Raspeball

Ingredients

Dumplings

• 1 kgraw floury potatoes
• 400 gcooked cold potatoes, mashed
• 150 gbarley flour or plain flour
• 1 tspsalt
• a little grated nutmeg

Sometimes

• 150 gsalted lamb or bacon, diced, for the centres

To cook

• the cooking liquid from the salted meat, or well salted water

To serve

• salted lamb or salt-cured pork, kjøttpølse sausage
• swede mash, kålrabistappe
• melted butter
• bacon fat, or a slice of brown cheese

To serve

• on a Thursday, if you are anywhere in western Norway

Directions

1. Use floury potatoes for both of them. Grate the raw potato finely and squeeze it in a cloth to remove some of the liquid. Squeeze out some of the water but not all of it, since a completely dry mixture will not bind.
2. Let the squeezed liquid stand, pour off the water and scrape the settled starch back in, which helps them hold together. Now the amount of flour, which needs judgement.
3. Add just enough flour to make the mixture hold a shape when squeezed. Too much flour gives heavy, doughy dumplings that taste of nothing, and too little means they fall apart in the pot.
4. Work quickly, since the mixture darkens and weeps as it stands. Shape one dumpling and simmer it alone for fifteen minutes before committing the batch. If it disintegrates, work more flour into the mixture and test again.
5. Press a piece of salted lamb or bacon into the centre of each if you want the filled version. Roll them firmly with no cracks in the surface. Boil them in the water the salted meat was cooked in, which is the traditional method. If you have no meat broth, use well salted water.
6. Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce it until it is barely trembling before the dumplings go in. Never boil them hard, since the turbulence breaks them apart within minutes.
7. Simmer for forty to forty-five minutes, uncovered. Do not stir the pot, and free them from the base with a slotted spoon if they stick. Serve with salted lamb or cured pork, sausage and swede mash. Pour melted butter or hot bacon fat over them, which is standard and not a garnish.

Technique

• The Thursday tradition in western Norway is genuine and widely observed.
• The grey colour is normal oxidation, not a fault.
• Boiling them in the salt meat broth seasons them from outside.

Substitutions

• Plain flour in place of barley flour.
• Well salted water if you have no meat broth.

Variations

• Komle, the same dish under its Bergen name.
• With bacon pressed into the centre of each.
• Sliced and fried in butter the following day.

Frequently asked questions

What is Raspeball?

Raspeball is a main from Norway: grey grated-potato dumplings with salted lamb, a Thursday ritual.

How long does Raspeball take to make?

Raspeball takes 40 min of preparation and 45 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Raspeball?

Yes, within limits. Plain flour in place of barley flour. Well salted water if you have no meat broth.

What is the most important thing to get right in Raspeball?

Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce it until it is barely trembling before the dumplings go in. Never boil them hard, since the turbulence breaks them apart within minutes.