National Dish Norway: Fårikål (Recipe)
In this article
Fårikål is lamb and cabbage boiled with peppercorns and nothing else. It is Norway’s national dish by public vote, and it has its own day: the last Thursday in September, when the lambs come down from the mountains and the cabbages are ready.
About Farikal
Four ingredients: lamb on the bone, white cabbage, whole black peppercorns and salt. Some people add a little flour to thicken. Most do not. It cooks for two hours and the peppercorns are left in and eaten.
Attempts to replace it as national dish have been made and rejected. Norwegians are attached to it.
Ingredients (serves 1–2)
- 500 g lamb (shoulder or leg, for example)
- 1 small head of white cabbage
- Water (about 1 litre)
- 3–4 whole peppercorns
- Salt to taste
Shopping for the ingredients
Lamb on the bone, cut into chunks, and with a good proportion of fat: the fat is what flavours the cabbage. Ask the butcher for neck, shoulder or breast. Use far more peppercorns than the recipe says, around a tablespoon, which is what Norwegians actually do.
Preparing the dish
Cut the cabbage into thick wedges through the core so they hold together. Layer meat and cabbage alternately, fat side down at the bottom, and add water only halfway up: the cabbage releases a great deal.
Step-by-step instructions
- Layer the lamb and cabbage alternately in a large pot, starting with the meat fat side down.
- Scatter salt and the whole peppercorns between the layers.
- Pour in water until it comes about halfway up the ingredients.
- Bring everything to the boil, then reduce the heat.
- Let it simmer gently, covered, for about 1½ to 2 hours, until the meat is meltingly tender and the cabbage is soft.
Gluten-free / lactose-free version
Fårikål contains no gluten unless you thicken it with flour, in which case use cornflour. There is no dairy. It is naturally suitable for both.
Tips for vegans and vegetarians
The dish is lamb and its fat cooked into cabbage, so there is no version without it. Norwegian vegetarian options are historically thin, though surkål, the sweet-sour cabbage, works as a side in its own right.
More tips and tricks
Do not add too much water. Cabbage is mostly water and the pot fills itself. Use plenty of peppercorns and leave them in. And make it the day before if you can, because fårikål is better reheated, which most Norwegians will tell you unprompted.
Adapting the recipe to your taste
A tablespoon of flour between the layers thickens the liquid slightly, which divides opinion. Boiled potatoes on the side are standard. Some add a bay leaf; purists object.
Ingredient substitutions
Mutton is more traditional and stronger. Savoy cabbage works but breaks down faster. Nothing else is needed.
Drink pairing ideas
A Norwegian beer, and akevitt alongside it, which is the standard pairing for autumn food here. Water otherwise. The aquavit is not optional on Fårikål Day.
Serving and presentation ideas
Serve it in deep bowls with plenty of the broth and boiled potatoes alongside. Warn people about the peppercorns, or do not, since biting one is part of the experience. It is not garnished.
A bit of history
Fårikål is old, practical autumn food from a country where sheep graze high in summer and are brought down in September. It won a national radio vote in 1972 and again in 2014 when the government tried to replace it. It anchors Norwegian cuisine.
More recipe ideas
Summary: Farikal
Fårikål is lamb and cabbage layered in a pot with peppercorns and simmered for two hours. Use bone-in lamb, go heavy on the pepper, add little water, and make it the day before.
