What I Learned From My Trip to Norway
A Snapshot of Norwegian Food and Drink

Velkommen (welcome)!  As I hinted to in my previous posts, this past week I had the pleasure of visiting the amazing country of Norway.  Being a self-proclaimed foodie, I couldn't help but try as many traditional Norwegian dishes and drinks as I could.  Now that I’m back in the States, I’d like to share with you some of what I learned while visiting the land of Viking Ships, Fjords, Christmas Markets and Skiing.

 Personal Photo: Taken from Oslo's Ski Jump, Holmenkollbakken

I’m happy to report that the craft beer market has hit Norway.  While beer prices are quite high in Norway (usually starting around $10 for a draught, no joke), they are producing some pretty great beer and mikrobryggeris (Norwegian for microbreweries) are popping up everywhere.  Here are my favorites from our trip:

The best inexpensive beer from Norway in my book is Ringnes.  Ringnes is the largest brewer in Norway and currently is a part of the Carlsberg Group.  The brewery was founded in 1876 and has been producing beer, soft drinks and mineral water ever since.  Their Premium Lager is their flagship beer and you can find it at most bars, grocery stores and vinmonopolets.

While walking around the streets of Oslo, we were lucky enough to randomly stumble upon the Schous-Kjelleren Mikrobryggeri on our second night in Norway.  To get to the brewery, you pass their illuminated sign on an archway which leads you down a flight of stairs to a long brick and stone corridor, with a roaring fireplace at the end and long rows of tables lit up with white candles.  The ambiance of this mikrobryggeri is impressive but even more impressive is the selection of brews they have on tap.  If you get a chance to stop by this brewery around Christmas, I would suggest having their Juleøl (Norwegian for Christmas beer) and their Empress of India (IPA).

We were also privileged to try some brews from Ægir Brewery, which is not located in Oslo but you can find their beer on draught all around the city of Oslo.  I was told fantastical stories about this brewery from the many bartenders I befriended on this trip and so, upon my return to Maine, I checked it out the brewery's website and this place looks amazing!  Ægir is part of the Flåmsbrygga Hotel, located in Flåm, which is close to Bergen on the West Coast of Norway.

Located close to the famous fjord of Bergen, this brewery was designed in a "Viking" style with slate floors, driftwood adorning the walls, dragon décor and a massive fireplace.  Ægir has also started their own distillery now, producing their very own aquavit, a popular Norwegian spirit.  If you're lucky enough to find their bottled beer or even luckier to visit the brewery itself, I recommend their Rallar Amber Ale and their Ægir India Pale Ale, both of which are quite good.

During our trip, we were able to also experience some very traditional and eccentric Norwegian dishes.  I do have to add as well that I was extremely impressed by everything we ate, even if some of them were made in unique ways!  First off, you can’t go to Norway without getting your hands on some sort of cured seafood.  Like Maine, Norway knows their seafood and Norwegian Salmon Gravlax (pronounced grahv-lahks) is just one perfect example of a traditional and delicious salted seafood dish.  Typically, gravlax is a Nordic dish that is cured in salt, sugar and dill.  Typically, you can eat it with hovmästarsås (a mustard/dill combination that is amazing) and it’s either served on a hearty bread or with some simple boiled potatoes.

Want a Gravlax and Hovmästarsås recipe?  Check one out here!

While cured salmon is really common in Norway and pretty easy to obtain in the States, salmon isn’t the only thing they are known to cure and enjoy in Norway.  Some other cured seafood and meat options I saw (and may or may not have experienced) included Fenalår (leg of lamb), Pinnekjøtt (lamb ribs), Tørrfisk (stockfish) and Hval (whale... yes whale).  Now, I know that the consumption of whale is controversial but it is part of Norway's long cultural history farming off of the seas and whale is still legal today to consume in this country.

We had the pleasure to eat dinner at a small, traditional Norwegian Restaurant named Dovrehallen on our fourth night in Oslo.  Here, we experienced two really amazing traditional Norwegian dishes.  The first was an open-faced sandwich with a Pickled Beet and Herring Salad.  The dish was so incredibly fresh and bright with acidity, I loved it!  While it was great to have this dish served as a sandwich, I could also see this dish served as more of an appetizer, on petite toasts.  This was a really approachable Norwegian dish that I think many people would definitely enjoy.

Want to make your own Beet and Herring Salad?  Here's the recipe, just for you!

The second dish we enjoyed at Dovrehallen was the notorious Norwegian Christmas dish, Lutefisk (pronounced loo-tuh-fisk).  Before I give you a quick overview of what lutefisk actually is, I want to preface that with my guarantee that this dish (when prepared properly) is completely safe to consume and is actually quite delicious.  Okay, so what is lutefisk?  Long story short, lutefisk is a traditional Nordic dish that consists of dried and salted whitefish and lye.  Lutefisk literally translates to “lye fish…”  So I know your next question is, how could this not be harmful for you (and secondly, why in the world would you voluntarily eat this)?  Because of the soaking process the stockfish goes through, the fish becomes edible and, again, is actually quite delicious.  You typically eat lutefisk with boiled potatoes, a grain mustard, mushy peas and bacon (cut up small and soaking in plenty of bacon grease).  If you are an adventurous eater, I would say, go for it!  You can make your own lutefisk dish here in the States but it might be hard to get your hands on the real stuff.  If having “lye fish” does scare you a little bit but you’re still interested in the dish, I would suggest making a salted and boiled cod (or other mild whitefish) and serve it with the same accoutrements.  It’s not the same thing exactly, but you get the idea.

If you get lucky and find some lutefisk, here’s how you would traditionally prepare it.

Source: http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lutefisk

Now, a few blog posts back, I mentioned how to make Mulled Wine for your Thanksgiving adventures.  I even mentioned how I was determined to get my hands on Gløgg (pronouced 'glurgg') while vacationing in Norway and I am thrilled to let you know that Gløgg is alive and well in Norway!  I’m not going to lie, I drank it just about every night I was there, granted I did spend a lot of time in Oslo’s Julemarked (Christmas Markets).  If you’re interested in how to prepare your own traditional Norwegian Gløgg, check out NPR’s recipe right here.  Also, if you favor a nonalcoholic version, you can make Gløgg Uten (which translates to Gløgg "Without"), which is still a delight.  Most places that serve Gløgg will have a jar of crushed nuts and raisins that you can scoop into your beverage for a little extra flavor.  Sometimes you'll even find your Gløgg accompanied with a small gingerbread cookie.