Christmas time in Norway is one time of year that really shines as far as Norwegian culture and tradition. If you are attending a Christmas dinner in a Norwegian house, consider yourself in for a special treat. If not, don’t be intimidated to treat yourself and try preparing some of Norway’s Christmas dishes.

Norwegian Christmas food varies by geography and by family. In Eastern Norway, where there are more pig farms, ribbe and meat balls are more common. In Western Norway, where there are more sheep farms, pinnekjøtt (leg of lamb) is more common. In northern Norway, where fishing is a larger industry, you will probably find lutefisk on the table. For all Norwegians, there will probably be a great variety of  Christmas cookies or julekake (Christmas bread).

The big Christmas meal is celebrated with family on julaften (Christmas Eve), December 24. On første juledag (Christmas Day), December 25, many people have a large brunch or early dinner for family and friends. Christmas meals take a lot longer than normal Norwegian meals. In contrast to most other Norwegian occasions, Christmas is a time to dress to impress. Suits and semi-formal to formal wear are appropriate. You can read more about julebord (Christmas work parties) here and Christmas in Norway here.

Christmas food in Norway isn’t reserved only for Christmas dinner; it is generally eaten for special dinners throughout December and most of the mørketid (the dark winter months).

MENY (Menu)

Christmas dinner menus in Norway may include any combination of the following dishes.

Ribbe (ribs, roasted pork belly), served with surkaal (cabbage, sauerkraut), boiled potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, brusselsprouts, and brown sauce

Pinnekjøtt (salted and dried sheep ribs), served with potatoes, bacon, and mashed kaalrabi

Lutefisk, served with potatoes, and bacon

Julepølse (Pork sausage made with powdered ginger, cloves, mustard seeds and nutmeg. Served steamed or roasted)

Medisterkaker (large meatballs made from a mix of pork meat and pork fat), served with gravy

Rødkål (sweet and sour red cabbage), as a side dish

Kålrabistappe (purée of rutabaga), as a side dish to pinnekjøtt

Desserts include karamellpudding, riskrem (rice with whipped cream and red berry sauce),  cherry mousse, or Multekrem (cream with cloudberries, orange berries that look like raspberries), pepperkake – gingerbread-like spice cookies, and julegrøt.

Drinks include gløgg, a Christmas drink made of red wine, raisins, and chopped almonds.

Main Courses

Ribbe

Ribbe, Norwegian pork ribs, are distinct because of the way the rind is prepared. The rind is scored to make a tiny grid pattern, and rubbed with salt before the meat is cooked. The ribs are then roasted in a pan with a rack, wrapped in tin foil. The pan is filled with water to help steam and soften the rind.

Ribbe Recipe

1-1.6 kg pork ribs

Saw through the bone so the ribs can be pulled apart for serving. Score the rind. Rub with salt and pepper 1 or 2 days before roasting. Pour 2 dl water into the roasting dish and cover the ribs with foil. Roast in the middle of the oven at 230 C for 30-40 minutes. Remove the foil and lower to 200 degrees C. Roast spare ribs for a further 1 1/2 hours and midribs for a further 2-2 1/2 hours. Leave for 20 minutes before carving. Serve with pork sausage patties, or Christmas sausages.

Pinnekjøtt

Pinnekjøtt is originally from the west coast, but is now popular all over. 31 % of Norwegians say they eat pinnekjøtt for their family Christmas dinner.

Pinnekjøtt is racks of lamb or mutton that cured in brine or with salt. They are then hung to dry. Sometimes the racks are smoked prior to curing (traditionally this was done to better preserve the meat for the drying process). Before cooking, the racks are cut between the bone and soaked in water to rinse out the salt and rehydrate the meat. After soaking the meat is steamed with a small amount of water. A layer of birch twigs are placed in the bottom of the pan. Pinnekjøt literally means stick meat, in reference to these birch twigs.

Pinnekjøtt Recipe

Pinnekjøtt has a good deal of bone fat, so it is best to allow about 500 g per person if it is served on its own; if it is served together with sausages, allow 350 g per person.

