I just started working part-time at a restaurant and wine bar called Fermentations.  If you are in the vicinity of the metro area or southeastern MN, I highly recommend it.  It is quite a liten restaurant (small restaurant) in kind of a dumpy area outside of where I live.  It´s a gem in the midst of a couple trashy bars right by the railroad tracks.  Now I understand Fermentations has no connection to Norway, but I attended a phenomenal beer and food tasting the other night and I have to write about it.

The best part about working at Fermentations is that the super talented chefs feed us before our shift ends.  It may be a rett (dish or meal) that is on the meny (menu) or it may be a surprise concoction of some of the most velsmakende (tasty) ingredienser (ingredients) in the kitchen.

The meny changes every few weeks and consists of roughly 7 forretter (appetizers), 7 hovedretter (main courses), 4 or 5 desserter, in addition to 5 or 6 typer hjemmelaget is (types of homemade ice cream).  There is an extensive vinliste (wine list), as well as a full bar.  Here is a smakebit (taste) of what you may see on the meny:  duck confit, buffalo meatballs, lobster ravioli, elk sirloin steak, beef burgundy, cassoulet, brie purse, honey chai cake.  I could continue listing the items I have seen and tasted on the Fermentations meny, but I don´t want to get your taste buds too worked up;)

As I mentioned, the other night, I attended a Goose Island beer tasting which accompanied a delicious meal.  Besides the first forrett (smoked gouda beer cheese soup) which was paired with Goose Island IPA, the other four beers were high-end Goose Islands that tasted like nothing I had ever had before.  With the Prince Edward Island Mussels in a hvitløk (garlic), smør (butter) saus came an øl that almost tasted like cider because it had a very sterk smak av sitrus (strong taste of citrus).  It was a bit too sur (sour) and tart for me, but was interesting nonetheless.

The next forrett was a blue cheese tarte with carmelized onions, fig jam, and reduced balsamic vinegar.  It was paired with a blomstrete (flowery), aromatiske (aromatic) øl that I also didn´t care for very much, but was happy to try.  The hovedrett was elk sirloin steak with hvitløk and gressløk (chive) potetmos (mashed potatoes).  It was paired with a rik (rich) and slightly bitter, but not overly so- øl that I enjoyed very much.  It was like drinking a red zinfandel with a big old ribeye.

And finally, the dessert rett-was a chocolate stout pound cake with a rik, søt (sweet) and mildly tung (heavy) øl that had a surprise in the bottom-a scoop of hjemmelaget sjokoladeis (homemade chocolate ice cream).  I know it sounds really strange, but the is in the øl was utrolig deilig (unbelievably delicious)!

So there you have learned a number of culinary words på norsk that you can try to use in your own kjøkken, at a friend or family´s or in a restaurant:)  Try to describe the food that you make and eat-på norsk.