Smalhans is chef: An interview with Hans-Peter Lindstrøm (pt. 2)

Welcome to the second part of our interview series with Norwegian producer Hans-Peter Lindstrøm. The series is focused on his new, food-centred album Smalhans—which we’d like to introduce to you to dish by dish. Following up our first instalment centered on the record’s opening track, the second installment discusses Lindstrøm’s track “Lāmm-ęl-āār” and offers a new slow food recipe for your kitchen.

Is Lammelaar the most common, traditional meat to eat in Norway?

Lamb in Norway—especially after the summer—is very cheap. Probably because they slaughter all the lambs before fall so it’s easy to get it everywhere around the country. You can buy it at every supermarket, but you also get very good local meat pretty much everywhere. Norwegian lamb has a very high quality due to the local conditions and while I don’t know too much about that, but I know that I like it very much. We always make lamb at home when it’s the season. The dish Lammelaar is very simple: it’s basically a leg of lamb. You can make it in a thousand ways. Last time I made it I roasted in the oven very slowly, it was in there for around 24 hours at 70°C. The meat gets very tender and nice by doing so. And then you have some potatoes and vegetables with it, that’s it!

So your specific Lammelaar recipe is far from being fast food …

It’s kind of slow food, and you need to do some planning and preparation. Put it in the oven, just leave it there and you don’t need to do anything. When it’s time to prepare the actual dinner, the lamb is pretty much ready. So on the one hand it’s slow food, but then again it’s fast food when you’re about to serve the meal. It’s more a Sunday or holiday kind of dish.

“Smalhans is chef” continues: the third episode of our kitchen-centred interview series with Lindstrøm will be following on Tuesday.

Published November 12, 2012.