The Great Norwegian Porridge Debate, Or Tradition Vs. 'Science'
In 1864, a male scientist tried to "porridge-splain" how to make proper gruel to Norwegian women who had been making it for centuries. It caused quite a stir and didn't work out so well for him.
When you talk about traditional Scandinavian foods, you end up talking about porridge. In a cold climate, only certain grains could thrive — namely barley and oats. Their warm mush was a building block of early Nordic foodways, and is still a staple.
Now, an everyday bowl of plain old grain mush hardly sounds controversial. But in the middle of the 19th century, Norway was gripped with a series of public debates that later became known as the Norwegian Porridge Feud. Really.
