Sweet and Sour Plum Sauce / Sursøt Plommesaus

A useful and tasty sauce found on frukt.no

A useful sweet and sour sauce delicious in wok dishes with vegetables or as dips for spring rolls. It also tastes delicious with fried chicken and fish dishes.

Scandinavian Remoulade Sauce / Remuladesaus

A popular Scandinavian condiment found on geniuskitchen.com

This sauce is delicious with all kinds of things! Shrimp, chicken, sausages….there is no end to its uses!! Plus it is quick and easy to whip up in no time! Remoulade originated from France, But has been common in Scandinavia since the he end of the 19th century at least. It is particularly nice with deep fried plaice together with cucumber salad and boiled potatoes.

Swedish Lamb Stew in Dill Sauce / Svensk Stuet Lam i Dillsaus

A classic Swedish lunch recipe found on newscancook.com

Pork with orange and Ginger Sauce / Svinekjøtt med Appelsin- og Ingefærsaus

A spicy pork recipe found in “Svinekjøtt – Spennende og
Enkelt” (Pork Exciting and Simple) a free recipe booklet
published by matprat.no

English Mustard Steak / Engelsk Sennepsstek

An English classic found in “Matglede Som Aldri Før” (Joy of
Food like Never Before) publishe by Skandinavisk Presse in 1977

A delicious recipe to add new dimensions of flavour to pork.
Serve it with buttered peas and mashed potatoes.

Chicken Stroganoff /Kylling Stroganoff

A stroganoff variation with chicken found in
“A Sampler of Modern Sour Cream Recipes”
published by the American Dairy Association in 1970

Beef Stroganoff (Russian: бефстроганов befstróganov) is a Russian dish of sautéed pieces of beef or served in a sauce with smetana (sour cream). From its origins in mid-19th-century Russia, it has become popular around the world, with considerable variation from the original recipe such as this one.

Various explanations are given for the name, presumably derived from some member of the large and important Stroganov family, perhaps Alexander Grigorievich Stroganoff of Odessa or a diplomat, Count Pavel Stroganov.

Steak with Mushroom Sauce / Biff med Soppsaus

A recipe for a tasteful lunch or dinner found in
“Lær Mer om Sopp” (Learn More about Mushrooms) 
published by BAMAgruppen in 1982

Steaks with mushroom sauce is served with deep fried potatoes
and leek in thin strips and a mixed salad.

Steak and Eggs with Beer and Molasses / Biff og Egg med Pils og Mørk Sirup

A classic Irish breakfast recipe found on irishcentral.com

Steak and eggs is a dish prepared with beefsteak and eggs as primary ingredients. It is most typically served as a breakfast or brunch food, although it can also be consumed at any mealtime, such as for dinner in the evening.

Ingredients

Various types of beefsteaks can be used, such as rib eye, strip, sirloin and flank, among others. Additional ingredients may include bell pepper, garlic, onion, butter, salt, pepper, seasonings and others. Accompaniments may include various sauces, such as steak sauce, Worcestershire sauce, chimichurri. and others.

Variations

Variations include steak and egg sandwiches, open sandwiches and steak and Eggs Benedict.  A version of steak and egg salad utilizes greens such as arugula, poached eggs and steak.  Vegetarian versions also exist, in which vegetables, such as cauliflower, squash and potatoes, are sliced into thick steaks and served with eggs.

In popular culture

Steak and eggs is the traditional NASA astronaut’s breakfast, first served to Alan Shepard before his flight on May 5, 1961.

Fried Apple Slices with Fennel Sugar and Apple Caramel Sauce / Friterte Epleskiver med Fennikelsukker og Eplekaramellsaus

A slightly different dessert / snack recipe found on godt.no

Spicy and golden apple slices sprinkled with fennel sugar and dipped in apple caramel sauce can be summed up with one word: delicious!

Garum Sauce: Ancient Rome’s ‘Ketchup’ Becomes a Modern-Day Secret Ingredient

An article by Olga Oksman posted on theguardian.com
Wednesday 26 August 2015

Garum and other similar fish-based sauces were the ketchup of the ancient world, mass produced in factories by the Romans, and sprinkled on anything savory. They usually made several versions: a dark-colored table condiment that was high in protein, a cooking sauce similar to Thai and Vietnamese fish sauces (sometimes called liquamen by historians, though often grouped together with garum), and a milder version called muria, explains food historian Sally Grainger. The fall of the Roman empire meant the end of its mass production, but the art of the fish sauce was not lost in Italy. The modern-day version, colatura di alici, is a saltier mixture of all three sauces.

While Italy may not be the first place that comes to mind when thinking of fish sauce, several companies on the Amalfi coast continue the ancient traditions. Today’s colatura is a clear, amber liquid made from fermented, salted anchovies and sold in tiny, elegant glass bottles. It is often described as the great-grandfather of Worcestershire sauce. “There is only a difference of a few ingredients, but colatura tastes better,” Grace Singleton, managing partner at Zingerman’s Delicatessen, tells me.

