Tradisjonell norsk mat.\u00a0 Bland and fairly simple, but delicious.\u00a0 Until the last half of the 20th century, Norway was a very poor country.\u00a0\u00a0Its people\u00a0had to make do with what they had-namely meat, fish, and potatoes.\u00a0 Potatoes would actually be the main dish of a meal, with meat or fish and\u00a0sauce\u00a0added as\u00a0 condiments.\u00a0 Of course, as the Norwegian population has become more diverse with inhabitants from different ethnic backgrounds over the last few decades, the food selection has become much more varied.\u00a0 Pizza, sushi, and kabobs are some of the\u00a0\u00a0hot items that\u00a0street vendors and restaurants\u00a0in Norway’s bigger cities offer.\u00a0 However, even with the enormous influx of new culinary items, Norwegians still continue to eat quite a lot of traditional meals.<\/p>\n
In some ways, traditional Norwegian dishes resemble the bland dishes of the midwest (where I live…).\u00a0 On second thought, since we got them from northern Europe, so I should say that our traditional dishes resemble traditional\u00a0dishes of Scandinavias.\u00a0 There are certainly differences in the two cuisines, the main difference being the quantity of fish consumed in both regions.\u00a0 While much of the midwest (especially Wisconsin and Minnesota, land of 10,000 lakes) is home to a great deal of water, it is freshwater and thus freezes in the winter.\u00a0 And although icefishing is a popular winter sport, midwesterners eat far\u00a0less fish than Norwegians do.\u00a0 All year round fresh fish is abundant in Norway and the people take advantage of it.\u00a0 The large amount of fish consumed is definitely one reason why Norwegians are typically healthier than people who don’t eat quite as much fish (Americans in general eat very little fish compared to the rest of the world).<\/p>\n
Another distinguishing characteristic of traditional Norwegian dishes is the nature of the sauces and relishes that typically accompany fish and meat.\u00a0 Because of the abundance of fresh berries of many kinds with extrememly robust flavor (due to slow maturing process in the cold climate), as well as the delicious cheeses (such as geitost <\/strong>or brunost<\/strong>), many meat and fish dishes are complimented by a nice berry relish or some sore of cheese-type gravy\/sauce, or a combination of both!<\/p>\n Norway is one of the only places outside of Asia that truly utilizes the great mixture of sweet and sour.\u00a0\u00a0 This method of flavoring or marinating is especially common with fish.\u00a0 Sild (<\/strong>herring) and laks <\/strong>(salmon) are two kinds of fish in particular that are commonly\u00a0soaked in a sweet and sour marinade.\u00a0 As you probably already know, sild<\/strong> is most often served pickled.\u00a0 Many of you have perhaps only had grilled or baked salmon, maybe even smoked.\u00a0 Gravlaks <\/strong>(sweet and sour cured salmon) is very popular in Norway.\u00a0 \u00d8rret <\/strong>(trout) is another popular fish, in addition to torsk <\/strong>(cod).\u00a0 Fish has always been a staple of Norwegian cuisine, but shellfish has only recently been incorporated into the diet.<\/p>\n In a later post, I will go into more detail about particular dishes, as well as dessert! <\/strong>For now though, join me in making gravlaks. <\/strong>I’m going to go to the store today and buy salmon filets, white wine, and dill so that I’ll have what I need to bury my salmon in sweet and salty flavor for 3 days.\u00a0 Mmmmm….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Tradisjonell norsk mat.\u00a0 Bland and fairly simple, but delicious.\u00a0 Until the last half of the 20th century, Norway was a very poor country.\u00a0\u00a0Its people\u00a0had to make do with what they had-namely meat, fish, and potatoes.\u00a0 Potatoes would actually be the main dish of a meal, with meat or fish and\u00a0sauce\u00a0added as\u00a0 condiments.\u00a0 Of course, as…<\/p>\n