( Just Don’t tell the kids)

We are back. For a time it seemed like being able to meet and share food & fun together is a lost art, an arcane tradition which will never return. But after many disappointing postponements, Covid restrictions are steadily easing, hopefully permanently, this time.

So, where were we?

N, and Lianne’s debut as cook & host – for which she took us to her ancestral home of Norway.

It’s May 2021. Assembled are Lianne, Dorottya, Idit, Bernhard, and myself.

We were greeted by a table decked with flickering flames in liquor-bottle candle holders dripping with molten wax, and plates of gravalax and smoked salmon with mustard seeds, dill, and rocket leaves, accompanied by excellent sourdough bread, butter, and a home-made dill, honey and mustard-seed mayo spread. This was excellent, and got us off to a brilliant start.

And as we’re in Norway: shots of Aquavit to kick things off – which we all dutifully downed despite its aniseed-y flavour (well, I guess some people must like it).

After clearing the starter plates and refusing another shot of aquavit, Lianne went to tend to her main dish. Then Dorottya started humming something Christmassy… Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer, in fact, as Lianne was bringing to the table bowls of steaming, aromatic stew.

What’s the meat in the stew? asked Idit. Looks like beef, I innocently said. Dorottya and Lianne were both suspiciously quite, knowingly smiling to themselves…

Oh, said Bernhard. What? Said Idit and I.

Yup, said Lianne. It’s reindeer. We’re having Rudolf stew.

And he was Delicious.

Lianne told us he has a bit of a story: we’d planned this dinner originally back in October, only to be foiled by a new Lockdown. But she had already bought the reindeer meet, from a specialty butcher – so in to her freezer he went, to await better times (better for us, at least).

Until February, Valentine’s Day: now I’ll let Lianne herself take over:

The recipe for Reindeer Stew (here) comes from the indigenous Sami people of northern Norway. The meet itself is very distinct: looks like beef, but is more fine & tender. It’s not as gamy as venisson; in fact it’s a bit reminiscent of liver (in taste, not texture). It was perfect in a slow cooked stew, and we soon flet warm and at peace with the world.

With the fragrant reindeer stew we had Scandinavian beers: all very good – especially when imbibed from Bernhard’s authentic drinking horn!

And then came dessert.

Oh, the dessert.

Lianne made (from scratch, of course from scratch!) Norwegian Waffles, served hot from the presser, topped with vanilla ice-cream (excellent Mackies, from Scotland – Lianne’s other homecountry), apple marmalade, and blackcurrant jam (it was supposed to be lingonberry jam, but Lianne’s car broke down and she couldn’t get to Ikea).

Oh god that was good. Turns out it’s a very traditional street food over there – something to cheer one up in the long winter night, no doubt. And I’m sure these were extra tasty because Lianne used her family-hairloom waffle maker! BTW, she used a nifty icecream scoop which uses your body heat to soften the icecream:

As we were all far too stuffed to leave the table after this fantastic, rich meal, we sat for a game of Cards Against Humanity – which I won (not sure what that says about me, really). It felt so good to eat, drink, and talk together again.  So we decided to go while the going is good, and set the next dinner – O – for Monday 24th, when Bernhard will cook the only O country on this planet: Oman.

See you there!