I shop at Durdur bakers a couple times --and it didn't taste like norwegian to me --but this Norwegian liked it.
Being Norwegian on my father's side of the family, we observe the tradition of lefse and lutefisk, usually during Thanksgiving but certainly by Christmastime. But, during my freshman year of college, I began to question this tradition. How was it, I wondered, that some families endure lutefisk during the holidays, while other families enjoy baklava and marzipan? Why was my family stuck with lutefisk instead of baklava, which tastes like it was made by angels with a sweet tooth?
But seeking out the exotic and unfamiliar brings you around full circle. This happened to me recently when I decided to try some Somali bread called Sabayad/Jabat made by DurDur Bakery, a local business. I was struck by how much this bread looked like Norwegian lefse, even though it didn't contain potatoes as an ingredient. I thought the bread kind of tasted like lefse, only without the fattening, starchy potatoes.
Experimenting, I threw some butter, sugar and cinnamon on my Sabayad/Jabat and rolled it up like a piece of lefse. As I bit into my creation, I was transported back to the holiday kitchen of my Norwegian grandmother. The whole point of lefse is to be somewhat understated and served as a vehicle for the consumption of butter, sugar, and cinnamon. Sabayad/Jabat served this purpose perfectly.
Most amazing of all are DurDur cookies, which seem to be the pride and joy of DurDur Bakery. The cookies are star-shaped and sold in Ziploc bags, which actually say "Ziploc" right on the bags. So you're not paying for fancy packaging or television commercials featuring Keebler elves. DurDur cookies taste like my Norwegian grandmother's sugar cookies, only stand up better dunked in milk.
No matter how far you may roam, no matter how much education may change your sense of who you are, we are always tied to our families. Thanksgiving can be a time for old and new traditions to fit perfectly, side by side.
John Hoff welcomes comments at jhoff@mndaily.com
