This lovely dessert, consisting of a fig almond compote topped with cinnamon flavoured whipped cream, that I got served at Ørlandet Kysthotell today, comes with a story.
As the story goes, this dessert was served at banquets held at Austråttborgen at Ørlandet by Lady Inger of Ostrat. Familiar name? Well, for those of you who have read some works by the Norwegian author and playwriter Henrik Ibsen, it might by familiar, as he has written a play with the same title.
Lady Inger of Ostrat lived at Austrått castle from 1475 to 1555 as a lady of noblesse. While married to Niels Henrikssøn - an important figure in Norwegian politics at that time - Lady Inger held to the background. After her husband's death though, she became politically active herself and became known for her public dispute with archbishop Olav Engelbrektsson, who apparently had played part in getting Lady Inger's sons in law murdered and had robbed the Austrått castle several times.
The recipe for this dessert comes from a cookbook by Hans Brask, which was published in 1520. Well, I can tell you that this dessert was just as lovely nearly 500 years later!
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