A traditional birthday meal : Reindeer stew!
This weekend, for my darling’s birthday, I decided to concoct a typical Norwegian dish: ”A Reindeer stew with a creamy sauce!”
As we explained in the article “Sami’s National Day: Reindeer race!“, and the previous article about the “Sámi people” the reindeer are only raised by them. Production and marketing of the reindeer meat is reserved.
Nevertheless, it is not difficult to find this essential ingredient. Almost all supermarkets sell it.
Let’s check it is the good one:
Obviously, my Norwegian is still very limited. But I know enough to see that the ingredients are made of reindeer meat (Reinkjøtt, kjøtt = meat), water and salt.
It’s OK, I can put this bag in my basket, I have my 400g of reindeer meat, enough to cook a good dish!
After an internet research (thank you Google Translate!), I discover what is written above the ingredients… :
“Reindeer meat into slices.
reindeer meat is cut into thin slices.
Sápmi - Lapland: Here is the reindeer grazing.
The murmur of the plateau, with breathtaking scenery, the smell of fresh and wild vegetation.
Reindeer meat carries the flavor of the trays. ”
Yum, a little introduction that makes me dreaming and makes me hungry …
Back at home, I discover the contents of my bag. Indeed, it is meat cut into thin slices. That’s why the name of this dish is Finnbiff. This comes from the use of cutting thin slices of meat and grill them or eat them raw.
The recipe
It’s a very popular Norwegian recipe and very easy to do. You must cook the meat with mushrooms, cream and eat the meal with potatoes, vegetables and specially not forget the cowberry jam, essential to a number of Norwegian meals!
This jam, rather sour, is better with this dish than bread and butter. Indeed, reindeer meat is rather strong, it tastes like wild game and cowberry jam goes wonderfully with that, this is delicious!
Norwegian name of the jam: ”Tyttebærsyltetøy” (Baer = bay = Tyttebær = cowberry, syltetøy = jam).
Another typically Norwegian ingredient that we must add (but I forgot it, oops …) is the “brunost” (brown cheese). I have not yet had the opportunity to taste some, but on my next Finnbiff I will not forget to add it!
It bears the name of cheese (Ost) but it doest not taste like cheese, it is rather sweet and very soft. Norwegians use it in this kind of dish or on sweet dishes such as waffles.
I gathered all my ingredients, now I’m going to make the recipe…
Reindeer stew with cream sauce:
- 500g of reindeer meat finely cut,
- butter,
- 300g of mushrooms,
- 1 onion,
- 4 or 5 juniper berries (cut into half to bring out the taste).
Sauce:
- 5 spoons of sour cream,
- 2 dl of cream,
- 1 spoon of flour to thicken the sauce.
Preparation:
Cook reindeer meat in a large stove with the mushrooms, onion and butter.
When the meat is cooked, pour the sour cream and liquid cream, salt, pepper, juniper berries and cook for a while.
Add a tablespoon of flour if the sauce is too thin.
Serve with potatoes, broccoli, … and especially don’t forget the cowberry jam!
Here is the result!
Served with a glass of good wine, this dish is delicious! The taste of reindeer meat is hard enough and is pretty similar to game meat. If you do not have reindeer meat available, you can try to do the same with game or beef.
Enjoy your meal ! ;)
-Céline
Sámi people
We already talked a bit about this native ethnic group of Northern Europe on our article about their National Day. Now, in collaboration with our blogging friends from Gluk, here is an illustrated article of the Sámi history!
Who are the Sámis?
Sámis are the native inhabitants of Sápmi. You have probably heard about Lapland (or Lappland, we apparently can write both), but Lapland is the pejorative word for Sápmi as well as Lapp is the pejorative word for Sámi. Sápmi regroups the northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia.
* This is a ‘Gákti’. It is the Sámi ceremonial dressing. The shapes can inform about where the person comes from, her/his marital status and even sometimes her/his family.
In Norwegian language, Sámis are also sometimes called ‘Finn’, from which comes the name of Finnmark (northernmost area of Norway), Finnmark being the only place in Norway where you will find more Sámis than Norwegians. Their language is also called Sámi, but it is actually not one language, but many. Everything becomes really complicated when it comes to languages in this part of Europe! ^^
When everything begins
11000 BC: Ice age is ending. Therefore, new possibilities of settlement opens up for humans on the Arctic coast. Tribes of hunters, fishers and gatherers start to appear in this previously virgin area. They will be the first ancestors of those who are going to be called ‘Sámis’. As a consequence, Sámis are considered as an indigenous population of this area.
Time passing, we see this ensemble of different tribes sharing the same culture being more or less split : The sea Sámis, mainly fishers, and the mountain Sámis, living by reindeer hunting.
The middle ages
1349 is a major date in Norwegian history. It’s the year during which black death decimates over 60% of the Norwegian population. During this time, Norwegian’s diet is rye and wheat based and part of this food is imported through European trade routes.
Plague then comes from the rest of Europe to Norway in the wooden barrels containing this food and other supplies. Sámis at this time are still fishers and hunters and thus are not as much concerned about the plague as the Norwegians do.
