The Susanne

Yeah, that’s right. It’s called stick meat. It has its name from the method of cook­ing, which is that it’s steamed by pla­cing birch sticks, in cross­ing layers in the bottom of a pot and pla­cing the meat on top, and filling with water until just below the meat. The sticks can be bought ready made, but it feels really good to col­lect your own — I think it makes the Pinnekjøtt taste extra deli­cious as well. In Pinnekjøtt, you use the dry cured side of mutton, although some people prefer using lamb which has a milder taste. I prefer mutton because it’s much tastier.

To feed 4:

2 kg dry cured side of mutton

birch sticks

Divide the meat along each rib. Then place in plenty of water at room tem­per­at­ure for about 24-30 hours depend­ing on the thick­ness of the meat.

Layer the birch sticks in the bottom of a large pot, and fill with water so it is level with the sticks.

Place the ribs on top, making sure they’re not in the water. Let it cook on a low heat for about 3 hours, refilling the water as needed.

If you want you can place the Pinnekjøtt under the grill for a few minutes just before serving to give it that brown touch.

Serve on warm plates with Vos­sakorv (tra­di­tional Nor­we­gian saus­age), pota­toes, mashed swede, mus­tard and a reduc­tion from the cook­ing juices.

Fårikål is the Nor­we­gian national dish, pos­sibly the Nor­we­gian coun­ter­part to the Irish Stew. It is made from large chunks of mutton which are layered in a large pot with cab­bage and pep­per­corns. It is so simple and so deli­cious! Although I sup­pose it’s one of those dishes that people either love or hate… Enough people love it that there is in fact a National Fårikål day on the last Thursday in Septem­ber, when it is cus­tom­ary to make an enorm­ous pot of Fårikål and invite loads of friends. Served with boiled pota­toes and Aquavit, and maybe some good wine or beer, everything’s set for a great party. Or as we Nor­we­gi­ans call it, Fårikålfest.

To feed 4:

• 1 ½ kg mutton, in chunks with the bones still on
• 1 ½ kg cabbage
• 3 dl water
• 4 tsp peppercorns
• 2 tsp salt

Cut the cab­bage into quar­ters, and layer in a large pot with the mutton. Sprinkle pep­per­corns and salt between each layer, and add the water. Bring to a boil, cover and then reduce the heat, let­ting it simmer on a low heat for about 2-3 hours or until the meat falls off the bone. I like to start cook­ing in the morn­ing and then let it simmer all day long, as this is def­in­itely a dish which gets better the longer it’s been ‘in the making’.

Serve piping hot with boiled pota­toes and a cold beer or ice water to drink!

In olden days, when the Irish stew ori­gin­ated, people lived in cabins and did not have the many dif­fer­ent utensils we have today, much less the abund­ance of ingredi­ents at hand that we have come to take for gran­ted. The potato was the staple dish of the Irish­man, and that fact is reflec­ted in most of the tra­di­tional Irish cook­ing. This is a recipe for authen­tic Irish stew, how­ever it calls for mutton and not kid which was used a lot in cook­ing because the sheep were to valu­able to eat. The ratio of meat-potato-onion should always stay the same, 1-2-1/2

• 500 g stew mutton in large pieces
• 1 kg peeled potatoes
• 250 g onion

Place the mutton in the bottom of a large pot. Place the pota­toes and onions on top, whole. Add about 6 dl water and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover and cook on a low heat for about 2 hours. Serve with pickled red cabbage!