Cuisine of Norway

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Norwegian cuisine is in its traditional form largely based on the raw materials readily available in a country dominated by mountains, wilderness and the sea. Hence, it differs in many respects from its continental counterparts with a stronger focus on game and fish.

Modern Norwegian cuisine, although still strongly influenced by its traditional background, now bears the marks of globalization: Pastas, pizzas and the like are as common as meatballs and cod as staple foods, and urban restaurants sport the same selection you would expect to find in any western European city.

1 Seafood
2 Meat and game
3 Fruit and desserts
4 Dairy products
5 Alcohol
6 External links

[edit] Seafood

Fish

[edit] Meat and game

High cuisine is very reliant on game, such as moose, reindeer and fowl. These meats are often hunted and sold or passed around as gifts, but are also available at shops nationwide, and tend to be served at social occasions. Because these meats have a distinct, strong taste, they will often be served with matching condiments like wild berry jam, juniper berries and rich sauces.

Preserved meat and sausages come in a bewildering variety of regional variations, and are usually accompanied by sour cream dishes and flat bread or wheat/potato wraps. Particularly sought after delicacies include the fenalår, a slow-cured lamb's leg, and morr, usually a smoked cured sausage, though the exact definition may vary regionally. Due to a partial survival of an early medieval taboo against touching dead horses, eating horse meat was nearly unheard of until recent decades, though it does find some use in sausages.

Lamb's meat and mutton is very popular in autumn, mainly used in fårikål (mutton stew with cabbage). Pinnekjøtt, cured and sometimes smoked mutton ribs that is steamed for several hours, is traditionally served as Christmas dinner in the western parts of Norway. Another Western specialty is smalahove, a smoked lamb's head.

Because of industrial whaling, whale was commonly used as a cheap substitute for beef early in the 20th century. More recently, a combination of rising prices stemming from a quota reduced to ca. 300 animals p.a. and the easily ruined flavour of the meat has made whale a much rarer delicacy. Eating whale meat, although not common, is not controversial in Norway.

[edit] Fruit and desserts

Fruits and berries mature slowly in the cold climate. This makes for a tendency to smaller volume with a more intense taste. Strawberries, apples and cherries are popular and are part of a variety of desserts. German and Nordic-style cakes and pastries, such as sponge cakes and Danish pastry (known as Wienerbrød or "Vienna bread") share the table with sweet breads - kaffebrød (coffee bread, named for its accompaniment, not ingredients), waffles and bisquits. Cardamom is a common flavouring.

Coffee is an extremely common part of social life, enjoyed both before and after meals, with desserts and with liquor. The average Norwegian consumes 160 liters of coffee p.a, or ten kilo per person. 80% of the population drinks coffee. As in the rest of the west, recent years have seen a shift from coffee made by boiling ground beans to Italian-style coffee bars, tended by professional baristas.

[edit] Dairy products

Dairy is still extremely popular in Norway, though the variety of traditional products available and commonly in use is severely reduced. Cheese is an export, in particular the plain-brand favourite Jarlsberg cheese. The sweet geitost or brown/red cheese (not a true cheese, but rather caramelized lactose from goat milk or a mix of goat and cow milk) is very popular in cooking and with bread. More sophisticated or extreme cheeses include the gammelost (lit. "old cheese"), an over-matured, highly pungent brown cheese.

[edit] Alcohol

Both industrial and small-scale brewing have long traditions in Norway. Restrictive alcohol policies have encouraged a rich community of brewers, and a colourful variety of beverages both legal and illegal. The most popular industrial beers are usually pilsners and red beers (bayer), while traditional beer is much richer, with a high alcohol and malt content. The ancient practice of brewing Juleøl (yule beer) persists even today, and imitations of these are available before Christmas, in shops and, for the more potent versions, at state monopoly outlets. Cider brewing has faced tough barriers to commercial production due to alcohol regulations, and the famous honey wine, mjød (mead), is mostly a drink for connoisseurs and practitioners of the native religion. The climate has not been hospitable to grapes for millennia, and wines and more potent drinks are available only from the wine monopolies.

Distilled beverages include akevitt, a yellow-tinged liquor spiced with caraway seeds, also known as akvavit or other variations on the Latin aqua vitae - water of life. The Norwegian "linie" style is distinctive for its maturing process, crossing the equator in sherry casks stored the hull of a ship, giving it more taste and character than the rawer styles of other Scandinavian akevitter. Norway also produces some vodkas, bottled water and fruit juices.