SC - Re: period Norse

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Branwen wrote:
> 
> > I have been thinking about it and realize I would
> > have to cook it Thursday night - drive to Kansas on Friday and not be
> > able to put it out for A&S display until Saturday.  I am just not sure
> > how that would hold up, not having made it before
> 
> Lefse can withstand *anything* I think. :)
> 
> My family's Norweigian, as is my fiance's, and we have "lefse making days"
> where we do nothing but make lefse... some gets eaten as we work, but most
> gets frozen for holidays within the coming months. Lefse keeps probably
> several weeks in the fridge (we have a wide assortment at the local
> supermarket and I think the expiration dates are a few weeks in advance,
> without using special preservatives), and is best cold - but then, they
> didn't have refrigerators "back then" so that's probably not an issue! I'm
> sure making it a couple of days in advance is fine.
> 
> Mind sending me your recipe? There are lots of different ones out there - my
> family always uses a ton of potatoes, a little flour, and a little milk, and
> my fiance's family uses more flour than potatoes, a little milk, and lots of
> butter. Mine's better :)
> 
> A hint: *always* rice the potatoes (when they're warm, unless you wanna
> break your ricer - if you're using one) and mix as little as possible - this
> prevents the starches from getting all loosened up and making the lefse
> chewy.
> 
> And if Norweigians had potatoes in period, it's *probably* period. Lefse
> doesn't seem to be a new thing!

FWIW, since I am not Norwegian, I gather that there are, as you say,
several variants on the basic lefse theme. Some versions contain no
potato at all, others mixes of potatoes with things like rye meal and
various other grains. The neat thing, though, with the versions that
contain only-moderate-to-no potato, can be baked in a low oven, or
perhaps right on the taake griddle, to the consistency of matzoh. This
stuff keeps forever, pretty much. At least I've known it to survive most
of Pennsic, and its failure to survive further was probably due to being eaten.

What happens is that you take a round or two of the dried lefse and wrap
it up in a damp towel for a couple of hours. It reconstitutes really
well. Maybe not to the consistency of the frshly baked article, but
pretty darned close. Certainly for eating with lingonberry jam and
butter and getting homesick as a result, it's a wonderful convenience
food if you can actually keep it around for any length of time. I'll see
if I can find the recipe I've used to make lefse for my friend Ateno to
take to Pennsic. I believe it's in "The Old World Kitchen".

Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com