1-2 kg Pinnekjøtt
Water

Divide ribs into chops by cutting along the rib bones, and soak the pieces in cold water overnight. Lay a wire rack or birch twigs (stripped of their bark) on the bottom of a saucepan. The twigs should be laid crossways so as to form a lattice. Fill the water up to the height of the rack or twigs and place the meat in even layers on top. Bring the water to a boil and steam the meat until it is tender (about 2 hours), taking care that the saucepan does not boil dry. Many people say that pinnekjøtt is best browned under the grill or fried for a few minutes after being steamed. Pinnekjøtt is served with sausages, boiled potatoes, mashed kålrabi, the cooking juices, and mustard or cranberry sauce.

Lutefisk

Lutefisk is cod that has been cured in lye. Lutefisk is made by mixing lye of potash and water and soaking dried fish in it. The fish becomes soft and jelly-like. Lutefisk may be served with mashed peas, potatoes, bacon, mustard, and goat cheese.

Lutefisk Recipe

About 2 kg lutefisk
1 l water
3/4 dl salt

Put the fish pieces in the boiling salt water and boil. Watch carefully so as not to overcook; lutefisk cooks quickly. Opinions differ on what to serve with lutefisk. One delicious suggestion is small pieces of fried bacon, the hot bacon fat, French mustard, and boiled potatoes.

Julepølse

(Recipie from Bodil Nordjore from the TV series Matlyst.)

1 kg pork (svinekjøtt)
200 g beef (storfekjøtt)
1 dash cream (fløte)
.5-1 l milk (melk)
.5 tbs cardamom (kardemomme)
.5 tbs  nutmeg (muskatblomme)
.5 tbs white pepper (hvit pepper)
.5 tbs salt
pig intentine (svinetarm)

Blend the pork and salt in a food processor. Mix until the meat has a sticky consistency. Add and mix the beef. Next add the milk and cream. Finally add the spices to your taste. Muskat Nutmeg and cardamom are the secret ingredient to julepølse. Use pig intestine to make the sausages. Julepølse are shaped in rings. The sausage should sit for at least 20 min. before you cook them. Cook the sausage in a grill pan until brown.

Sides

Rødkål

Rødkål, sweet red cabbage, is a good side dish for pork, duck, and turkey, and typical to have with Christmas food.

Rødkål Recipe

750 g red cabbage (rødkål)
2 apples (eple)
1 ts salt
2.5 dl meat broth (kjøttkraft)
2 ts vinegar (eddik)
2 ts sugar (sucker)

Cut the cabbage thinly cut the apples into small boats. Lay the cabbage and apples in layers in a pot with salt, broth, and vinegar. Boil, then cook on low heat for 45 min. Add sugar to taste. If you like, you can stir in some fat from the ribbe, or other meat, before serving.

Mashed Kålrabi

Kålrabi is another typical accompaniment to meat on a Norwegian table. You can read more about kålrabi and find more great recipes here.

Mashed Kålrabi Recipe

1 kg rutabaga (kålrabi)
water
white pepper
salt
cooking juices from pinnekjøtt

Peel and slice the kålrabi and cook until tender in lightly salted water, 30-60 min. Pour off the water and mash. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and cooking juices from pinnekjøtt.

Alternately, you can use the following recipe to make a mix of kålrabi and potatoes.
Peel the potatoes and kålrabi. Cut the kålrabi in large pieces and cook until soft in lightly salted water for about 30 min. Add the potatoes and cook until everything is soft, 15-30 more min. Strain out the water and return the pot to the stove to remove excess water. Mash. Add butter, salt and pepper to taste. If it is too thick, add a small amount of cream.

Cookies, cakes and other Desserts

Christmas cookies are made and shared throughout December.

Pepperkake

Pepperkaker are everywhere in December.  Their closest cousin would be gingerbread cookies, but peperkake is thinner, and a slightly different recipe. Pepperkake may be cut into shapes with cookie cutters or used to build a pepperkakehus (pepperkake house).

