Olympic Feasts : Norske Exposure

On a recent winter morning, when the temperature is double digits below zero and the streets are waist-high in shimmery, silver snow, Bergliot Norvoll’s south Minneapolis kitchen is warm and fragrant from bread baking. She takes a quick peek at the loaves in the oven and talks about life, lefse and lutefisk.

Norvoll, who is nicknamed Bitten (“They think Bergliot is a man, you know”) was raised in Narvik, a Norwegian seaport about 150 miles north of the Arctic Circle, where women once spent days traveling from home to home making rounds of lefse --a flatbread that resembles a flour tortilla--for the fishermen of the house. Each man provided his own food on the boat, and the lefse was stacked in steamer trunks along with other provisions and lugged on board to be rationed while at sea. The fishing was good back when Norvoll was a girl, and the men always arrived home with plenty of catch left over to feed their families.

It wasn’t until she married Torbjorn Norvoll in 1950 that she seriously considered moving to America. By then the couple was living in Oslo and things had not yet gotten back to normal after wartime occupation by the Nazis. Food was still scarce and there was a tremendous housing shortage. “We had just married and would have had to wait for at least two years to get an apartment,” says Norvoll, “so we figured we’d come to America for a short time, make a pile of money and then come back home.”

The couple first settled in the small town of Fosston, Minn., where it was even colder than Norway and where Torbjorn had an uncle who owned a bakery. The Norvolls weren’t alone. So many Norwegians have migrated to Minnesota that the state now has a staffed Norwegian consulate. (A Canadian consulate is the only other one in Minnesota.) Norvoll, who had spent a year at hotel school and then another year at husmor (housewife’s) school in Norway, helped with the baking. It wasn’t long before they realized they were never going to get rich. About the same time, it dawned on them that they wanted to stay here.

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That’s when they moved to Minneapolis, where Norvoll got a job cooking at Northwest Airlines. “Airline food was much better then,” she says. “We made everything from scratch in Northwest’s kitchens. I remember one day we roasted 15 turkeys.”

To supplement her income, Norvoll also catered on weekends and taught Norwegian cooking classes at the Minneapolis Technical Institute. “I’m just kind of an ambitious person,” she says, “and working keeps you healthy.”

And what exactly is Norwegian food? Even those with Scandinavian roots have trouble differentiating between Swedish and Norwegian cuisines. Because of their close proximity, the growing seasons and climates are much the same. It’s all white food, right?

“The crops are pretty much the same,” says Norvoll, “but each country has its own tradition. For instance, though many pastry shapes and tools are the same, and most Scandinavians use a lot of cardamom, Norvoll says that Norwegians tend to use a lot more almond flavoring.

And while Swedes and Norwegians share a love for lutefisk (lewd-uh-fisk)--the translucent rubbery dish created by soaking cod in salt and then in a solution of lye--only in Norway is it typically steamed and then slathered in butter. In Sweden, the fish is served in a cream sauce.

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“I love it,” says Norvoll. “My grandfather used to make it all the time, and so do I.” Her husband, however, was not a fan of the fish. “He had never eaten lutefisk before he came (to the U. S.),” says Norvoll. “Whenever I would make it, he would wrinkle his nose and say, ‘In Norway we had good fish.’ ”

Norvoll is retired now, and her husband has passed away. Yet she is busier than ever. “Sometimes it’s a bit too much,” she says, shaking her head as she is reminded of her hectic social life, most of which seems to center around activities with Norwegian groups. On sub-zero winter mornings, when it’s too cold to be outdoors for more than a few minutes, you’ll find Norvoll walking the corridors of Mall of America with other members of a Norwegian hiking club. She also belongs to several other Norwegian clubs, including Sons of Norway.

Lefse and seafood still play a part in her life. She regularly turns out at least three kinds of lefse and prepares fish several times a week. “Whenever anyone comes to my house to eat, they expect seafood,” she says. “Only nowadays fish tastes merely OK.” It’s just not as tasty as what she used to eat when growing up in Norway.

Norvoll also loves to bake. “Decorating is my cup of tea,” she says. “My grandchildren don’t think it’s their birthday unless I make them blotkake (Norwegian birthday cake).” She makes all her own bread and thinks nothing of getting out her krumkake iron to make the fancy, thin roll-up cookies, or maybe whip up a batch of hjortebakkels (Norwegian doughnuts). “When you make fresh doughnuts,” she says, “there really isn’t anything better.”

