Food eaten with a spoon | Skjemat
From porridge to desserts: remembering skjemat and a cook from Råde, Østfold.
The old and now seldom-used Norwegian word skjemat refers to spoonable dishes served before or after the main course. These include porridge, soups, desserts, and other spoon-friendly foods. Such dishes helped households conserve scarce ingredients, like meat, fish, eggs, and other staples.
The word skjemat combines the two Norwegian words skje (spoon) and mat (food). In many Norwegian dialects, it is spelt skeimat, with regional differences in pronunciation.
Kjell Martin Sandaker (1926–2013), who grew up on the Sandaker farm in Råde, Østfold, Norway, used the word when recalling his older sister, Dagny Sandaker Ulsrød (1915–2007), and her exceptional cooking skills. Kjell pronounced it skjimat, with the Norwegian i-sound. As a young woman, Dagny attended a home economics school (husmorskole), and, according to Kjell, desserts were her speciality.