People say it all the time but it finally hit home this past week. Your child is born, you go through some sort of a new baby daze (the Norwegians call it “nursing fog”) and you wake up the next day with a baby that’s no longer a ten pound bun, but a 24 pound boy who laughs, and throws tantrums, and eats cake. Lots and lots of cake.
A First Birthday Party Menu:
Dinner:
Fishsticks of Pollack (recipe bellow)
Mashed Potatoes
Cooked Carrots
Salad (for the grown ups)
Ketchup (Heinz, not the crappy Norwegian stuff)
Homemade Tarter Sauce
Dessert:
Assorted Jello Jigglers in locomotive and animal shapes
Coconut Cupcakes, recipe found here
And For the Grand Finale:
A Norwegian child’s birthday party is synonymous with one word. Scratch that, two words: Hot Dog.
You probably didn’t know that Norwegians eat more hot dogs, per capita, than any other nation, but it's true! Even though I’m supposed to start serving hot dogs to Lasse now that he’s reached boyhood, I see no reason to corrupt his refined little palette with processed pig meat. Good thing the kid loves fish. He loves fish so much that when we make salmon for dinner, I’ve started giving him a portion almost equal to my own. Which is a good thing, since fish is a) cheap in Norway, and b) as long as it’s bone-free, a far lesser chocking hazard than pig’s lips and “stuff” encased in intestine. You should know that, despite these harsh words, I really do like hot dogs.
But somehow gently poached filets of sole and pan fried trout with a side of celery root puree just didn’t seem like the right route to take for a first birthday party. Fish sticks, on the other hand, did. As long as they were homemade. And were followed by some awesome desserts.
Fish sticks are such a busy family dinner. Kids go nuts for them, and tired moms and dads love to serve them since they are often times the only way to get their kids to eat fish and they require nothing more than opening a box and turning on the oven. Call me an overachiever, but I went the from-scratch route on my fishsticks for Lasse. And guess what? They were easy-peasy. Especially if you make a bunch on a night when you have little more time to spend in the kitchen and freeze down the extras for a night when you don’t.
Any flaky white fish will do here. Cod would be a natural choice, but haddock, pollack, catfish, even tilapia would work well to. I went with pollack. I’m sure all you Midwesterners reading this would like to know that you could also use walleye, if you so pleased. Just promise not to use anything real fancy like halibut or Chilean sea bass.
*May I apologize now for the complete lack of fishsticks photos?! They got eaten up in a hurry during our family birthday party and in between mashing the potatoes and keeping Lasse from devouring the cardboard boxes his presents came in, any documentation (beyond some crummy crums) completely slipped my mind! Rest assured, next time I make these (which will be soon, since they’ve found a permanent place in our family dinner rotation), I’ll take a few shots and place them on this post.
Homemade Fishsticks
Heimelaga Fiskepinner
From this Martha Stewart Recipe
*makes about 20 “sticks”, perfect for a family of 4
2 large eggs
1/4 cup (60 ml) milk
1 cup (80 g) dry bread crumbs (coarse ground homemade are best, but not necessary)
1 cup (140 g) all-purpose flour (you could substitute 1/2 whole wheat flour)
1 pound (450 g) white fish fillet (see suggestions, above), cut into 1/2-inch thick sticks
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (70 ml) canola or another flavorless oil
1. In a shallow dish, beat together the eggs and milk. Pour the bread crumbs and flour onto two separate plates.
2. Sprinkle fish sticks with salt and pepper, then dredge them in flour and dip in the egg mixture.
3. Transfer fish sticks to bread crumbs, covering fish completely and pressing lightly to adhere. Place each fish stick on a wire rack when coated.
4. Heat about 3 tablespoons canola oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Arrange half the fish sticks in a single layer without crowding; cook until golden brown, about 1 to 2 minutes on each side. Remove fish sticks from skillet, and transfer to a serving dish. Wipe out pan and repeat with remaining oil and fish. Serve fish sticks, hot or at room temperature, with tartar sauce and/or ketchup.
We go to a bi-weekly children's singing/dancing thingy, and they serve us a light supper, and last week. . . . . hot dog soup. They have taken their obsession too far, I believe. I don't know if I can eat another hotdog after that night.
Posted by: Emily | February 20, 2011 at 08:42 PM
That video was adorable. Lasse sure knows how to get his face messy (in photo)! Looks like a fun and yummy 1st birthday!
Posted by: lauren @sassymolassy | February 20, 2011 at 10:20 PM
Wonderful, wonderful! And more power to you for insisting on homemade food.
I did not realize that Norwegians might be capitulating to the IMAGINED fussy tastes of children in food like the Americans do. Please, please, please, hold fast and introduce your precious boy to real food. I think that parents assume that their kids won't eat this and won't eat that and they create the picky stinkers I see every day in the school where I work. My own children ate everything because I never assumed they wouldn't. I despair when I hear that some homes serve a separate dinner to the children consisting of chicken nuggets, ranch dressing, etc. I DO also love hot dogs but rarely eat them. I am surprised that Norwegians suggest you feed Lasse hot dogs. Are they fine quality sausages made locally instead of cows lips? One thing I have to keep reminding myself of, though, is this. I have to remember the generation that is the parents of these young children. THEY also were probably raised on less than wholesome choices (read junk) so that is what they also serve to their children. I would love to teach real cooking to those parents and their children. Sorry for getting up on the soapbox!
Posted by: Caterina B | February 22, 2011 at 07:05 PM
Caterina- Thanks for your comment! It's funny, before I ever came to Norway, I had this idyllic image of Norwegians in my head too. I thought they only ate fish and potatoes and whole grain bread and couldn't imagine hot dogs and potato chips and Thousand Island dressing crossing over the border and into the homes of all(!) Norwegians. But it's true. Norway's even starting to have a problem with childhood obesity (granted it's at a far lower rate than in the US or UK). As with much of northern Europe, Norwegians love sausages and there are a wide assortment of them in the stores. Unfortunately, the ones that kids like and eat are the most dumb-downed, commercial, processed varieties. I totally agree with everything you said. It's true that many new parents in their 20s and 30s were raised on junk food and never learned how to cook from scratch, so it's no wonder that young kids today are being fed hot dogs, frozen fish sticks, and chicken nuggets on a weekly basis. I won't try to hold my nose up in the air and say that my son will never become a picky eater because he's only known homemade, flavorful food his entire (albeit short) life, but my fingers are crossed that he'll be open to new foods and have a more rounded palette in the years to come because of this early foundation. But you just never know...
Posted by: Siri | February 23, 2011 at 10:18 AM
I love how Lasse flaps his arms in excitement at the end of the video, so cute!
Quite right to keep Lasse away from hot dogs for as long as you can! Norwegians (including my husband) are obsessed with them! I miss good British sausages!
Posted by: lisakjellerød | February 23, 2011 at 01:57 PM
Lisa- that's the classic Lasse move! He's been doing it since he could sit up and it always signifies excitement (usually over food :)
Posted by: Siri | February 24, 2011 at 02:54 PM
Highly descriptive article, I loved that a lot. Will there be a part 2?
Posted by: Big Facial Tits | October 22, 2013 at 12:33 AM