I compose menus based on old cook books and prepare food that might have been served in Gudbrands-dalen in the 1800s. These books reveal a use of herbs, spices and vegetables that is mostly forgotten in Norwegian cooking today. My mission is to revive these old recipes for the palatable pleasure of the guests at Per Gynt Gaarden.
Foreigners who traveled through the area at that time describe a simple and fairly basic cuisine, mostly consisting of flatbread; dried and cured meat; milk-based dishes like soups and different porridges; and otherwise the common elements of traditional Norwegian cuisine, like potatoes and herring. These travelers would occasionally drop by unannounced and had to settle with whatever was available, usually food that could be stored for a long time in dried condition. Planned meals would more commonly be based on fresh meat or fish.
The time of year would determine the menu. There were no fresh foods in the fridge or fresh imported foods like we're used to today. Potatoes and other root crops were stored in cellars, and were portioned out to last until the next fall. As soon as spring arrived, however, fresh produce was readily available: Both caraway and nettle was used for soups, and rhubarb grew quickly in spring, making it a good choice for soups, porridges and cake stuffing. These are the premises for the menu below.
It is based on a planned meal, made only with ingredients we know were available in the Fron area around the time of Ibsen. Again, the season would largely determine the menu: If the meal was in the fall, one would have fresh meat from larger game, like moose or reindeer, as well as of different wild birds like grouse and of rabbits.
If the meal was set just before Christmas or in spring, the menu would consist of fresh meat, like beef, pork and lamb. A meal in the summertime would have more cured meats, and more fresh fish. Meat could be preserved by canning, but in the 1800s, canning was a complicated and time-consuming process, with tin boxes filled with meat before sealed and warmed up.
Now, Imagine Henrik Ibsen coming to the farm to absorb the atmosphere there, while writing a new play set in the Fron area. He might have been served the following menu:
Ibsen traveled to Gudbrandsdalen in the 1860s. Using ingredients available at the time, here is how I would have had prepared dinner:
Appetizer
Caraway Soup
The caraway is gathered, rinsed and chopped. Butter and wheat flour is heated, and veal broth is added. The soup boils for 10 minutes before the caraway is added. Add some salt and pepper, and serve with half a boiled egg in each soup bowl.
First Main Course
Canned Grouse with Mashed Potatoes
Grouses that are canned need to be flawless. They are plucked, divided into smaller pieces and heat-treated. After that, they are put along with the broth into cans, until the cans are sealed and heat-treated again. They're removed from the cans before preparing the dish, dipped in sour cream. They are cooked on a skillet until brown, and kept warm as the sauce is prepared. The broth from the can is blended with cream. The sauce is boiled and strained. The grouse meat is put on a plate, and the sauce poured on top.
Garnish: Mashed potatoes and boiled celery roots. The mashed potatoes are made by pushing potatoes through a strainer, and adding cream until the desired thickness is reached. Aalt and pepper added to taste.
Second Main Course
Fried Mountain Trout with Flatbread
Use fresh Mountain Trout of average size. Gut it thoroughly and dry it in a piece of cloth. Make small incisions in its skin, and sprinkle a little salt and pepper on the inside. Cook the trout until it is golden and the bones let go. Serve immediately with flatbread and whipped sour cream with shredded horseradish.
Dessert
Rhubarb Omelet
5 egg yolks are stirred with 2-3 tablespoons of sugar, 2 ½ ounces of melted butter and 12 ounces of milk or cream. Add 2 ½ ounces of either wheat or potato flour. The 5 egg whites are whipped and added in last. 6-10 rhubarb stems are rinsed, diced and boiled with sugar until it becomes porridge, but not for too long. Add in a little more sugar to taste. Cook in a pudding tin at maximum heat, and serve with cane sugar.