Potatoes

Norwegians love affair with potatoes goes back centuries.  It’s one of the few vegetables that grow well in their climate and it’s been a staple in their diet through years of feast and famine alike.

Boiled potatoes are the most commonly eaten Norwegian side dish, but roasting them is not out of the question.  Many Norwegians think it’s just not dinner without a bowl of potatoes on the table.

Bags of potatoes are sold in the store fresh from the farm with the dirt still on them and labels that distinguish them by how long they take to cook.  The “ten minute” variety is the most common.  I’ve seen Norwegians just plop the potatoes in the cooking water without even washing off the dirt, as they reckon, it just boils off anyway.

Norwegian potatoes don’t have nearly the amount of chemicals applied to them as American potatoes do, and their flavor is proof of it.  Their skins are also very thin and papery so many don’t even bother peeling them.

A very delicate, small potato, called “mandel,” meaning “almond,” because of its shape, honestly tastes like candy, they’re so sweet.  It’s easy to fall in love with Norwegian potatoes once a person’s taste buds get a mouthful of them.  Most potatoes are served with various cream sauces on the side, but I find them superfluous.

Even just a hundred years ago, when Norway was pretty much a third world country, potatoes kept them from starving.  They stretched out even the last bit of the season’s harvest by mixing them with flour, rolling them out and frying them like a tortilla.  This “lefse” is still a staple in Norway’s diet today, but it’s now mostly used as a wrap around a hot dog. 

My Norwegian grandmother made lefse, so I grew up eating it the more traditional way, slathered in butter and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar.  But really, good lefse doesn’t need a thing.  Potato lefse was once called “poor man’s lefse,” as another variety, made without potatoes, was considered superior.

One area of Norway takes their lefse so seriously that they print the name of the farm where the potatoes come from right next to the package expiration date.  It’s the best lefse I’ve ever had, as the rich potato flavor comes through with every bite.  Pure heaven.

“Potato balls”, or dumplings, are also very popular in our part of Norway - so much so that every Thursday is considered “Potato Ball Day. ”  All the restaurants serve it, and many families cook it that night for dinner.

Old folks in Norway remember the days when the dinner options each night included their choice of “fish and potatoes” or “potatoes and fish.”  I’m sure I know which night they preferred.