Substack Extra Lofoten special
...with a celebration layer-cake and a recipe to celebrate the cod-harvest
The fishermen of the Lofotens - above is the fishing port of Henningsvaeg in 1985 - celebrated the arrival of the cod-shoals at spawning-time with a communal cod-feast (what else?), accompanied by the lengthy telling of cod-sagas (mostly involving Lief Ericson), followed by a red-wine hangover.
Skreimolje
This is a modest version of the above that can easily, should opportunity arise, be scaled up to suit as many as you please.
Serves 4 hungry fishermen
4 thick middle-cut cod steaks, chopped through the bone
1 fresh cod's roe (both wings - the whole thing)
6 large potatoes, peeled and thickly sliced
Water
Salt
Vinegar
The sauce
about half a pound of butter
2 hardboiled eggs, peeled and chopped
Wipe over the cod steaks and salt them lightly. Wipe the roe and wrap it in a double envelope of greaseproof paper. Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and lay in the roe. Bring back to the boil and then turn down the heat immediately. Simmer until the roe is firm - a medium-sized roe takes about 25 minutes. Leave the roe in the water to cool.
Meanwhile cook the potatoes until soft in plenty of boiling salted water. Drain, dish and keep warm. Slice the roe - it should be cool and firm by now - and set it to warm with the potatoes. Melt the butter in a small pan and stir in the chopped hardboiled eggs.
Bring a shallow panful of well-salted water with a tablespoon of vinegar to simmering point. Lay in the cod steaks. Bring back to a simmer and cook the fish for 4-6 minutes, till just opaque, depending on the thickness.
Drain and pile on top of the roe and potatoes. Hand the melted butter separately in a jug and accompany with flatbrøds. Norwegians drink claret with their cod, although beer with a chaser of aquavit is acceptable, bearing in mind that you may not drink at all until your host engages your eye and raises his glass - to which courtesy, the proper response is “Skål!”.
Kransekake
Norway's favourite celebration cake, this is a many-layered cinnamon-flavoured wreath-cake prepared with almonds - in the old days, along with spices, an expensive imported commodity. A 12-ring pyramid suits the average family gathering - counting aunties, uncles, grandparents and cousins - but you can lower or increase the number of rings as you please.
Serves a party
2 cups whole unskinned almonds
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
2 tablespoons plain flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 egg whites, lightly whisked
Semolina or coarse cornmeal for dusting
Butter for greasing
To finish
6 tablespoons caster sugar
Icing sugar for dusting
Scald and skin half the almonds, pat them dry, combine with the unskinned almonds and process to a rough flour. Mix with the sugar, flour and cinnamon. Work in the egg-whites till you have a softish workable dough (you may need a little water).
Preheat the oven to 400F/Gas6.
Brush 3 baking trays with butter and dust lightly with semolina or coarse cornmeal. Cut the dough into 3 pieces and roll each piece into a long rope as thick as your finger. Cut the ropes into 12 lengths, starting at 6” and adding an inch each time till you get to 18”. Join the ropes together with a damp finger to make rings.
Arrange the rings on 3 large baking trays lined with greaseproof paper, one ring inside the other. The first tray should have rings 1, 4, 7, 10; the second has rings 2, 5 - and so on. Bake for 8-10 minutes till golden but not hard (they should still be a little chewy).
To assemble, melt the caster sugar gently in a small pan till it turns golden and caramelises – shake, don’t stir. Assemble the rings in a pyramid, sticking the layers together with caramel to stick the layers together. Eat by lifting off the top rings and tackling the bottom rings first so the wreath itself remains intact.
The kranserkakker? Falling off a log - sounds more complicated than it is....just add cream to cover the cracks. Coffee offer welcome if it brings you with it. Any cloudberries in your neck of the woods? Used to find 'em on Mull, but they didn't ripen from red to gold - which begs the questions, how do plants set seed if they don't ripen - maybe they do it every now again, just not every year.
Wow! What a production! Let me know the next time you put it together and I'll be over with a pot of strong Italian coffee (not the weak Norwegian kind).
As for the cod--not much of that left, I'm afeerd, it all got used up somehow. I'd love me some cod roe.