What the heck is Lefsa?

Question

I heard my friend talking about this stuff called Lefsa and I wanted to know what it was.

Answer 1

Lefse is a traditional soft Norwegian flatbread made out of potato, milk or cream and flour, and cooked on a griddle

Answer 2

It is a traditional Scandinavian flat bread made with potatoes, milk, and flour. My family eats it all the time and it's great.

Answer 3

Lefse is a Norwegian/Scandinavian tortilla/flatbread made with potatoes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lefse

Answer 4

Lefse is a traditional soft Norwegian flatbread made out of potato, milk or cream and flour, and cooked on a griddle. Special tools are available for lefse baking, including long wooden turning sticks and special rolling pins with deep grooves. There are significant regional variations in the way lefse is made and eaten, but it generally resembles a flatbread, although in many parts of Norway, especially Valdres, it is far thinner. In some parts of the United States (such as North Dakota, Minnesota, South Dakota, northern and central Iowa, Wisconsin, and Washington), lefse is available in grocery stores; one Minnesota tortilla factory makes a run of lefse once a month on its tortilla equipment.

Lefse on the griddle.

Lefse on the griddle.

In central Norway, a variation called tynnlefse (thin lefse) is made, which is rolled up with butter, sugar and cinnamon (or with butter and brown sugar), and eaten as a cake.

Norwegian tykklefse

Norwegian tykklefse

Tjukklefse or tykklefse (thick lefse) is thicker, and often served with coffee as a cake.

Potetlefse (potato lefse) is often used in place of a hot-dog bun and can be used to roll up sausages. This delight is also known as pølse med lompe in Norway, lompe being the "smaller-cousin" of the potato lefse.

There are many ways of flavoring lefse. The most common is adding butter and sugar to the lefse and rolling it up. In Norwegian, this is known as "lefse-klining". Other tasty ways to eat it include adding cinnamon, or spreading jelly or lingonberries upon it. Scandinavian-American variations include rolling it with a thin layer of peanut butter and sugar, with butter and sugar, with butter and corn syrup, or with ham and eggs. Also quite good with beef, and other savory items, it is comparable to a thin tortilla. And, of course, it is great to put lutefisk in.

Many Scandinavian-Americans eat lefse primarily around Thanksgiving and Christmas, along with other Scandinavian dishes such as lutefisk. Family members often gather to cook lefse as a group effort because the process is more enjoyable as a traditional holiday activity. This gathering also provides training to younger generations keeping the tradition alive.

Lefse is delicious by the way.

Answer 5

Lefse is wonderfulness. Flat potato bread, kinda looks like a tortilla, but flakier.  You can get all the tools to make it from Amazon.com. You can buy it, too, like here in Chicago in the 'Andersonville' neighborhood, but it compares in NO WAY to making it at home. Spread it with soft butter and sprinkle with sugar, roll up and enjoy!

My grandmother (norwegian) used to make it for Christmas every year!