About the Erken Archive

The Erken Archive makes Henriette Schønberg Erken's cookery available again. She shaped Norwegian food culture like few others, and her works are today in the public domain. We gather them, transcribe the original texts and place them in a living context so the recipes can once more be used in the kitchen.

Three layers around every recipe

Where we have the basis for it, we show a dish in several versions side by side:

• Original (1914) – Erken's own text from the first edition of “Big Cookbook”, transcribed from the National Library of Norway's facsimiles.
• Revised (1949) – the dish as it appeared in a later edition, so you can follow the changes Erken herself made over time.
• Modernised – an editorial adaptation with units and language for today's kitchen, with the original always within reach.

The collections

• Big Cookbook – the magnum opus, arranged in main and sub-categories as in the book.
• The Kitchen Almanac – day by day through the year, with menus and recipes.
• Sugar-free preserving and Frying & baking – the frugal wartime kitchen, with little or no sugar, butter and wheat flour.
• Articles – editorial material on food traditions, ingredients and the history behind the dishes.

Sources and editorial work

Original texts and facsimiles are from the National Library of Norway's digitised editions. Erken's own texts are in the public domain and are reproduced freely, with a visible source reference. Modernisations, categorisation and editorial material are prepared by the Erken Archive. Where we draw on external reference works, they are used only as factual grounding with a clear source reference – never as a copy of the text.

Our purpose

The Erken Archive is a cultural project that preserves and brings to life an important part of Norwegian food history – and makes it accessible and usable for everyone.

Publisher and editor

The service is operated by Desken AS (org. no. 984 358 202 MVA). Knut Magne Whist is the acting responsible editor and can be reached at knut@erken.no.

Questions, corrections or want to contribute? See the contact page.