The Nordics and the Baltic · Volume 23, The North Atlantic under the Danish Crown
Pinnekjøtt
Norway, above all Vestlandet
Illustration
- Time
- Hands on 3 hours · Waiting 8 hours
- Researched
- 5 sources cited
The ribs-preservation tradition itself is old, tied to Vestlandet's poor autumn fodder supply, which made an autumn slaughter and cure practical necessity. The specific method of steaming over debarked birch sticks, so distinctive it gives the dish its name, may be a more recent standardisation than the ribs tradition it now defines, one search source placing its spread to Vestlandet only in the 1970s, though this could not be confirmed against a second independent source and is offered here as a genuine open question rather than settled fact.
As tradition built it
Serves 4. Overnight soaking, then about 3 hours steaming.
Ingredients
- 1.5 kg salted, dried lamb ribs
- as available debarked birch sticks, or a metal steaming rack
- to serve boiled potatoes and swede mash, to serve
Method
- Soak the ribs in cold water overnight, changing the water once, to draw out excess salt.
- Lay birch sticks, or a metal rack, in the bottom of a large pot, and add water just up to the rack, not touching the meat.
- Place the ribs on the rack, cover, and steam about 3 hours, topping up the water beneath as needed, until the meat is completely tender.
- Serve with boiled potatoes and swede mash.
What a modern chef changes
The same salted, dried ribs, given a genuine home cold smoke before steaming rather than relying on cure alone
Rung 3.
Method
- Cold-smoke the soaked ribs over birch chips on a Big Green Egg, held at or below 30°C, for 1 to 2 hours before steaming, adding a genuine smoked layer this dish's own name has always implied but which the pure steam method alone does not actually deliver.
- Steam over a true rack rather than crowded sticks, for more even heat circulation and a more consistent result across every rib.
- Reduce the steaming liquid, now carrying real smoke and lamb fat, into a thin gravy, rather than discarding it, since it holds flavour the traditional method leaves in the pot.