Norwegian Street Food Posted by kari on Mar 1, 2011 in Culture
I´m sure it seems odd to think about Norway as a place with a lot of street food. Before I lived there, I didn´t imagine there would would be so many options, nor did I think Norwegians would be keen on street food. Not the case at all! There are plenty of options for street food if you are on the go. Perhaps you are on your way to work or school, or on your lunch break. Or maybe it´s 3am and you´ve left the bar saturated with alcohol and you want something to eat while you´re waiting for your taxi, the t-bane, or walking to your final destination.
You can find both traditional and modern cuisine in the form of street food. If you´re in the mood for something sweet, I would highly recommend vafler (waffles) topped with syltetøy (jam), bær (berries) and-or krem. You will not find syrup as a topping. In fact, come to think of it, I´m not sure I´ve even seen syrup in matbutikker (grocery stores). I´m sure it exists, but it is certainly not a popular pålegg(topping). Another sweet item you will see in most convenience stores such as 7 Eleven or gas stations is softis (our equivalent to soft serve, but in my opinion, it is much better in Norway!). You can order your softis plain in several flavor varieties, as well as with strø (ice cream topping, literally sprinkles), such as godteri (candy), nøtter (nuts), for example. My personal belief is that all dairy items in Norway are far better than what you typically get in the US.
Another very popular item to buy if you´re on the go is smørbrød (an open faced sandwich) with various pålegg, such as hard boiled egg, reker (shrimp), pesto and kylling (chicken), or something of the sort. Baguettes with similar fillings are common, as are calzones and hot food such as pizza, warm Chinese food, or pasta. Deli de Luca is my personal favorite for buying these items.
By far the most common after-bar foods are pølser (hot dogs) either plain in a bun or lompe (lefse-type wrapping) with some sort of saus (and maybe even bacon wrapped) and kebabs. That´s right-kebabs. My favorite kebab joint in Oslo is called Bislett. In it, you can have kylling or kjøtt (which means meat, but in this case, beef) and they are typically filled with løk (onion), mais (corn), paprika (peppers), and lots of saus, wrapped in a pita. My favorite kebab joint in Tromsø, in case you find yourself there in need of a gyro, is Snappes Kebab.
Happy street food eating!
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About the Author: kari
I attended St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN, where I majored in Norwegian and History. During college, I spent almost a year living in Oslo, Norway, where I attended the University of Oslo and completed an internship at the United States Embassy. I have worked for Concordia Language Villages as a pre-K Norwegian teacher and have taught an adult Norwegian language class. Right now, I keep up by writing this Norwegian blog for Transparent Language. Please read and share your thoughts! I will be continuing this blog from my future residence in the Norwegian arctic!
Comments:
Norwegian:
7eleven,narvesen,vaffler and deli is not streetfood! Streetfood is foodtrucks, bazar or someplace outside to by easy, good food
Sheila Morris:
It’s not really “street food” if you go into a store for it! This is all more like fast food. I don’t remember seeing any food-trucks or even kiosks last time I was in Norway, but then…it was February. Though Narvesen was a life-saver when we realized we were on a local train from Trondheim to Oslo, and it didn’t have a food car! We stopped long enough in Røros for me to grab a few things.