Zingerman’s, based in Michigan, started carrying the condiment around 15 years ago, when co-founding partner Ari Weinzweig found himself in the Amalfi coast town of Cetara, where it has been made for generations. After tasting it for the first time, Weinzweig knew he had to carry it in his store. It took a year to get all the labelling right for US importation, but it was worth it. Since then, the sauce has had a steady following, Weinzweig tells me.

Everyone who has tried it remembers the exact moment when colatura di alici and taste buds first met. For Matt Armendariz, who runs the food blog Matt Bites, it was in Italy, in an aioli sauce. “My mind was blown. It had this umami flavor and I asked the chef why it was so delicious, and he said he used colatura di alici. I just fell in love with it,” Armendariz fondly recalls.

The amber sauce, which is fermented traditionally in chestnut barrels, is an inexpensive way to add depth and flavor to dishes, says Singleton. A little glass bottle will set you back on average $15, but you only need a sprinkling to bring a new dimension to food.

It is also the key to a quick and simple pasta dish popular in the Amalfi coast. Any kind of long, thin pasta is mixed with garlic, chili-infused olive oil and a little colatura di alici for an unmistakable savory rich flavor that belies its simple ingredients. Armendariz recommends sprinkling it on ripe tomatoes or putting a few drops on grilled steaks and other meats to make the flavor pop. Singleton favors using it in place of salt in dishes, since it does double duty by both salting a dish and accentuating its flavors.

Despite its fishy origins, don’t think of it as a fish sauce, says Armendariz, who refers to the flavor enhancer as a “genie in a bottle” on his blog. It’s a true secret ingredient for the modern age, taken straight out of the ancient world.

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In context

Roman Garum was a fermented fish sauce used as a condiment in the cuisines of ancient Greece, Rome, and Byzantium. Liquamen was a similar preparation, and at times the two were synonymous. Although it enjoyed its greatest popularity in the Roman world, the sauce was earlier used by the Greeks.

When mixed with wine (oenogarum, a popular Byzantine sauce), vinegar, black pepper, or oil, garum enhances the flavor of a wide variety of dishes, including boiled veal and steamed mussels, even pear-and-honey soufflé. Diluted with water (hydrogarum) it was distributed to Roman legions. Pliny (d. 79) remarked in his Natural History that it could be diluted to the colour of honey wine and drunk.

You might have noticed that Liquamen was listed among the
ingredients on my Medieval Monday post a few days ago.
You can find old recipes for Garum here
http://www.coquinaria.nl/english/recipes/garum.htm

and here
http://www.pompeii-food-and-drink.org/garum.htm

Ted

West African Chicken in Peanut Sauce / Vestafrikansk Kylling i Peanøttsaus

A savoury chicken recipe from the African continent
found in “The best of International Cooking”
published by Hamlyn in 1984

West African cuisine encompasses a diverse range of foods that are split between its 16 countries. In West Africa, many families grow and raise their own food, and within each there is a division of labor. Indigenous foods consist of a number of plant species and animals, and are important to those whose lifestyle depends on farming and hunting.

The history of West Africa also plays a large role in their cuisine and recipes, as interactions with different cultures (particularly the Arab world and later Europeans) over the centuries have introduced many ingredients that would go on to become key components of the various national cuisines today.

Dill Cured Salmon / Dillgravad Lax

A classic Swedish starter recipe found on koket.nu

Curing salmon and trout with dill is a Swedish speciality. It adds
a delightful freshness to the finished dish.

Orange Blossom Crepes / Orange Blossom Pannekaker

A dessert recipe from “Crepe Cookery” published in 1976

Nothing livens up a dinner party more than a dessert being flambéed at the table. Combined with this simply delicious cream cheese filling you are sure to round off the dinner with a booming success.

Boiled Beef with Dill Sauce / Kokt Oksekjøtt med Dillsaus

A dinner recipe with herbs found in “Alt om Urter” (All About Hebs) published by Den Norske Bokklubben in 1982

Dill sauces both cold and hot ones are very popular in Scandinavia, particularly in Sweden and can be used with most sorts of meat. Hot it is particularly delicious with lamb and cold yoghurt or sour cream based ones with any sort of shellfish.

Honey and Mustard Sauce / Honning- og Sennepssaus

A medieval spicy sauce recipe found at cookit.e2bn.org

Mustard was much used by the Romans and later was very popular with the Anglo Saxons. It grew locally and so was cheap. It could be used to makes sauces for meat and fish as well as dressings for salads. It helped to preserve other foods as well as having healthy properties of its own.

The sauces were generally made from a mixture of ground mustard seeds, vinegar, wine and often honey, with spices or other flavourings added according to what people liked.

They could then be stored for several weeks. Mustard’s ‘hotness’ gets less after it is mixed and kept for a few days, which may account for the strength of the sauces often made – which would be much too hot for most of us today.