Ingebretsen's Nordic Marketplace ★ 4.6
Ingebretsen's on East Lake Street has cured Scandinavian deli items in Minneapolis since 1921. Lefse, lutefisk and a hundred-year Norwegian-American family business.
Worth the queue: Lefse
History
Norwegian and Swedish immigration to Minnesota peaked between 1880 and 1920; by 1900 Minneapolis-Saint Paul held the largest Norwegian-American population outside Oslo. The lefse and krumkake tradition came with them. Ingebretsen's Nordic Marketplace opened on East Lake Street in 1921 as a Norwegian meat shop and has run the city's defining Scandinavian bakery counter ever since. The store still sells lefse rolling pins, krumkake irons and the cardamom-scented sandbakkelse tins for home baking. Saint Olaf College in Northfield runs an annual Christmas Lutefisk and Lefse Dinner.
Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy, Eggs
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 2 lb russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 3 tbsp butter, melted
- 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp salt
- 1 to 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
- Salted butter and white sugar to fill
Method
- Boil potatoes until very soft, about 20 minutes. Drain thoroughly; let dry-steam 5 minutes.
- Pass through a ricer into a bowl. Add cream, butter, sugar and salt. Mix and cool completely (1 hour or overnight in fridge).
- Work in flour gradually until the dough just holds together without sticking. Do not overwork.
- Divide into 12 balls. On a heavily floured surface, roll each to a 10-inch round thin enough to see through.
- Heat a dry griddle to 450F. Cook each round 60 seconds per side, until brown freckles appear.
- Stack between damp towels. Spread with butter, dust with sugar, fold in quarters or roll. Serve with coffee.
Tip from the editors. Use a grooved lefse rolling pin if you have one; the surface keeps the dough thin without sticking, and you can buy one at Ingebretsen's on Lake Street.
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.
Where to eat lefse and krumkake
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