Pepperkake Recipe

(by Fredrik Nygaard)


100g/4oz/1 stick of butter (smør)
200g/8oz/1 cup of sugar (sukker)
200g/8oz/1 cup of blond syrup such as Caro Corn Syrup (lys sirup)
2 eggs
2 tea spoons of ground cinnamon (kanel)
2 tea spoons of ground cloves (nellik)
2 tea spoons of ground ginger (ingefær)
600g/24oz/6 cups of flour (hvit hvetemel)

Melt, mix and cool down the butter, sugar and syrup. Mix in the eggs. Add and blend in the spices. Add and mix in the flour to a hard dough. Leave in a cool place for 24 hours. Bring out the dough the next day, roll out and cut it into shapes before baking. Break off handfuls of the dough and roll out to a thin (2mm or almost see through) wafers. Use plenty of flour to prevent the dough from sticking to the table. Use traditional cookie-shape-cutters or a knife to cut cookies into hearts, men, women, pigs, stars and other Christmas motives. Put the cookies on a greased/non-stick baking sheet, or use non-stick paper, and bake for 5 to 7 minutes on 180 degrees C. Make sure all the cookies on a single baking sheet are equally thick, or else some may burn while others will be too raw. The cookies have a nice healthy tanned look when they are baked correctly.

Krumkake

Krumkake are thin cone-shaped cookes. They are actually more like pressed pancakes that are rolled into a cone while they are still hot. They can be eaten plain, or served with cream and fruit.

Krumkake Recipe

To make authentic krumkakes, you need a krumkake iron to press the cookie and imprint it with a pattern. If you don’t have one, you could also use a crêpe pan.

4 Eggs
250 g (9 oz.) sugar (sucker)
125 ml (1/2 cup) melted butter (smør)
250 ml (1 cup) cream (kremfløte)
375 ml (1 1/2 cups) flour (mel)
1 tsp. cardamom (kardemomme)

Beat the eggs until light. Add the sugar, butter, cream, flour and cardamom. Beat well after each addition. Add the cardamom before the flour is thoroughly mixed in. Allow to stand for 30 minutes to one hour before using. Drop a spoonful of the mixture in the centre of the iron; close and cook for approximately one minute. Turn the iron over and cook for another minute or so. When the krumkake is golden brown, remove from the iron and, while still warm, roll into the shape of a scroll or cone while it is still flexible. Repeat the process with the rest of the batter.

Sandkaker

Another favorite cookie is “Sandkaker”. True to its name, Sandkaker has a consistency similar to a scone and leaves a lot of crumbs. It may be made in metal tins to form mini cups, in round balls, or other shapes.

Sandkaker Recipe

(from http://recipecurio.com)


3/4 cup powdered sugar (melis)
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened (smør)
1 egg yolk
1 cup all-purpose flour (hvetmel)
1/3 cup finely chopped almonds, without skin (mandler)
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom (kardemomme)

In mixer bowl, cream powdered sugar and butter or margarine till light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolk. Stir together flour, nuts, and cardamom. Blend into creamed mixture. Pinch off a small ball (about 2 1/2 teaspoons) of dough; place in center of a 2 1/2-inch sand cookie mold or tiny foilware cup. With thumb, press dough evenly and very thinly over bottom and up sides. Place molds on cookie sheet. Bake in 350° oven for 12 to 15 minutes or till lightly browned. Cool. To remove, invert molds and tap lightly. If desired, fill tarts with jam or jelly. Makes 2 1/2 dozen cookies.

Karamellpudding

Karamellpudding Recipe

(Translated from matprat.no)


2 cup sugar to caramel (sukker)
6 cups milk (melk)
3 cups whipping cream (kremfløte)
5 tablespoons sugar (sukker)
8 eggs
1 vanilla bean or vanilla sugar (vaniljestang eller vaniljesukker)

Melt 2 cups sugar in a pan while stirring well to thick liquid caramel. Make sure that you do not burn the sugar. Pour into a baking dish (about 1.5 l). Cut the vanilla pod in half and scrape out the contents with a knife. Cook the milk, cream, sugar and vanilla pod and contents of pod. Cool. Beat eggs lightly together and add the cooled milk mixture while stirring. Strain mixture into baking pan. Place pan with the pudding into a deep roasting pan and pour water up in the roasting pan up to 1 / 3 of the way up. Bake at 120 ° C, approx. 2 hours until the pudding is stiff. Cool. Serve with whipped cream and caramel sauce. Garnish caramel pudding with seasonal berries or fruit.

Multekrem

Multe (cloudberry) is rare and difficult to harvest, making it a more expensive berry. Multekrem is multe with whipped cream and is popular on all special occasions, not only Christmas.