After the plague, income revenues of the monarchy drastically diminish, as you can imagine. Sea Sámis are then encouraged to take over abandoned farms (they continued to take over those farms until the 18th century! ). This way, population of sea Sámis grows bigger: nowadays, mountain Sámis population does not represent much than 10% of the Sámi population.
On the other side, mountain Sámis , due to their nomadic way of life, have to pay taxes for each nation they are crossing, which does not really help them to grow actually!
The dark ages
During the beginning of the 17th century, colonization of northern Scandinavia starts. Settlers are mainly practicing farming, which is in contradiction with the nomadic way of life of northern Sámis. Some settlers adapt to their way of life, and some Sámis adapt to the Norwegian way of life, interested in the products farmers can provide (houses, butter, milk, wool, …). But at the end, farming and other activities of the settlers lead to the extinction of species and to the destruction of Sámi hunting culture, which imply starvation for their people. Meanwhile in Sweden, the Nasafjäll mine opens up and Sámis are coerced to work here or be severely punished. Many Sámis run away from this area, but the Swedish government sends troops to prevent that …
At the end of the century, colonization of northern Scandinavia becomes more violent. Sámi polytheist religious practices are punished and holy sites and traditional religious objects as Sámi drums are destroyed.
During the 19th century, Norway becomes an independent country. Norwegian government starts reforms willing to make Norwegian culture and language universal. Sámi is restricted in schools and it is now forbidden to sell or lease lands to non Norwegians. Moreover, christianization still makes it’s way through Sámi communities. In 1852 in Kautokeino, the only Sámi revolt against Norwegian policy involving human deaths takes place. An excellent movie has been made about those riots, and I strongly recommend you to see it: The Kautokeino Rebellion.
This process of “Norwegianization” becomes more and more aggressive until WWII, therefore strengthening independent thoughts and links as a community.
Fight for the future
After WWII, pressure on Sámis is relaxed, but changes take a moment before having any effect. In 1960, the right for Sámis to preserve and develop their own culture is officially acknowledged. Sámi is taught again in schools and institutions are created.
But in 1979 in Alta, the construction of an hydro-electric power station rises up old daemons. A long fight takes place between Sámis and Norwegian authorities that lead in the end to a “compromise”. In 1986, Sámi flag and national anthem are created and in 1989, the first Sámi parliament is elected in Norway.
During the previous decades, Sámis gained more and more rights. Although theory seems to be on the good way, reality is not always that beautiful. Most of the Sámis are now living a “modern” way of life and are no more considered as “under-Norwegians”.
But for those who chose to live the traditional way, cohabitation and environment related problems remains and make their life harder if not impossible… but this might be explained in another article! :)
Big thanks to Céline for the killer drawings! ;)
-julien
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sami_people
http://boreale.konto.itv.se/history.htm
http://www.reisenett.no/norway/facts/culture_science/sami.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alta_controversy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A1pmi_%28area%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sami_revolt_in_Guovdageaidnu
Sami’s National Day : Reindeer race!
A reindeer race has been organized in Tromsø today. Indeed, we are the Sunday before the National Day of Samis (February 6th).
To make it short, Sami people, which you might know as “Lapps” (pejorative term!), are an indigenous people of northern Fenno-Scandinavia also called Lapland. This nation is made up of many tribes who officiate mainly in fishing, trapping and reindeer herding. As arctic reindeers is an endangered species. But Sami people have always practices reindeer herding. Though they earned the right to continue and are now the only ones authorized to do it.
Between the nineteenth and twentieth century, Sami people were victim of assimilationist policies of countries in which they have been living for centuries (like most nomadic or semi-nomadic peoples in this world). Their territories and their identities were thus under threat. Several associations sprang up and on the beginning of the twentieth century a Sami got a place in the Norwegian political power: Isak Saba. But that did not lead to success for his people.
February 6th, 1917 in Trondheim: many representatives of Sami communities in Norway and Sweden met. This regroupement was a great success. But let’s not forget that during that time a part of Europe is at war. Samis were very affected by the consequences of this war and the recession it implied. In the late 70′s, activism took shape again. During the ’80s and ’90s, Sami people get prommesses from Fenno-Scandinavian states. In 1992, Samis chose that date of February 6th to celebrate their National Day.
Tromsø is a city where the Sami community is very well established. Therefore, many activities have taken place these days and will take place in the coming days: Sami markets, language courses, reindeer race, … We have therefore taken the opportunity to see those famous northern hairy beasts :)
We are barely arrived that we are already rejected: The price to see the race is 100 Kr (approx. 13 €) per person O_o! As good old French people, we try to find a discrete way to see this race without paying. But all the streets perpendicular to the one where the race happens are monitored by those guys with their fluorescent coat … Argh! Nevertheless, we are not the only ones not wanting to pay this astronomical sum to see a couple of guys in slinky outfits on skis being pulled by reindeers. We therefore find a nice little spot where we can see the show … even if it is a little further. Well, it was totally not worth the price plus it was freezing (-15°C + wind = BRRRRRrrrrr). The only interest that we found was to be able to see the reindeers, and I can assure you that they really look very sweet! :)
Nevertheless I think this is an excellent initiative to propose such activities because it allows residents, tourists and children to discover the Sami culture. And on our side, it gives us the opportunity to learn more about the history of Norway and Samis.
-julien
Source: Le Francofil (French)
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