Christmas in Norway

Jeff Green | Dec 18, 2014

Oslo, the capital and easily the largest city in Norway with a population in the greater urban area of 900,000, is located in the south of the country, as are most of the major population centres. Thanks to the gulf stream it enjoys weather patterns that are similar to ours. The average temperature for the next few days, for example, is almost identical to ours, and heading towards Christmas this year they will have warmer weather than we will. But southern Norway is far to the north of southern Canada, and for that reason the country's ancient connection to the winter solstice is understandable

While we find the days are short this time of year, dipping down to 8 hours and 42 minutes of daylight this weekend, in Oslo they will have three hours less, only 5 hours and 45 minutes. In terms of latitude, Oslo is on a par with the middle of Hudson's Bay, or the border between our western provinces and Nunavut.

Although Norway was the last European country to embrace Christianity, solstice celebrations go back much longer there, and many of the wintry Christmas traditions that we enjoy have some root in the Nordic winter celebrations.

In pagan times, eating meat and drinking specially brewed strong beer, now brewed as Christmas beer, was a serious business at the time. By royal decree, every farm had to brew some, which was consumed at the time of Jul, the precurser to Yule. Animals were slaughtered to avoid keeping them through the winter, so eating fresh meat was also part of the tradition, as was baking. The winter festival ran for a week after the solstice, urging the sun to hasten its long journey back to the north, and no work was done.

There was no real difficulty for these traditions to meld with Christian ones. King Olaf the First brought Christianity to Norway in 994 AD, and although he was eventually defeated and Christianity with him, by 1154 AD Christianity had taken hold.

As the result of the Reformation, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Norway replaced Catholicism as the dominant church in Norway. According to Wikipedia 76% of Norwegians are affiliated with it to this day, as opposed to 2.4% who identify themselves as of Catholic upbringing. However when polled in 2012 only 22% of Norwegians said they believed there is a God, although 44% said they believed there is “some sort of spirit or life force”, making Norway one of the most secular of European societies.

Among the Viking Norse traditions that have been integrated with Christmas are the symbol of evergreen trees and that of light in the darkness of the winter,

Christmas trees themselves are a German innovation, but bringing evergreen boughs into the house as a symbol of spring in the darkest time of year was common in Norway well earlier.

Along with green, white is a dominant Christmas colour in Norway, and to this day trees are lit with white lights only; coloured lights are rare.

As far as Christmas goes, it has remained more of a family-oriented holiday for hundreds of years.

One of the features of Norwegian Christmas, and this holds for the rest of Scandinavia as well, is the Sicilian figure of Santa Lucia, whose holiday is celebrated on December 13, which was the date of the solstice in the old Julian calendar.

There are various accounts of the life of Santa Lucia, and in one of them she was known to bring supplies to Christians hiding from the Romans in the catacombs of Rome, wearing candles in her hair to light her way. Another aspect of the story of Santa Lucia involves an attempt to burn her alive for refusing to renounce Christ that failed because she would not burn.

The Santa Lucia tradition was expressed in Scandinavian households by the eldest daughter in the house rising early, wearing a white robe, red sash and a wreath holding lit candles in her hair. She would serve coffee and saffron buns (St. Lucy's buns), marking the beginning of the Christmas season.

In more recent times, in each village a girl is selected to portray Santa Lucia and leads a procession through the town.

In Scandinavia the song Santa Lucia has been translated into all of the local languages. It is commonly the final selection at Christmas concerts and hymn sings, whereas in North America "Silent Night" or "O Holy Night" tend to be the songs of choice.

There is also an alternative root for the Nordic Santa Lucia tradition, a holiday called Lussinatten, which runs from the solstice until Christmas Day.

Lussi was an enchantress who punished anyone who worked in that period, a particularly dangerous time of year when gnomes, spirits and trolls roamed the earth. In modern terms, Santa Lucia has triumphed over Lussi, although the tradition of hiding brooms on Christmas day to discourage witches has persisted.

Food

Pinkejott, which is made from cheaper cuts of salted and dried lamb or mutton, the bony and fatty cuts such as shoulders, racks and ribs, is the most famous Christmas dish.

It may be difficult to access salted, dried lamb in time for Christmas, but you can start working now for a Ground Hog Day Pinkejott Feast.

Cover the bottom of a plastic tub with sea salt and place the pieces of lamb on top, then cover the lamb with more sea salt. Leave for at least three days in a cool place. Wash off the salt and then hang the pieces somehow with strong string or on metal racks that allow air to get to the meat in a dark, well-ventilated room for four to six weeks.

The meat then needs to be reconstituted by soaking it in cold water over night.

Now you are ready to make Pinekjott. Go outside, and find a young birch tree or sapling, and harvest some small branches. Remove the bark and cut the pieces so they fit in the bottom of a large pot or roasting bin.

Place the wood crossways in three layers at the bottom of a large pot, then pour in water to the top of the wood. Place the lamb pieces on top. Steam the lamb in the birch infused water over medium heat for 2.5 hours (adding water to keep the pot from drying out), until the meat falls of the bone. Put the steamed meat on a baking tray and broil in a hot oven until the meat gets crispy. Serve with mashed root vegetables (rutabagas, potatoes and carrots) that were cooked in the water left over from steaming the meat. Apparently the taste of Pinkejott is unique and delicious.

The Christmas meal includes Aquavit, cold Christmas beer, and the Scandinavian version of mulled wine, Glogg.

There are “seven sorts” or seven different kinds of cookies that make up a Norwegian Christmas day platter. One of them is a Norwegian version of a gingerbread cookie, Pepperkaker, which traditionally made use of black pepper.

Lussekatter/Lucia Bun Recipe

1 packet of dry yeast
(note: sweet dough yeast is best to use)
150 grams butter
500 ml. of milk
1 gram of saffron
150 grams of sugar
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of cardamom powder
about 1.3 litres all purpose flour (measure in a water jug)

For decoration:
1 beaten egg for glazing
Raisins

Melt butter in a pot. Cool a little and then add the milk. Mix saffron with a little bit of sugar and break up in a mortar and pestle. Mix the flour, yeast, sugar, salt, cardamom and saffron in a bowl, create a well and pour in the milk mix. Mix until the dough forms. Add in a little extra milk or flour if needed.

Cover the bowl in plastic wrap and let it raise until double the size – a warm room helps.

Sprinkle some flour on the kneading area and knead the dough well. Roll into a loose log to cut dough into bun sizes. Roll them out into long finger thick sausages. Shape them into a spiral shape (see picture) Place the buns on a baking sheet and cover in plastic. Allow them to raise for 15 minutes. Glaze well with beaten egg and decorate with raisins (usually one raisin in each eye of a swirl.)

Bake in a 425 degree oven for 5-8 minutes.

Serve with coffee or hot chocolate.

Gravalox

Finally, Norwegians also eat fish on Christmas, and although Gravalox is known as a Swedish dish, it is associated with Norway because of the Norwegian salmon industry. I include a variation that is particularly easy and delicious.

Take a piece of salmon filet, with all little bones removed, as fresh as possible. Place on a piece of tin foil that is twice as wide and 4 inches longer than the salmon. Cover with kosher salt, toasted fennel seeds, black pepper and fresh dill. Squeeze a lemon and drizzle juice on top.

Wrap tightly with the foil and place in fridge for at least 24 hours, preferably 48. Remove from the foil and wash off the salmon in a bowl of water. Thinly slice and arrange on a platter. Serve with mustard horseradish sauce on thin pieces of toast, or as I prefer, with grated frozen horseradish root and capers.