Kjøttkaker i brun saus

The story

Kjøttkaker, literally meat cakes, are the weeknight dinner many Norwegians grew up on: palm-sized patties of ground meat browned in butter and finished in brown gravy. According to Store norske leksikon, their exact origin is unknown, but they probably came to Norway from Denmark and were at their height from about 1850 to 1950, helped along by affordable meat grinders. Cooks once stretched the meat with potato, flour, breadcrumbs or crushed rusks, and some mixtures even included offal. Ginger, nutmeg, pepper and onion are the classic seasonings, while potato starch and milk or water keep the cakes soft. Region matters. After the war, farm policy concentrated pork production in eastern Norway, so kjøttkaker there are usually pork, while in the north and west they are made from beef or mutton. They are traditionally larger than meatballs. A winter plate holds boiled potatoes, lingonberry jam and either creamed cabbage (kålstuing) or stewed peas (ertestuing), with the gravy poured over everything. Put the potatoes on to boil before you shape the cakes, and the whole dinner is ready in under an hour.