Norwegian Language Blog

I returned back home to Minnesota a couple of nights ago from Georgia and Tennessee to discover that høst (fall) is in full swing.  Temps were in the 70s and 80s about 10 days ago and the highs the last few days was in the 40s-a classic MN massive drop in temperature.  I´ve been trying to kick a forkjølelse (cold) for a couple of weeks now and this cold air certainly isn´t helping.  Norway or Minnesota, høst is time for suppe!

There are so many delicious supper enjoyed throughout Norway, most of which have been around for a long, long time.  There are hearty supper with biff and poteter or more chowdery supper with krem and fisk, vegetarisk supper, as well as clear brothy supper and smooth creamy supper!  What is your favorite type of suppe?  I love them all.

I have found some really great oppskrifter (recipes) online that I´d like to share with you, both for supper that I have never tasted and supper that I have had the pleasure to enjoy:

Andreas Viestad´s Norwegian Red Onion Soup with Port and Jarlsberg, ´a lovely, slightly sweet, onion soup´

You can find the recipe here at Food.com.

Another soup from Andreas Viestad Beet Soup with Goose stock

Andreas Viestad on the beet soup:

This is a high north version of the Russian beet soup borscht. The sweet and aromatic goose stock makes it slightly more sophisticated than the hearty Russian versions. The first time I made it was in Svalbard, an archipelago halfway between mainland Norway and the North Pole. Stock from wild Svalbard goose added a rich gamy quality. Stock from farm-raised goose has a milder flavor.

Goose and duck meat may be delicious, but most of the flavor lies hidden in the bones, Cooking leftover bones and meat in water with aromatic vegetables is a simple thing, yet the stock you get is rich and delicious. You can also use this recipe for turkey or chicken, making a somewhat lighter stock. The stock can be frozen for up to 2 months.—Andreas Viestad

You can find the recipe here.

Watch Andreas Viestad made vegetarisk suppe !

Other popular Norwegian supper include cabbage suppe, fiskesuppe (fish chowder), purresuppe (leek soup), mussel suppe, mutton stew, hearty hunter´s stew with some of the finest ingredients ever: Ingredients
8- 10 Potatoes, peeled
2 Parsnips, peeled
2 Carrots, peeled
3 Yellow Onions, peeled
3 Cloves of Garlic
1/3 pound of Mushrooms, Shiitake or other
10-12 slices of Beef or Venison
1 ¼ cup Dark Beer
1 Cup of beef stock or  cube beef stock
9 Juniper Berries
Butter and Oil

There are so many delicious norske supper to enjoy.  I suggest purchasing a kokebok of Andreas Viestad´s or just browsing online for deliciously sounding oppskrifter to try:)

And finally, for some classic norsk humor, click to see a really funny clip (på norsk) on supperåd (soup advice).

Akevitt (Norwegian spelling), akvavit and aquavit-however you prefer to spell it, is a delicious flavored (many are probably mumbling “speak for yourself” right now…) spirit home to Scandinavia-Norway, Sweden, and Denmark in particular.  Brandy is known by the French as “eau de vie” (Water of Life).  Of course I will be focusing on Norwegian Akevitt!

While other nations distill grains to produce the tasty beverage, Norwegian akevitt is made from distilled poteter.  The distinct flavor comes from a variety of different spices and herbs depending on the kind-caraway is by far the most popular, but dill, cardamom, cumin, anise, and fennel are typical ingredients as well.  Akevitts vary in color from clear to a light and even caramer colored brown.  Some akevitt is aged in oak casks, which give it a brownish hue.  The longer it is stored in the oak casks, the darker the hue will be.  Norwegian akevitt is aged in oak casks for anywhere from 1-12 years.  Caramel coloring is also used sometimes to create a brown hue without using oak casks.  Clear akevitt is known as “taffel.” 

Linje!

Varieties of Norwegian akevitt include Løiten, Lysholm, Gilde, and my personal favorite Linje.  I’m not sure I’ve even tried all of the aforementioned brands, but I appreciate the time, energy, and journey Linje akevitt embarks on before it is on the market.  Linje akevitt is said to achieve it’s bold and distinct flavor (as well as brown hue) because it is aged in oak casks that travel on ships from Norway to Australia and back, thus crossing the equator 2 times.  No, there is no superstition or magic involved in the equator crossing (that we know of at least-wink), but rather the constant movement, fluctuating temperatures, and high humidity cause the impacts of the aging process to be exemplified.  This is certainly quite the tur-retur (round-trip) journey for ei flaske alkohol (a bottle of alcohol) to take, not to mention costly!

Norwegians drink akevitt our of either shot glasses or long stemmed tulip-shaped glasses and they drink it in “snaps,” that is small shots during a meal.  Akevitt is not consumed as often as vodka, beer, or wine, for example.  It is a spirit consumed during traditional meals on Sankthansaften (Midsummer), 17. Mai (17th of May, Norway’s Constitution Day), Påske (Easter), and Jul (Christmas) as it is known to ease the digestion of rich foods (these holidays call for rich food!)  Typically, the host says “Skål!” (Cheers!) which is the signal for everyone to make eye contact with the host and take a snap!  Many people that I have consumed akevitt with absolutely despise it for it’s unusual flavor.  Although I hate caraway seeds in bread, for instance, I love akevitt.

Home distilling of akevitt is illegal in Norway, but a common practice.  I’ve had the pleasure of drinking heimbrent (home distilled) vodka, but not akevitt.  Someday I hope to enjoy this delicacy!

Working for a company headquartered in a foreign country really makes cultural differences apparent.  My colleagues and I often feel like anthropologists studying the potential reasons and implications for these cultural differences.  Since I have spent more time in Norway than I have in the Netherlands, I have become very used to the differences between Norway and the U.S.  So, I´ve been thinking over the past couple of days about peculiar facts about Norway that implicate something about the Norwegian people.

-Grocery stores are not allowed to be open on Sundays, but gas stations and kiosks can (and they sell groceries).

-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´and closes quite early)

-Even though Norway is one of the top oil producers in the world, gas is more expensive in Norway than almost anywhere.

-Because food prices are so high in Norway, many Norwegians drive across the border to Sweden to shop.  These purchases amount to over 2 billion USD every year.

-If you get caught drinking and driving in Norway, you will go to jail for 30 days and immediately get your license revoked until a year later (assuming they pass the test).

-It can cost in the thousands for Norwegian teenagers to get their license (minimum age 18).

-Norwegians eat brown cheese (brunost)-one of my favorite things

-And lutefisk, fish soaked in lye (a chemical used in making soap)

-speeding fines are often more serious than if a person is caught with drugs

-Norway has voted against membership in the EU several times, but has implemented more EU directives than any other EU member state.

-Norwegians love Grandiosa, cheap frozen pizza.

-Most Norwegians take a 4 week holiday during the summer.  This means that the country slows down a lot and if you are a tourist and you aren´t aware of this, you wonder where everyone is and why nothing is open….

-Norwegians are one of the only people in the world to hunt whales

-Norwegians eat American children´s Christmas figure, Rudolph (and it´s darn good!)

-Norwegians do not typically smile or start talking to a stranger on the bus.  It is not considered rude to behave as such.

-Bars stay open very late, but having drinks outside at the bar closes earlier than inside the bar.  The bartender will take your full drink even if you just ordered it inside and walked outside.

There are many, many more peculiarities about the Norwegian culture, but that was a good dose.  If you spend a month or 2 in Norway, especially over the summer, you will learn all of these things.