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Papua New GuineaFlavors · Finnmark
Sámi stew of reindeer meat with potato, carrot and onion, slowly cooked in broth. It is the Sámi people’s celebratory dish, served at weddings, confirmations and other celebrations; the name comes from Northern Sámi.
Traditional dish from Finnmark
Also known as: bidos, biđus, bidus
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
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Biđos — Finnmark, Norway
Biđos is a Sámi stew of reindeer meat with potato, carrot and onion, cooked in broth. It is a festive food of the Sámi people, and the name comes from Northern Sámi, one of the Sámi languages spoken in Norway. It is also written bidos or biđus.
The dish has its roots in the Sámi way of life linked to reindeer herding, in which nothing of the animal is wasted. The meat, preferably on the bone, is cooked for a long time to make the broth. Potato and carrot are relatively recent additions: before the potato spread at the end of the 18th century, the accompaniment was bread.
There are many versions. In the oldest, the bone broth is the centre of the dish; in others, the meat is browned in flour and the broth is reduced until it becomes a dark sauce in which the meat rests. A simpler version uses thinly sliced, frozen reindeer meat, common in Norwegian markets. A Sámi family from Alta says biđos is never the same twice: it depends on who prepares it and the day.
It is served at weddings, confirmations and other celebrations, and is a common dish at Sámi People’s Day commemorations on February 6. In northern Norway, in Finnmark and Troms, it also appears in Sámi cultural experiences offered to visitors.
Finnmark
Festive dish of the Sámi people; Finnmark brings together the main Sámi municipalities of Norway.
Reindeer meat (preferably on the bone, for the broth), potato, carrot, onion, salt and pepper; sometimes wheat flour to thicken.
Served hot in a deep dish, with Sámi gáhkku bread or flatbrød; sometimes with lingonberry jam.
Weddings, confirmations, Sámi People’s Day (February 6) and other celebrations.
Your questions
A Sámi stew of reindeer meat with potato, carrot and onion, cooked in broth, served as festive food.
At weddings, confirmations and other Sámi celebrations, and it is a common dish at Sámi People’s Day commemorations on February 6.
The name comes from Northern Sámi and appears as biđos, bidos, biđus or bidus.
Flavors of Norway
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Stew of bone-in lamb and cabbage, layered with whole black peppercorns, slowly cooked and served with potatoes. It was chosen as Norway’s national dish in a popular vote in the 1970s and reaffirmed in 2014.
Creamy fish soup from Bergen, made with a fish-bone broth, vegetables cut into thin strips, fish meatballs and cream. A touch of vinegar and sugar gives it a slightly sweet-and-sour flavor that sets it apart from other Norwegian fish soups.
Large roll of sweet fermented dough with butter, cinnamon and sugar, topped with more sugar after baking. It’s a specialty tied to Bergen’s Hanseatic history.
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Sponge cake covered with meringue and almonds, sliced in half and filled with vanilla cream. It originated in the 1930s at a café in Harstad, Troms, and was voted Norway’s national cake; it is also called verdens beste, “the best in the world.”
Clear broth of lamb and beef with cubes of meat and meatballs, seasoned with ginger and nutmeg, served with potato and carrot. It is a festive dish of Trøndelag; the version Festsodd fra Trøndelag has a Norwegian geographical indication.
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