Ingrid Espelid Hovig (3 June 1924 – 3 August 2018) was a Norwegian television chef and author of cook books. Through appearances on her

cooking show A cooking show, cookery show, or cooking program (also spelled cooking programme in British English) is a television genre that presents food preparation, often in a restaurant kitchen or on a Television studio, studio set, or at the host's p ...

''Fjernsynskjøkkenet'' over 26 years, between 1970 and 1996,Strømholm, Gøril, ''NRK.no'' (13 December 2005)
Stemmer fra NRK: Hovig, Ingrid Espelid
she came to be considered the "culinary mother" of the country,Wedum, Mari, ''Aftenbladet'' (27 July 2007).
Norges eldste matridder
with the comparison "the

Julia Child Julia Carolyn Child (Birth name#Maiden and married names, née McWilliams; August 15, 1912 – August 13, 2004) was an American chef, author, and television personality. She is recognized for having brought French cuisine to the American pu ...

of Norway" often applied.International Association of Culinary Professional
Hats Off to Julia: Worldwide IACP Grassroots Event

Early life and background

Ingrid Espelid was born on

Askøy Askøy is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The island municipality is located in the Midhordland district of the county, sitting in a large group of islands immediately northwest of the city of Bergen, which i ...

, near

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

, and grew up in

Kleppestø Kleppestø is the administrative centre of the municipality of Askøy in Vestland Vestland is a Counties of Norway, county in Norway. The county is located in Western Norway, and its administrative centre is Bergen, where the executive and po ...

. She graduated from the Norwegian State College for Domestic Science Teachers in 1950, and became acquainted with the

French cuisine French cuisine is the cooking traditions and practices of France. In the 14th century, Guillaume Tirel, a Court (royal), court chef known as "Taillevent", wrote ''Le Viandier'', one of the earliest recipe collections of medieval France. In ...

during a stay in Paris. One of her brothers was Liberal politician

Mons Espelid Mons Espelid (22 April 1926 – 16 March 2009) was a Norway, Norwegian politician for the Liberal Party (Norway), Liberal Party and dentist. He was born in Askøy as a son of manager Ivar Espelid (1880–1946) and teacher Gudrid Eidnes (1883–195 ...

, and another,

Halldor Espelid Halldor Espelid (6 October 1920 – 29 March 1944), known as "Harold" was a Norwegian Supermarine Spitfire pilot who was taken prisoner during the Second World War. He is notable for the part he took in the 'Great Escape' from Stalag Luft III in Ma ...

, was one of the 50 Allied airmen who were executed by the Gestapo after taking part in "the Great Escape" from a German prisoner of war camp in 1944.

Career

Upon joining the

Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (), commonly known by its initialism NRK, is a Norwegian state-run, government-influenced radio and television public broadcasting company. The NRK broadcasts three national TV channels and thirteen nat ...

in 1962 as program secretary for nutrition and consumer material, she became part of the country's first generation of television celebrities. Between 1965 and 1998 she recorded 300 episodes of her cooking programme. She authored over 50 cookbooks. She edited ''Den rutete kokeboken'', which is considered a national cook book.Johansen, Per Kristian, ''NRK.no'' (5 June 2007)
Stjerneklart: Ingrid Espelid Hovig
In 2008 the newspaper ''

Dagbladet () is one of Norway's largest newspapers and is published in the Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. It has 1,400,000 daily readers on mobile, web and paper. Traditionally it was considered the main liberal newspaper of Norway, with a ...

'' recognized her 1967 book ''Ingrid Espelid ber til bords'' as among the twenty-five most influential

prose Prose is language that follows the natural flow or rhythm of speech, ordinary grammatical structures, or, in writing, typical conventions and formatting. Thus, prose ranges from informal speaking to formal academic writing. Prose differs most n ...

books in post-1945 Norway. After her retirement, she continued to accept assignments from publishing companies, and other short-term engagements. Hovig was also a political candidate for the

Liberal Party of Norway The Liberal Party (, , V; ) is a social liberal political party in Norway. It was founded in 1884 and is the oldest political party in Norway. Despite its native name, the Liberal Party is positioned in the centre on the political spectrum, and ...

, and was a deputy representative in the borough council of

Frogner, Oslo Frogner is a residential and retail borough in the West End of Oslo, Norway, with a population of 59,269 as of 2020. In addition to the original Frogner, the borough incorporates Bygdøy, Uranienborg and Majorstua. The borough is named after ...

Recognition

Hovig was the first non-American to receive the International Association of Culinary Professionals' Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1986 she received the Norwegian award Kringkastingsprisen and in 1994 she was awarded Knight, First Class of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav. She was an honorary juror at the inaugural

Bocuse d'Or The Bocuse d'Or (the ''Concours mondial de la cuisine'', World Cooking Contest) is a :wikt:biennial, biennial world chef championship. Named for the chef Paul Bocuse, the event takes place during two days near the end of January in Lyon, France, a ...

Europe in 2008. In 2014, notable Norwegian chefs contributed recipes to a book honouring Hovig's influence in the country, titled ''90 dishes for Ingrid Espelid Hovig.''

Personal life

At the age of 53 she married the architect Jan Inge Hovig, who designed the Arctic Cathedral in

Tromsø Tromsø is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tromsø Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is the administrative centre of the municipality as well as the administrative centre of Troms county. The city is located on the is ...

. He died of a heart attack a week after the wedding, aged 57. She belonged to the

International Organisation of Good Templars The International Organisation of Good Templars (IOGT; founded as the Independent Order of Good Templars), whose international body is known as Movendi International, is a fraternal organization which is part of the temperance movement, promoti ...

, a

fraternal organization A fraternity (; whence, " brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club or fraternal order traditionally of men but also women associated together for various religious or secular aims. Fraternity in the Western conce ...

which is part of the

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting Temperance (virtue), temperance or total abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and ...

, promoting abstinence from alcohol and other drugs. In her 80s, she was considered a trendsetter for women of her generation who adopted her trademark hair style. Hovig died at the age of 94 on 3 August 2018.

References

External links

Ingrid Espelid Hovig profile
Gyldendal publishing house {{DEFAULTSORT:Espelid Hovig, Ingrid 1924 births 2018 deaths People from Askøy Norwegian food writers Norwegian women chefs Norwegian women food writers Norwegian women non-fiction writers Norwegian television chefs NRK people Liberal Party (Norway) politicians Politicians from Oslo Order of Saint Olav 20th-century Norwegian women writers 21st-century Norwegian women writers Norwegian chefs Norwegian temperance activists