Today was intentionally a quiet day - I had to work and the kids do their schoolwork, but we also needed to recover from a full-on week or so. I had the bright idea of getting the kids to find recipes (home economics) for a stew to make with the salt lamb we picked up, which they did, and wrote down the recipe and the shopping list for Farikal, a stew of meat and cabbage voted as Norway's favourite dish. I also explained a bit about the origins of stews, why they use cheap cuts of meat, different types of stew from different countries and what kind of potatoes you should put in them etc.
After finishing work and having lunch, we walked to the nearest supermarket to do our shopping - this was the largest supermarket we'd been in in Norway, but the same brand as the shop we did previously. This meant we could track down the delicious lemon curd cake we'd eaten the day before, plus we decided to find some new things to try. We picked up the head of cabbage, peppercorns and flour we needed for the stew, then we found some fishcakes in the chilled counter to have as a starter. We got a few snacks for tomorrow, and picked up some more Troika bars to eat at home.
When we got back, we had coffee and Troika bars - then we discovered online that they're actually made round here and the factory shop happens to be along our route for tomorrow. Guess where we'll be stopping on the way! Then it was time to make the stew, layering the meat and cabbage, and sprinkling over peppercorns, salt and flour.
It all simmered away nicely, just before dinner we popped in the fishcakes and some part baked bread rolls to go with the stew. The fishcakes were interesting - 3 out of 5 of us liked them, they had a meaty texture but a fish taste - a bit like a softer, less fishy version of seafood sticks. Then it was time for the stew. It looked great - *but* omg, the saltiness! It turns out I should have rinsed the meat part way through cooking, and of course the cabbage had helpfully soaked up the cooking water and was just as salty. We ate what we could, but it was hardly a roaring success. I'm sure made properly it would be delicious though!
We had tinned pears in juice for pudding, but even after that and a coffee, all I can taste is salt... I'll be reading the preparation instructions more carefully from now on!
Published on Tuesday 12 June 2018
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