My husband, Oscar, is of Norwegian, Swedish and English extraction.Until I met him, I'd never tasted Lefse, a very traditional Norwegian potato flat bread.
Not only does he love it, but he at one point wrote an article all about making it. It's still available here, at Martin's Magazine. (While you're there it is worth it to pop over to the other recipes and articles. Some of the descriptions and directions make great reading. I think my favorites are those for Raw Potato Dumpling, also sometimes called klub; and RULLEPØLSE )
This year, Oscar's mom, Liz, discovered (thanks to Oather, Oscar's uncle) that a relative of theirs worked in Hanska, Minnesota, at the little Lefse Shoppe and Gifts, making and selling lefse; among other things. Liz bought some and had it sent to us for Christmas this year. Hanska is the hometown of many of his relatives, so it was like getting home baked goods in the mail. Man, oh man it was so good, too!
If you are interested in ordering some yourself, here is the information:
The Little Lefse Shop and Gifts
107 Broadway
Hanska, MN 56041-4400
Phone: (507) 439-6321
We still have a few packets in the freezer for later, but we already plan on ordering a supply when next winter approaches. For Oscar, a day with lefse helps bring a little more sun back into his life :-}
The rosemaled platter the lefse lays on is an antique from Oscar's family. It hangs in our kitchen. Liz, if you're reading this, was it Aunt Ingeborg's?
3 comments:
Yes, it was Aunt Ingeborg's. She was the sister of Eric Oscar's great grandma Troldahl. The painting on the plate is called rosemaling. My dad's cousin in Norway painted her kitchen cabinets with rosemaling. She gave me a bread board with the painting on it also. I do not know if that is the correct spelling of rosemaling. It is not in the English dictionary! My bread board has a redish brown background color. Sometimes a slate blue is used, too.
Your address for the Lefse shop says "Hanska, MI" - obviously it's "Hanska, MN". Just thought you'd like to know/correct.
Rosemaling is the correct spelling, and the reddish brown and slate blue backgrounds are very traditional, based on available paint colors made by the working class folk (late 1700's) of Norway's many valleys. Each valley developed their own style, kind of like Norwegian has many dialects--isolation from others back then, you know . . Hanska is a nice little community in MN, as is nearby New Ulm-with predominandly German descendants here along the Minnesota River Valley. Thanks for the info!
Thanks Woolyjooly :-}
As it happens, Liz went to high school in New Ulm :-}
As I am from MI, I guess my fingers typed that instead of MN :-}
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