Mutton in cabbage, or Fårikål, in Norwegian, is one of the recipes that Norwegians view as traditional and Norwegian.
It usually is made in the fall, and actually has a whole day dedicated to it. September 29. There are also groups dedicated to it, and friends will get together for dinner parties.
It is about the simplest recipe to make, which everyone was eager to tell me as I was planning on making it, though it takes a while on the stove.
The recipe below is translated and adapted slightly from Matprat – but all the recipes I’ve seen of this are similar in construction.
It is traditionally served with potatoes.
Ingredients (for four people)
1 ½ kg mutton/lamb meat, fatty meat is good.
1 ½ kg cabbage
4 tsp whole peppercorns
2 tsp salt
3 dl water (this seems like very little, but there is water in the cabbage and the mutton, and the amount of salt is adjusted for the amount of water…)How to…
1. Divide the cabbage into slivers.
2. Layer meat and cabbage in the saucepan. Start with a layer of meat in the bottom of the pan, the fatty parts of the meat facing down. Sprinkle salt and peppercorns between the layers.
3. Add water. Bring to a boil, then let it simmer on low heat until the meat releases easily from the bones. It should be 1.5-2 hours.
4. Serve warm.
Some say it is even better the next day. Personally, it doesn’t work for me; the smell of reheated lamb reminds me of wet woolen sweaters in the winter – and I’ve never liked that. But it tastes excellent on the day it is made, too, so I’ll live with that.
