For those poor souls who are not acquainted with this Norwegian delicacy, lefse is a yummy thin potato flatbread made with potatoes and flour and cooked on a hot griddle. You eat lefse by slathering on butter and perhaps some sugar and cinnamon before rolling it up and chowing down. It is a really delicious treat that we eat in my family during the holidays.
In my family, my Grandma Fern was the one that always made lefse (along with that nasty lutefisk!) until my Dad decided to pick up the tradition sometime when I was a little girl. Oh boy! I remember those first tries in our kitchen -- sticky, floury potato disaster. We started out without the proper tools. Over the years, my dad got a lot more sophisticated with a special rolling pin (with small squares cut in it), a pastry cloth to stop the sticky dough, and a long thin stick especially used for turning the lefse on the cloth and the griddle. My dad and I usually work together on the lefse at the holidays -- he's the dough and rolling man. I take care of turning the lefse as it cooks on the griddle. My dad is something of a lefse expert really (see expert in action, below).
This year for Christmas, I got my own equipment so that I can take lefse with me wherever I roam. It is about time! Lefse is something that you just don't get everywhere, and I, for one, really have missed it. Tonight, I finally had a chance to try out my own hand at making lefse. My expectations were set really low because I can remember how difficult it was when my dad first started. However, thanks to all of the practice I have had in watching my dad,the excellent quality of Estonian potatoes, and my new special tools, my lefse was a huge success. Just think, I can make lefse every day! Uff da, indeed.
P.S. As a side note, I want to mention that I was in Norway over the holidays (pictures and posts forthcoming) and I witnessed lefse being eaten as a replacement for a hot-dog or sausage bun. Can you imagine?
2 comments:
Hi Jenn!!!
I'm so glad I saved your blog link. I was cleaning up my mess of favorites/bookmarks and I came across it. I'm so jealous that you know how to make lefse! My aunt makes it for Christmas every year and we eat it with everything from butter, to butter and brown sugar, to my dad's warped Sweedish meatballs. (Warped because they aren't traditional.)
Anyway, congrats on the lefse success!!!
I just created a blog for our Christmas letter - check it out: www.thstodola.blogspot.com
Nice to read up on you!!!
Heidi (Boxrud) Stodola
Thanks for your blog and the pics about your lefse experience! We make lefse every year in my family and I TOO was shocked to see lefse used almost sacriligiously as a hot dog bun in Oslo. Viva la lefse!
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