Lefse

Lefse covers a family of flatbreads rather than one thing, and the versions differ enough that Norwegians from different valleys disagree about what the word means. The common thread is a dough rolled very thin and cooked on a hot griddle, takke, without fat. Potato lefse from the east is soft and pliable and folded around butter and sugar; hardanger lefse from the west is thinner and sometimes crisp; tynnlefse from Gudbrandsdalen is spread with a butter and sugar mixture and rolled; nordlandslefse is stacked with a filling between layers. Rolling requires a grooved pin and practice, and lefse is one of the things most reliably still made at home rather than bought.

The main sights

• The griddle cooking - thin dough cooked on a hot plate without fat.
• The regional versions - potato, hardanger, tynn and nordlands types.
• The butter and sugar - the standard filling, with cinnamon.
• The grooved rolling pin - the specific tool used to get it thin enough.

When to go

Year-round; lefse is everyday food sold in every supermarket, though the richer filled versions belong more to Christmas and celebrations. Folk museums demonstrate the baking in summer.

Practical notes

Supermarket lefse is a pale version of homemade and often contains preservatives. The regional differences are significant, so a bad experience with one type says little about the others. It is simple food and unremarkable to visitors expecting something more.

Nearby

Folk museums including Maihaugen and the Norsk Folkemuseum bake it in demonstration kitchens.