I never used to think about Norway. All I knew was that it was up “there”, cold, and perhaps they are good at skiing. Now however, I think about Norway often as my girlfriend is a Norwegian-American and very proud of it. During the Winter Olympics I would receive pictures of Norway’s medal count (the highest) as it grew higher and higher. She also tries to teach me Norwegian phrases but I have more fun pretending to be the Swedish chef from the Muppets than learning the language.
Despite the Norwegian pride when I would propose making Fårikål there was often some apprehension from her. Apparently, her family did not have the dish often and she thought that other dishes were more representative of Norwegian cuisine. Doing my research, I found that Fårikål was recently reconfirmed to be Norway’s national dish. The story is that Fårikål was originally confirmed in 1972 as the national dish. Despite this declaration, in 2014 the countries Food and Agriculture Minister created a facebook page to vote on Norway’s national dish. The vote confirmed that Fårikål was the national dish as it ended up winning with 45% of the vote; the second highest taking 36%.
Fårikål is a very simple affair of lamb and cabbage spiced with black pepper. In fact, the name Fårikål means “lamb in cabbage” in Norwegian. It is exceeding easy to make and has ingredients common in Norway. There are only four ingredients needed along with water.
- Lamb (2 pounds)
- Cabbage(2 heads)
- Flour
- Whole black peppercorns
In typical Norwegian fashion I prepared whole boiled potatoes to serve with this dish. You can do that step while the dish is stewing.
Simply cut whatever cut of lamb you have into pieces; I used a nice boneless lamb shoulder. Once that is done, toss the lamb into some flour. This helps thicken up the stew later.
Chop the cabbage into wedges, or if you get confused like me, 8 pieces.
Finally, we are going to layer our Fårikål. Start with lamb on the bottom,then the cabbage and repeat until you run out. You can be very generous with the black pepper as this is the only spice used. Some recipes call for using a tea strainer with the black pepper and then remove the black pepper completely at the end of the cooking process, but that is silly; just add it to the pot and leave in the dish.
Add some water and raise the temperature till the water is boiling. Once done boiling, cover with a lid and simmer for 2 hours. A lot of water is not needed because the cabbage will cook down and release its water into the mixture.
Now I know what you must be thinking: why bother trying this dish as it is going to be bland and boring? You are wrong, the fact is Fårikål is delicious. The fat from the lamb binds with the flour to make this delectable creaminess and the cabbage turns very slightly sweet. It is simple to cook and healthy at the same time. I would make this again on a rainy day for sure when I am too cheap to order takeout.
I consulted a couple of recipes for this dish but the main two I consulted were here and here.
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