Norwegian Rommegrot
Wednesday, Nov 19th, 2008 by Janna
Usually considered a special-occasion dessert, Rommegrot, a rich, creamy wheat porridge, makes a delicious, satisfying breakfast, perfect for a chilly November morning. If you’re getting a little tired of oatmeal, give this a try! Oh, but before you look at the recipe, please read the following warning…
WARNING:
Do not be alarmed by the three sticks of butter, quart of milk, and heavy whipping cream this recipe contains. These natural saturated fats are good for you, and should be enjoyed without guilt. 
Norwegian Rommegrot
Ingredients:
4 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter
3/4 cup whole wheat flour (preferably whole wheat pastry flour)
1/2 cup maple syrup
Cinnamon-sugar for sprinkling on top
Directions:
1. Heat milk and cream over medium heat in a medium saucepan. Be careful not to let it scorch or boil over. In a small saucepan, melt one stick of butter to use as a topping for the Rommegrot.
2. While milk is heating, melt the remaining two sticks of the butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Gradually whisk in the flour, and cook over medium heat for five minutes, whisking constantly. The flour/butter mixture should be smooth and bubbly.
3. Slowly whisk hot milk and cream into the flour mixture. Cook, stirring frequently until mixture bubbles and thickens. Turn off heat, and stir in the maple syrup. Serve warm, with the melted butter and cinnamon-sugar as toppings.
Serves 6-8
sounds Good!
You are so right! LOTS AND LOTS of FATS ARE GOOD FOR YOU!
As long as they are the RIGHT kind of fats….
actually this is not rømmegrøt. rømme is sour cream. we usually eat this around christmas time for dinner not breakfast!
I love the rustic charm this dish has! Can I also say that stumbling upon your blog today has made me very happy! I love it so much!
wow wow wow! this looks so so good. south africa has a similar breakfast that’s called “cream of wheat” and i’m guessing tastes similar. although yours is definitley the authentic way! i’m definitely going to try this recipe when we are stuck inside with a snow blizzard this winter! thanks!
Wow! Sounds and looks delicious. We aren’t milking our cow right now, and we don’t normally buy milk or cream, due to my brothers allergies, so I don’t know when I might make it. But! My little sister’s birthday is coming up and this might just make a nice treat…..
~Melinda
Hi
your recipe is probably great. i just have to say, no norwegians would ever eat rømmegrøt for breakfast. It is extremely rich.
here is a true norwegian recipe for Rømmegrøt
5dl sour cream (full cream)
2dl plain flour
5dl milk (full cream)
1ts salt
1. boil the sour cream for 5 minutes
2. sift half the flour into the sour cream and stir well
3. let it simmer on low heat until you see the fat separating. use a spoon to remove fat.
4. sift the rest of the flour in and ad milk a little at a time.
5. simmer for 5 minutes and flavour with salt.
serve with sugar, cinnamon and the fat you removed from the sour cream.
dinner variety
you can also eat rømmegrøt with sliced cured meat, like parma ham.
traditional norwegian would be Fenalår (cured mutton)
Dear AA and Kari,
My recipe is definitely not authentic. It makes a delicious bowl of hot breakfast cereal, not nearly so rich as a true Norwegian recipe. It’s interesting to note that in the authentic recipe you (Kari) posted, no sweetener is stirred into the Rommegrot; it’s all served off to the side.
Perhaps a more appropriate title for this post would’ve been, “American Rommegrot”.
If I could ever get ahold of some unpasteurized whole sour cream and milk, I’d love to give the “true” recipe a try.
Yours,
Janna
Just to say that I have given you a photography award at my blog.
And as for the American Rommegrot, it looks delicious, but if it is like porridge in any way, I regret to say I might not like it, as I am no fan of porridge!
Anna
No need to worry about getting the sour cream and milk unpasturised.
It’s illegal to sell unpasturised milk in Norway, so we all just use store bought milk. (or we can buy a bag of powder and cheat. All thanks to Toro, picture here http://www.matvareguiden.no/bilder/3096.jpg)
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I’m actually eating rømmegrøt right now! It’s one of my comfort foods! My family is Norwegian and I’ve seen TONS of ways to make rømmegrøt. Yours does look good though! Some other ways I’ve seen would be by doing a hot water bath in the oven or the variations of sweeter to Kari’s recipe. I eat it as a bedtime snack or when fall hits and you need something to warm you up. The American version is just what we’ve adapted to over time (especially in North Dakota and Minnesota). Similar to tex-mex, it’s not real Mexican, but we say it is.
Thanks for sharing your recipe!! I’m going to finish my thrown together version of rømmegrøt and hit the hay! 
Tyler
My inlaws came from Norway right after the war and brought with them reciepes. The Rommegrot I watched my Motherinlaw make was made with cream, milk, flour. If the cream has enough butter fat content after cooking the butter comes out of the cream and that is set aside to spoon on top of the pudding after it is done. Then if desired sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on top. She did say to me that the cream here does not have the same butter content as Norways. So often there was additional butter melted. I loved Rommegrot and we always had it at Christmas. They have passed away, and I am trying to keep the traditions and fond memorys.
PS
On the farm in Norway they would serve Rommegrot at harvest time.
If it has no rømme, it’s not rømmegrøt.
The varieties with only fresh milk/cream are known as fløyelsgrøt (velvet porridge). Another variety without sour cream is semulegrøt, made from milk and using semolina instead of wheat flour.