Maybe that’s why there’s always someone dropping by for a chat, endless cups of coffee and a little lunch. (In Minnesota, lunch is eaten at least three times a day: before dinner (what most Southern Californians consider lunch), after dinner and after the evening supper.)

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“In Norway we went to each other’s houses all the time for coffee or whatever, just to get together,” Norvoll says. “Then we came here and found other Norwegians and just kind of grouped together.”

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Hjortebakkels are smaller and richer than American cake doughnuts. “Your doughnuts have too much sugar, too much vanilla,” moans Norvoll. “Oh, vanilla, you don’t find a cookie here unless it has vanilla in it.”

NORWEGIAN CAKE DOUGHNUTS (Hjortebakkels)

8 eggs

2 cups sugar

8 cups flour

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup whipping cream

1/8 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

Juice and zest 1 lemon

2 tablespoons Cognac

Sugar and cardamom, mixed

Beat eggs until lemon-colored. Add sugar, flour, butter, whipping cream, baking powder, baking soda, lemon juice and zest and Cognac. Mix until stiff dough forms. Let dough stand overnight.

Form into roll as big around as your finger. Cut into 3-inch lengths and form circles by overlapping ends. Or roll out 1/4-inch thick and cut with lightly floured doughnut cutter. Deep-fry at 350 degrees, turning frequently until puffed and brown. Sprinkle with sugar and cardamom to taste. Makes 30 doughnuts.

Each doughnut contains about:

229 calories; 52 mg sodium; 70 mg cholesterol; 6 grams fat; 38 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams protein; 0.11 gram fiber.

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Norvoll, who watches her diet, swears by this high-fiber bread. She often brings a loaf with her to Sons of Norway get-togethers. “I think it’s important to cook healthy,” she says. “People here don’t diet, they just talk about it.”

NORWEGIAN HEALTH BREAD (Helsebrod)

3 tablespoons yeast

Raw sugar

Water

1/4 cup dark corn syrup

1/4 cup molasses

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup corn oil

2 1/2 cups whole-wheat or graham flour

1 1/4 cups oatmeal (not instant)

1 1/4 cups wheat germ

5 cups all-purpose flour

In bowl dissolve yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar in 1/2 cup of warm water. Let stand while mixing remaining ingredients.

In bowl mix together 4 cups warm water (or 2 cups warm water and 2 cups warm milk), corn syrup, molasses, 4 tablespoons sugar, salt and corn oil. Add yeast mixture. Stir. Add whole-wheat flour, oatmeal, wheat germ and all-purpose flour. Mix well.

Knead about 10 minutes. Place dough in large floured bowl and let dough rise until double or about 1 hour. Grease 4 loaf pans. Punch dough down and let stand 10 minutes. Form into 4 loaves. Place in loaf pans and let rise 10 to 15 minutes. Bake at 400 degrees 30 to 45 minutes. If loaves darken too quickly, cover with foil. Makes 4 loaves, about 8 servings each.

Each serving contains about:

179 calories; 78 mg sodium; trace cholesterol; 4 grams fat; 31 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams protein; 0.41 gram fiber.

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This sponge cake is also delicious on its own or as a base for fruit and whipped cream.

NORWEGIAN BIRTHDAY CAKE (Blotkake)

5 eggs, separated

3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 cups whipping cream

Strawberries, optional

In bowl beat egg whites until foamy. Add cream of tartar and beat until stiff peaks form. Gradually beat in sugar. Set aside. Beat egg yolks until thick and lemon-colored. Stir in water and vanilla.

Sift flour twice with baking powder. Stir flour into egg-yolk mixture by hand, until thoroughly combined. Fold in egg-white mixture. Pour mixture into 2 (8-inch) round parchment-lined cake pans and bake at 350 degrees about 30 to 40 minutes, or until wood pick inserted in center comes out dry. When cool, divide each cake into 2 layers. Whip cream. Save enough whipped cream to decorate outside of cake. Add crushed strawberries with juice to rest of whipped cream. Then spread on top of layers. Makes 10 servings.

Each serving contains about:

382 calories; 108 mg sodium; 172 mg cholesterol; 20 grams fat; 45 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams protein; 0.05 gram fiber.