Our daughter (and son) always come home at Christmas with ideas of things they want to do/make during the Christmas break. Usually we run out of time. This year, Mhairi wanted to make Lussekatter. I'd never heard of them, but she arrived with the recipe. Fairly time consuming, to say the least, involving yeast, saffron and lots of time for the buns to be shaped, and rise to the appropriate size. However, we managed to do a fairly decent job. Here they are, shaped and ready for another hour of 'rising' in the warm cupboard, before coating in egg and sticking a raisin in each swirl prior to baking in the oven. They turned out pretty well, although my saffron was sub-standard quality. They'd have been better with grade 1, which is redder and has more flavour.
For anyone interested in the tradition of lussekatter (saffron buns) ... they are normally made for St. Lucia's Day. The word means 'Lucia cats'. Lucia was a Christian girl born to rich parents. She was killed for her faith in 304AD. She was known for bringing food to persecuted Christians hiding in Rome. She would wear a wreath lit with candles on her head so she had both hands free to carry food. When Christian missionaries came to Scandinavia, the story of the girl appealed to people dealing with long cold winters and St. Lucia's Feast Day became a festival of light, celebrated on December 13th. Traditionally, the oldest daughter of the house dresses in a long white dress, wears a crown and carries a tray of warm drinks and these saffron buns to her family and friends. This is done by staff at our daughter's office in Oslo.
What a wonderful tradition, these look amazing, and what a labour of love. I used to make Chelsea buns at Christmas but haven't made them for a number of years now. I have a note on the recipe which says 'takes 4 hours'. I think that's what puts me off!
Not tried these myself, but Mrs L, from Bergen has and says they are Swedish. The Swedish community here in France celebrate St.Lucia with a dinner in our local community hall.
There are many Norwegian/Swedish Christmas traditions, we often have pinnekjøtt for our Christmas meal, though this year because we have no visitors to bring it from Norway we will be having svineribbe. The Norwegian Christmas meal I hope your daughter never introduces you to is lutefisk, possibly rivaling the sea slug I ate in Japan as the most horrible meal I've ever experienced.
@laroque They remind me very much of the brioche. Especially with the inferior quality saffron as they don't taste much of saffron. But the texture and light flavour was lovely. I think we've had lutefisk in the Lofotens, but I seem to remember liking it. I wasn't so keen on whale meat. Sea slug does sound revolting! Must ask Mhairi about the pinnekjøtt and the svinneribbe.
I am remembering pictures of Lucia in books and on cards from my childhood. A neighbor I think was of Scandinavian descent. Lucia always looked so pretty in her white dress with the wreath of candles on her head. These sound rather tasty- and I probably wouldn't know the difference in quality so I'd still enjoy them. Good shot!
December 24th, 2022
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So wonderful when kids come home for Christmas and one can do something like this together.
There are many Norwegian/Swedish Christmas traditions, we often have pinnekjøtt for our Christmas meal, though this year because we have no visitors to bring it from Norway we will be having svineribbe. The Norwegian Christmas meal I hope your daughter never introduces you to is lutefisk, possibly rivaling the sea slug I ate in Japan as the most horrible meal I've ever experienced.