Pancakes

Many areas of Norway have regional foods, which can’t be found anywhere else in the land.  Our corner of Norway is famous for its “svela,” a particular type of pancake.  It’s loved by the locals and is a staple in everyone’s diet.

I weirds me out to watch Norwegians eat French fries with a knife and fork, but then eat svela with their hands. They sprinkle sugar, jam or a thick syrup on them, roll them up and eat them like a burrito - anytime of the day or night. They are also a favorite for coffee breaks on long road trips.  Even the ferries have little café’s in them that are open during the busiest hours, but after hours they all set out a plate of svela and a thermos of coffee with a honor system box.

What we call “Swedish pancakes” - those thin crepe-like things filled with goo – Norwegians just call “pancakes” (pannekake) – leaving off the “Swedish” adjective, because they aren’t about to give the Swedes credit for anything.  Pancakes and bacon are a very common item on the dinner menu in Norway, and Norwegians can’t understand how in the world Americans could eat such a thing for breakfast.  It grosses them out just to think about it.

Svela looks an awful lot like our buttermilk pancakes, but they sure don’t taste the same. The key ingredient in svela is something called “hjørtetakksalt.”

I bought hjørtetakksalt a few years ago and brought it home so I could make svela in America. When I opened the package, I discovered it’s a powder with a strong ammonia smell – somewhat like pee.  The scary thing is, when translating the word hjørtetakksalt directly, it means “thanks to the deer salt”… so ya gotta wonder what’s really in there.  I think hjørtetakksalt  is the ingredient that makes the pancakes so pliable and able to be rolled up so easily.

One day a neighbor girl, Sabina, went blueberry picking with my son, Kaleb. Wild blueberries in Norway are even more plentiful than wild blackberries in the Northwest. I thought I would treat Sabina to our good old-fashioned American blueberry pancakes – since she’d only ever eaten svela and Swedish pancakes before.

It was Sabina’s first opportunity to sample some American cooking so she was thrilled to sit down to a plate full of my pancakes – until she discovered the blueberries. She looked at me like I was crazy and wondered why in the world I’d put blueberries inside the pancake batter. She preferred the ones without. I guess she’s used to the pee.