Rømmegrøt . AnneCN / flickr / 2011 / CC BY 2.0
Sour cream porridge (“rømmegrøt”) is a Norwegian dish served at holidays, often along with cured meats.
It is made with milk, sour cream and flour, instead of water and oats as porridge is in the English-speaking world.
It is hearty and very heavy going.
Very high-fat (about 35 %) sour cream must be used, or it won’t survive the cooking. It is recommended that it contain no added stabilizers or gelatin. [1]”Sour cream porridge must be made from high fat (35%) natural sour cream, with no stabilizers or gelatin added.” Sons of Norway website. Accessed August 2018 at https://www.sofn.com/norwegian_culture/featured_recipes/rommegrot/
Purists say the sour cream should be homemade. [2]”For the best results, use homemade sour cream. Heat 1 cup whipping cream to 95 F, almost body temperature, then whisk in 2 Tbsp. buttermilk. Let stand at room temperature at least 8 hours, until thickened.” [ref]Sons of Norway website. Ibid.
You can buy ready-mix packets for rømmegrøt now, which many feel tastes very close to the homemade. The packets will make 3 to 4 portions, in 7 minutes.
Rømmegrøt, with cured meats off to the right. Tomas Eklund / wikimedia / 2007 / Public Domain
Recipe for rømmegrøt
The following recipe is from the Sons of Norway. [3]Sons of Norway website. Ibid. They do not give the yield.
- 400 ml of 35 percent fat sour cream (1 ⅔ cups. Homemade sour cream directions in footnotes)
- 175 g white flour (1 ¼ cups)
- 1 ¼ litres full-fat milk (5 cups) [Ed: “up to”]
- ¾ teaspoon salt
Simmer the sour cream for a few minutes. Meanwhile, heat the milk and set that milk aside.
Sift a third of the flour over the sour cream, stir in, then simmer some more until the cream begins to break down and release fat. You skim this fat off, then add the remaining flour along with some milk, raise temperature to a boil, then lower to a simmer again, whisk smooth, thin out with some additional milk as desired. [Ed: you do not have to use all the milk.] Dish out into bowls; serve with butter, sugar and cinnamon on top. Serve with cured meats.
Rømmegrøt with assortment of cured meats. Eirik Yven / flickr / 2011 / CC BY 2.0
Language notes
Rømme means “sour cream” in Norwegian.
The above video shows rømmegrøt being served.
References
| ↑1 | ”Sour cream porridge must be made from high fat (35%) natural sour cream, with no stabilizers or gelatin added.” Sons of Norway website. Accessed August 2018 at https://www.sofn.com/norwegian_culture/featured_recipes/rommegrot/ |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | ”For the best results, use homemade sour cream. Heat 1 cup whipping cream to 95 F, almost body temperature, then whisk in 2 Tbsp. buttermilk. Let stand at room temperature at least 8 hours, until thickened.” [ref]Sons of Norway website. Ibid. |
| ↑3 | Sons of Norway website. Ibid. |