 big meringues or 6 small ones
1 punnet strawberries (500 g / 17 oz strawberries)
300 ml / 10 oz double or heavy cream (similar to Norwegian 38 % kremfløte)
1 + 1 tbsp sugar

Meringue (makes 6 big meringues):
2 egg whites
100 g / 3,5 oz sugar

1a. Start with the meringue. Preheat the oven to 130C/260F/Gas 1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Tip the egg whites in a clean bowl. Beat them on medium speed with an electric whisk for about a minute. Then continue whisking while you add the sugar, a spoon at a time, incorporating the sugar before you add the next spoon. Do not over-beat. When finished the mixture should be stiff enough to make “soft peaks”.

1b. Scoop of a heaped spoon and with another spoon place the meringue on the baking sheet. Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes. The meringues should be chewy on the inside and crispy on the outside. They will keep in an airtight tin for several weeks.

2. Wash and hull the strawberries. Purée ¾ of the strawberries in a blender with one tablespoon sugar. The remaining strawberries should be used as garnish so cut them in half and mix with the rest of the sugar.

3. Break the meringue into large pieces. Whip the double cream and fold in the meringue. Finally, fold the strawberry purée into the meringue-cream to make a marbled effect. Spoon in individual serving bowls with the remaining strawberries on top.

More desserts?

Panna cotta with strawberries

The post Strawberry Eton mess appeared first on Nordic Diner.