Utvekslingsår i Norge: Let's Talk Food

Hei hei! Ok it’s time for some Norwegian culture. Here the specialty foods are saved for the weekend. Typically during the week I will eat Müsli for breakfast (an oats, raisins, corn flakes type cereal— with yogurt) for lunch I will bring a brød skive to school (an open face sandwich with salami, cheese or something of the sort) and dinner varies from fish to kjøttkaker (directly translated to meat cakes) or pasta, and potatoes are always served as a side. There are other typical dinners such as thin pancakes, eaten with jam, and tomato soup on the side. I have been told that during Christmas each meal is really special, and it is the time of year where everyone eats way too much. During the weekdays Norwegians seldom have dessert. They will maybe have a bowl of chocolate out in the house but nothing more. It isn’t until the weekend that ice cream, waffles, bøller, cake, risgrøt, or some type of dessert is served following dinner. And let me say the Norwegians know how to make their dessert. Risgrøt is rice cooked with milk and cream, often served with fruit flavored syrup or cinnamon and sugar, a definite new favorite dessert for me. Breakfast on the weekends is always a huge assortment of just about everything. There will be a variety of different types of bread, all very delicious. There will be butter, patte, cheese, jam, honey, cucumbers, tomatoes, and other toppings to go with the bread. In addition to that there will be Müsli and also hardboiled eggs. Breakfast on the weekends is always something to enjoy. Since the breakfast is so big and usually eaten around nine or ten in the morning, the next meal won’t be until three or four and they call that middag, which is dinner. It is an early dinner but Norwegians believe that no one should go to bed on a full stomach so if you do get hungry again later in the night, one might eat a slice of bread just to satisfy the stomach. Since I have been here I would have to say Norwegian bread is by far the best there is. Before I thought bread was just plain and boring, that all changed once I entered this magical land. The bread here is always fresh and not presliced. A lot of families make their own bread too, which is so good. Bread is a huge part of Norwegian culture. It can sometimes be eaten with breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They also have knekkebrød, hard bread, which is a typical side with dinner or lunch.

Norwegian Breakfast

Müsli

Risgrøt

Waffles served with jam and sour cream

Knekkebrød with Brunost (a sweet creamy cheese that all Norwegians love)

Bøller, sweet buns sometimes with chocolate (eaten about as often as cookies in the US)

A very typical dinner of fish, potatoes with sauce, and greens

The Norwegians are all really healthy and outdoorsy people. Recently I went backpacking with my sports class. Every student was honestly professional at backpacking. They had the perfect gear, for cooking, the snow, and sleeping. And they all enjoyed being out in the 3 degree Celsius, snowy weather, which was really fun to see. Even those girls who you wouldn’t assume to be interested in backpacking, those who normally come to school more fancily dressed, were true backpackers. Every child grows up surrounded by the backpacking skiing culture and ultimately they all know how to really survive in the great outdoors, which has been really fun for me to experience. We traveled about forty minutes from where I go to school to a place called Totenåsen. It’s a big-forested area with a lot of hiking trails. It was already ice and snow covered, and while we were there it began snowing a little. In winter it is a common place for cross-country skiing. Deep into the forest there are a few cabins, which housed some of Norway’s military during WWII. They are these tiny cabins, about the size of a dorm room, which held anywhere from 10-20 people. They were however successful in keeping away from the Germans because they were never found during the war.

Backpacking in Totenåsen