Syttende Mai

May seems to be a good month for ethnic festivals; last week I wrote about Cinco de Mayo, the Mexican celebration and now it is time for the Norwegian festival named, appropriately, Syttende Mai, which means “May 17”. This date marks the anniversary of the Norwegian Declaration of Independence from Sweden in 1814. This area of the Midwest has the largest population of Norwegian extraction in the U.S. and both Norwegian and non-Norwegian enjoy celebrating the day together. A three day event is held in Stoughton, Wisconsin every year and here in Red Wing there are often celebrations in the churches and by the Sons of Norway.

Besides the authentic and handsome costumes, demonstrations of the rosemaling art, dances and troll hunts, the festival must, of course, include food. I consulted with our own resident Norwegian “expert” Lois Christenson who told me that two of the staple foods cooked and served at a Syttende Mai festival are the open-faced sandwiches which are a staple of all the Scandinavian countries, meatballs and the myriad delicious butter cookies—which are always present, although particularly so at Christmas. Also ever-present are cakes and pastries of all types—the Scandinavian sweet tooth being well known. The celebratory cake known as kransekaka—a tall tower of baked marzipan rings, decorated with white sugar icing and Norwegian flags—and blotkake—a sumptuous sponge cake, layered with fruit and whipped cream are two of the best.

Of course, fish of some kind and lefse are part of any Norwegian feast, and often the rich, cream porridge, rommegraut, is served as well. If you’re not familiar with rommegraut, it is a “porridge” made of extra-heavy sweet cream (approximately 35 percent butterfat), combined with a little flour, warm milk, salt, sugar and some fresh lemon juice. The ingredients are cooked for several hours and stirred with a whisk or wooden spoon. If the cream is raw, the butterfat will rise to the surface of the mixture and is periodically spooned off into a bowl and served on top of the pudding. Even if you can’t get raw cream, however, a good rommegraut will result. Then you must melt butter and pour over each serving, on top of which you sprinkle sugar and cinnamon.

Reading about Norwegian culture, I was constantly reminded of the harsh, cold climate and the mountainous terrain. The people seem to thrive on it and are ardent sportsmen, getting to work as early as Americans, eating a quick lunch and arriving home as early as possible in order to take the family hiking, sailing or skiing. And yet the hardships of their countryside have never prevented Norwegians from enjoying food—and their feasts and festivities are equal to any.

In honor of Syttende Mai I gathered my first rhubarb and made Rabarbragrot, a delicious compote that my grandmother (who was not Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, or Finnish but whose neighborhood was) made for me when I was a child.

Rhubarb Compote

2 cups water
¾ cup sugar
1 ½ pounds rhubarb, washed, scraped and cut into ½-inch pieces (about 4 cups)
½ tsp. vanilla
3 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/3 cup cold water

Dissolve the sugar in the water in a non-reactive saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the rhubarb and reduce the heat to low. Simmer, uncovered for 20 to 30 minutes until rhubarb is tender. Remove from heat and add vanilla
Mix cornstarch with cold water and mix to a paste. Gradually stir it into the rhubarb and bring it to a boil, stirring constantly. Simmer from 3-5 minutes. Chill. Serve plain or with sweetened whipped cream.

Cream Cake

5 egg yolks
½ cup cold water
1 ½ cups sugar
½ tsp. vanilla
½ tsp. lemon extract
¼ tsp almond extract
1 ½ cups cake flour
¼ tsp. salt
¾ tsp. cream of tartar
5 egg whites

Amaretto liqueur
2 pints sweetened, crushed strawberries
2 cups heavy cream, whipped and sweetened with ¼ cup sugar

Beat egg yolks until thick and lemon colored. Add water and continue beating until very thick. Gradually add sugar, then extracts. Fold in flour sifted with salt, a little at a time. Beat egg whites until foamy. Add cream of tartar and beat until they form moist glossy peaks. Fold into egg yolk mixture. Bake in a 10-inch springform pan or an ungreased tube pan. Bake one hour at 325 degrees. Loosen sides of pan when cool.

When cool, slice cake horizontally in half. Sprinkle about 2 Tbsp. Amaretto liqueur on one layer. Cover layer with half the whipped cream. Put half the strawberries over the cream. Cover with other layer of cake. Put remaining whipped cream and strawberries over the top layer. If the pan you baked the cake in did not have a hole in the center, cut the cake like a wedding cake, leaving a circle of cake in the center.