Butter shortage hits Norway at the wrong time of year

Without butter, krumkake, a traditional Norwegian cookie served at Christmas time, could be hard to come by. (Image courtesy ifood.tv)

If you’ve ever sampled some of the traditional Norwegian cuisine – you might have noted a couple of things; ‘wow I’m about to have a heart attack, this food is so rich,’ or ‘why does my fish taste like soap?’

Recently, Norwegians have been trying to change their fatty ways by adopting an Atkins-like, high-in-fat diet. Something about that sounds a little off, and it does make Norway sound like it’s trapped in 1998.

It just so happens that this diet craze fits in with the traditional Norwegian Christmas spread.

Take for instance the traditional Norwegian entree Lutefisk.

Lutefisk, a white fish soaked in lye, (that’s right, the same common ingredient used in soap) is an acquired taste. One of the only ways to make it palatable is taking a gravy boat of butter and dumping it all over this sea dweller.

The real need for butter in Norway though is when it comes to dessert.

This Christmas, try and get your hands on Krumkake, a “paper thin cake” often rolled up to look like an ice cream cone. That batter? It’s almost half butter.

When it comes to sugar cookies, like Sandbakelse, a big chunk of butter is required to make this ornate dessert also.

Of course, finding it in a traditional Norwegian neighborhood, like