First Lutheran Church, Minot, is again rolling out the rommegrot by the gallon each day in Stockholm Hall at the Norsk Hostfest on the North Dakota State Fairgrounds.
Rommegrot is a traditional Norwegian porridge made with cream, flour, milk, sugar and salt. It's typically served in small cups with a small amount of butter and topped with cinnamon and sugar. Recipes for rommegrot differ depending on the region of the country.
"It's surprising how many people ask what it is every year," said Heather Brown, one of the volunteers at First Lutheran Church's rommegrot stand on Friday afternoon.
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The place to enjoy a cup or pint of rommegrot can be found at the First Lutheran Church stand in Stockholm Hall at the Norsk Hostfest on the North Dakota State Fairgrounds. Church members volunteer at the stand to sell the traditional Norwegian porridge to Hostfest attendees.
"A lot of people say they only eat rommegrot once a year," added Cindy Smith, another volunteer at the stand.
A cup of rommegrot at the church stand is $3.50, while a frozen pint is sold for $11 and a heated up pint is sold for $13.
The rommegrot is made a week prior to the Hostfest and then frozen, said Tarryll Shomento, volunteer shift coordinator for the stand. Each day volunteers bring the rommegrot to the Hostfest stand and heat it up on site, she added, and usually around 60 five-gallon pails are made for the entire festival.
Shomento said she enjoys her rommegrot with just cinnamon and sugar, no butter. Most Hostfest attendees, however, enjoy their rommegrot drizzled with butter and topped with cinnamon and sugar.
The leftover rommegrot is sold in cold pint containers at First Lutheran Church after the Hostfest.
Business at the rommegrot stand was a little slow on Wednesday, Shomento said, but picked up a little better on Thursday and they haven't compared this Friday with last year yet. On Friday afternoon, however, business seemed to be fairly steady.
There's still one more day to partake in a cup or pint of rommegrot with Hostfest festivities starting at 8 a.m.