Old Nordic Cuisine

 

I am a staunch defender of the unstylish, the unhip. It's a policy born of multiple impulses. Mostly because it's just not me —I have a remarkably deaf ear to such fashions. But even if I had the leisure time/funds to pursue them, I also just happen like things a wee bit stodgy. I give an admiring thumb's up to the expertly dressed, but my heart goes out to the underdog in last year's (or, perhaps, last decade's) soft-worn standards. And so, when I heard so much abuzz in the food world over the New Nordic cuisine, my root-for-the-little-guy impulses kicked in — what about the Old Nordic?

And so I dug up some comfy old unstylish examples of Nordic cuisine. No fancy kitchen gear, no fancy foraged ingredients. Just some rye flour and root vegetables, smoked fish and brown bread. And it was great. You can read more about these recipes over at NPR's Kitchen Window.