Originally posted by Nilsen
to be serious, our national food is not lutefisk but something we call "lapsgaus" or "ribbe"
lapsgause is kind of a stew that alot of "us" also brought over to the US in the early 1800's where it has stayed the same and/or has been changed slightly.
coocked meat + boiled potatoes thrown in a big pot with carrots and other vedgetables and then coocked some more ountil its a brownish sauce thingy with chunks of potatoes meat and whatever you have put in..
pic to follow
That actually sounds pretty good. I post a lot on two forums, Chowhound and Roadfood. The thing with a stew like that is, how it will taste depends a lot on 1) what meat you use, and 2) what vegetables you use... duh. That sounds pretty stupid, doesn't it. Kind like saying "What you see depends on what you're looking at."
Remember the rhyme, "pease porridge hot, pease porridge cold, pease porridge in the pot 9 days old"? Porridge used to be left over the fire continually, with the family tossing in whatever that particular day's meal was going to be, mixing it all together. I imagine by the 9th day, it became pretty gray and perhaps unappealing.
I got that from a book called "Food in History" by ReahTannehill. Great book.
She also wrote one called "Sex in History". Interestingly enough, it wasn't interesting enough. The food book is better. The sex one is way too clinical for something so fun.
Tom