Kalvdans

Kalvdans
TypeDessert
Place of originScandinavia
Main ingredientsColostrum milk, water

Kalvdans (lit. 'calf dance') is a classical Scandinavian dessert. It is made from unpasteurized colostrum milk, the first milk produced by a cow after giving birth.[1]

Kalvdans has a long tradition in Swedish cuisine. It is mentioned in the encyclopedia Project af swensk grammatica from 1682. The encyclopedia mentions kalvost (lit. 'calf-cheese') as an alternative name.[2] The name kalvdans refers to the jiggly pudding-like consistency of the dessert.[3] Swedish emigrants brought the tradition of kalvdans to North America, as well. It is however rarely consumed today, as very few families keep cows of their own.[4]

In preparing the dessert, the colostrum milk is mixed with water and cautiously heated.[1][5] Due to the high levels of protein in the colostrum milk, it coagulates and hardens when boiled (much like eggs do). Thus the dessert gets a pudding-like consistency.[6]

Due to Swedish health regulations, unpasteurized milk may only be sold directly from the farms. Thus the capacity to produce kalvdans is somewhat limited.[6] As a consequence kalvdans is very rarely prepared in Swedish households today.[2] In 2008 kalvdans, along with four other Swedish dishes, was included in the 'Ark of Taste' of the Slow Food movement.[7]

A related dessert is råmjölkspannkaka (raw-milk pancake).[2] Similar desserts like kalvdans exists in other countries. In Iceland, a pudding called ábrystir is made out of colostrum milk. A similar Finnish version is called uunijuusto (oven cheese). In England colostrum milk, or beestings as it is called locally, was traditionally used for puddings. In India kharvas is a dessert made out of colostrum milk from buffaloes.[6] In Norwegian and Danish dialects, the word kalvedans sometimes refers to a type of jelly made by veal meat.[3][8]

  1. ^ a b Mattsson, Henrik (2024-07-18) [First version: 2008-02-25]. "Kalvdans med råmjölk" [Kalvdans with raw milk]. Receptfavoriter (in Swedish). Retrieved 2024-08-14.
  2. ^ a b c Slow Food Göteborg. Kalvdans Archived 2010-08-20 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ a b Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1922). p. 293 kalmera-Kalven
  4. ^ Kaplan, Anne R., Marjorie A. Hoover, and Willard B. Moore. The Minnesota Ethnic Food Book. Saint Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1986. p. 137
  5. ^ Svenska landsmål och svenskt folkliv, Vol 51–54. P.A. Norstedt & Söner, 1949 p. 62
  6. ^ a b c Sandström, Malin. "Kalvdans: Utrotningshotad delikatess" [Kalvdans: Endangered delicacy]. Taffel (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 2010-12-02.
  7. ^ Borås Tidning. Prisad slow food i Eggvena
  8. ^ Bugge, Sophus (1888). Storm, Gustav (ed.). "Svensk Ordforskning" [Swedish Word Research]. Arkiv For Nordisk Filologi (Fjerde Bind.) (in Norwegian). Christiania: J.W. Cappelens Forlag: 137.