Skip to main content

Cooking Around the World: Norway

Unlike most of the countries in our Cooking Around the World Adventure, I have actually been to Norway. A couple of times, actually. I had some good friends who lived there while I was in college and directly after. So, I flew there once, from Berkeley, for a self-declared long weekend. And I took the train from Rome when I was living and working in Italy a couple of years after that. The wife is Norwegian, the husband American. So, they split their time between there and here.

My memories of those two trips are hazy; my memories of the food and drinks are even more so. I remember going to a microroastery and espresso bar in Oslo. I do remember eating Pølse (basically hot dogs) rolled in lefse (flatbread) with mustard and raw onions. And I clearly remember, standing at at the edge of a frozen lake, debating which items to carry on my back while we skiied to her family's cabin. Akevitt won out over food. Yes, my priorities were way out of whack in college: booze over food.

Needless to say, I needed to find something kid-friendly for this adventure. And Dylan requested seafood. So, I stumbled across a recipe that looked delicious: Fish for a Prince (prinsefisk).


I had initially planned to make a Norwegian dessert, too, Prince's cake (fyrstekake). But time got away from me and I am cutting back on sugar. So, I'll stick with the main dish and call this country done.

A few fun facts...
Norway is in Scandinavia and lies above the Arctic circle.

In Norway you will find reindeer, which are also called caribou. These animals use their antlers to scrape the snow away from the ground to find food. The caribou have four toes.

Arctic fox also lives in Norway; its coat changes with the seasons. In winter its fur is mainly grey and white, while in summer it changes to a light brown.

You can buy beer in grocery stores, but you have to buy wine and hard liquor at one place and one place only-Vinmonopolet (which literally means ´Wine Monopoly´).

Norwegians hunt whales.

Oh, one more thing...Norwegians have a delicious cheese that I love. It reminds me of caramel: gjetost. I had the students try it - during our Cheeses Around the World week during my Culinary Adventurers class.

These Global Table Ambassadors are signing off for now. With this, we've wrapped up the Ns; we're headed to Oman next. Stay tuned. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Connecticut Lobster Rolls, Canned Lobster Bisque, and a 2019 Henry Fessy 'Maître Bonhome' Viré-Clessé #Winophiles

This month the French Winophiles group is looking at affordable wines from Burgundy.  Host Cindy of Grape Experiences wrote: "Burgundy, or Bourgogne, is known for its wines of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir... as well as Aligote, Gamay, Sauvignon, César, Pinot Beurot, Sacy, Melon in lesser quantities. Many of the well-known wines are quite expensive, but there are plenty of values to be found." Read her invitation here. And there won't be a Twitter chat for this event, so you will have to dive into the articles themselves to read about our pairings and findings. Here's the line-up... Wendy Klik from A Day in the Life on the Farm enjoys Domaine Chevillon Chezeaux Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Nuits, 2018 Paired with a Maple Pecan Chicken . Camilla Mann from Culinary Adventures with Camilla shares her love of Connecticut Lobster Rolls, Canned Lobster Bisque, and a 2019 Henry Fessy 'Maître Bonhome' Viré-Clessé. Jeff Burrows of FoodWineClick! explains why we should Look t...

Homemade Lorna Doone Cookies #SundayFunday

Today the Sunday Funday group is celebrating childhood favorites. Thanks to Stacy of  Food Lust People Love , Sue of  Palatable Pastime , Rebekah of  Making Miracles , and Wendy of  A Day in the Life on the Farm  for coordinating this low-stress group. Today Stacy is hosting and she's given us the following prompt: "Childhood favorites. Did you have a favorite dish growing up? It could be something your family cooked or a restaurant dish, even a Chef Boyardee canned good or packaged ingredients like Rice-a Roni or mac and cheese. Recreate THAT dish from SCRATCH for this event."  Here's the #SundayFunday childhood favorites line-up... Chili Mac from A Day in the Life on the Farm Ham and Mushroom Breakfast Burritos from Making Miracles Homemade Lorna Doone Cookies from Culinary Adventures with Camilla Homemade Wonder Bread from Karen's Kitchen Stories K-Mart Sub Sandwiches from Palatable Pastime Kempakki Dosa from Sizzling Tastebuds Meat Chilly Fry...

Quick Pickled Red Onions and Radishes

If you've been reading my blog for even a short amount of time, you probably know how much I love to pickle things. I was just telling a friend you can pickle - with vinegar - or you can ferment - with salt - for similar delicious effect. The latter has digestive benefits and I love to do that, but when I need that pop of sour flavor quickly, I whip up quick pickles that are ready in as little as a day or two. I've Pickled Blueberries , Pickled Asparagus , Pickled Cranberries , Pickled Pumpkin , and even Pickled Chard Stems ! This I did last night for an upcoming recipe challenge that requires I include radishes. Ummmm...of course I'm pickling them! Ingredients  makes 1 quart jar radishes, trimmed and sliced organic red onions, peeled and thinly sliced (I used a mandolin slicer) 3/4 C vinegar (I used white distilled vinegar) 3/4 C water 3 T organic granulated sugar 1 T salt (I used some grey sea salt) 6 to 8 grinds of black pepper Proce...