Risengrynsgrøt or Julegrøt

There is a Christmas story about a little gnome (fjøsnissen) who plays tricks on children if they don’t leave him a bowl of rice porridge (risengrynsgrøt) in the barn for him, where he is charged with guarding farm and the animals. Even today, some families leave out a bowl grøt. Risengrynsgrøt is a traditional dish on the 23 or December, lillejulafen, or for lunch on the 24th. There is an almond in one person’s bowl, and the one who finds it gets a prize. Be careful not to bite too hard when you are eating this dish!

Julegrøt Recipe

4 dl water (vann)
3 dl  grøt rice, short grain rice (grøtris)
ca. 1 1/2 l whole milk (helmelk)
1 1/2 ts salt
100 g butter (smør)
sugar and cinnamon (sukker og kanel)

Cook the rice and water for about 10 minutes. Add the milk and boil another 40 minutes, or until the porridge is thick. Season with salt. Serve with a lump of butter, sugar, and cinnamon. Remember to add an almond to one bowl and have a gift for the one who finds the almond!

Rømmegrøt

Rømmegrøt is a kind another type of porridge made from sour cream instead of rice. The sour cream is boiled for a few minutes, and then flour is added. The mixture is again allowed to boil while it is stirred vigorously so that the butterfat separates and can be removed. Once the butterfat has been removed and set aside, more flour is added along with scalded milk. Salt and sugar may be added as well, and the porridge is cooked for another five to ten minutes. The rømmegrøt is then ready to be eaten, and is served warm with the butterfat, cinnamon, and sugar.

Julebrød

Julebrød is one of the most popular Christmas cakes. It is actually a sweet bread with raisins, candied citrus peel, and cardamom.

Julebrød Recipe

(recipe by: Güri Wuellner)


1 package active dry yeast (gjær)
½ cup butter (smør)
½ tsp salt
1 cup milk, scalded (milk)
1 slightly beaten egg
¼ cup warm water
½ cup sugar (sucker)
½ tsp cardamom (kardemomme)
4½-5 cups flour (mel)
½ cup raisins (rosiner)
½ cup citron, diced
½ cup walnuts.broken up (valnøtt)

Soften yeast in warm water, combine butter, sugar, salt, cardamom and milk. Add 2 cups flour, beat well. Add softened yeast, egg and raisins, citron and walnuts. Add enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. Place on a lightly floured surface, knead until smooth (about 10 minutes). Shape dough into a ball. Place in a lightly greased bowl. Cover and let rise until it doubles in size. Punch down. Transfer again to a lightly floured surface, divide into two balls. Cover the dough with a bowl and let the dough rest for 10 minutes. Shape each ball to fit into a greased bread pan. Cover and let rise until it doubles in size. Beat 1 egg slightly and brush over loaves before baking. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until done. Remove from pan and let cool on wire rack.

Christmas Drinks

Juleøl

Juleøl, special Christmas beer, is brewed for Christmas. Almost every brewery makes their own Christmas beer, specially for the holidays.

Aquavit

Aquavit is a potato-based liquor and the Norwegian national drink. Aquavit is said to be a digestive, and goes well with heavy meals, like Christmas dinner.

Gløgg

Gløgg is mulled wine. It can also be made non-alcoholic with fruit juice. It is made with red wine, sugar, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves, and bitter orange. Sometimes spirits like vodka, akvavit, or brandy are added.

Gløgg Recipie

(translated from tine.no)


1 l red wine (rødvin)
4 whole cloves (hele nellik)
1 cinnamon stick (kanel)
1 whole piece of ginger (hel ingefær)
3 dl brown sugar (brunt sukker)
1 dl raisins (rosiner)
1 dl chopped almonds (mandler)

Mix the wine, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, and brown sugar together. Warm up slowly, do not boil. Serve with raisins and chopped almonds.

I hope this article will inspire you to try to make something from the Norwegian tradition, or at least be able to identify the spread like a pro if you are attending a Christmas dinner at a Norwegian’s house. Whatever you are eating, we hope you enjoy your holiday season in Norway. Vi ønsker dere en god jul fra Stavanger Expats!

You can find more information on Christmas in Norway in the articles below. If you have a Norwegian Christmas food tradition you would like to share please feel free to post it!

Read more about Christmas in Norway
Read more about Christmas shopping in Stavanger
Read more about Christmas traditions in Norway