Archive for the ‘Norway’ CategoryIt takes a long time to get anywhere in Norway. For example, a 300km drive takes 5 - 6 hours because rather than go as the crow flies you have to go over, around and /or through something (generally a large, snow-capped mountain or fjord).
The more we saw of Norway, the more I developed a theory that the long travel times prompted Norwegians to hone the art of the travel snack.
Stop at a roadside petrol station and you can buy boller, spiced cinnamon buns that come plain, with raisins, or lately with chocolate pieces.
Catch a ferry (a frequent, but beautiful, necessity in a country riddled with fjords and lakes) and you can enjoy svelle - thick, fluffy pancakes filled with a mix of cream and sugar. These are generally sold on an honesty system - go down to the hold of the ship and you’ll find a small plate of svelle, a thermos of coffee, a price list and a money tin.
Another favourite available in petrol stations and on ferries is pekan weinerbrod, a pastry baked in a twist, with a crushed pecan nut filling, and sprinkled with chopped pecans on top.
Norway is heaven for berry lovers. Tangles of blueberries, raspberries and cloud berries grow wild in the forrests and meadows, but the Norwegian pride and joy is strawberries. Apparently Norwegian strawberries are naturally sweet because they receive so much light in the land of the midnight sun.
Large punnets of strawberries are often sold by cute children while you’re waiting in the ferry line, but you can also buy them from the side of the road, again on an honesty system.
One of the best uses of the strawberries I tried was at the house of a Norwegian family who had befriended Andy’s brother Tim. Hearing we were stopping by the wife, Eda, whipped up lappar - small, thick pancakes made with sour milk - and used fresh strawberries from their garden to make a thick syrup to eat with them.
Basking in the warmth of Norwegian hospitality, I was in no hurry to go anywhere. Summer in Norway is campervan season. All around the country bulky white campervans converge in convoys, frustrating Norwegian drivers with their 30km per hour speed around bends, until they find themselves a lush patch of grass in a valley nestled by snow-capped mountains and overlooking a lake or fjord (this is not hard in Norway) Having settled in, the campers quickly join in with one of the great Norwegian culinary traditions: grilling (or BBQing). Grilling holds a central place in Norwegian life. You can buy single use grills from the local supermarket and even a brand of grilling beer (called Grills Pils). Grilling was also at the centre of a political debate, when a Member of Parliament from the worker’s party tried to insult someone by accusing them of being like the lazy grillers who sit around in campsites and drink beer. Outcry followed, with the politician being branded out of touch, and conservative politicians staging photo opportunities of themselves grilling and advertising the grillers were welcome in their party.
We bought ourselves a mini-grill, and Tim sizzled some sheets of zucchini, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, corn, and aspargus spears with olive oil, and seasoned them with pepper and sweet chilli sauce. I don’t know if was the grill, the chef, the view, or my enormous appetite whipped up by my newfound love of adventure sports, but the food tasted great. Not a bad effort for a little grill! One of the pitfalls of travelling with a dilligent blogger is that it shows just how slack I am. Sorry! As Andy has written about, to give us a real Norsk experience, his brother Tim took us on a three day trek through Norway’s beautiful wilderness area called Trollsheim (home of the Trolls). For the record, I have never been on a three day trek in my life, and before setting off wondered guiltily whether my On the second day we climbed a mountain, walked through snow, spotted reindeer, and tramped through fertile valleys filled with silver birch, rushing streams, and mires. We had come 34km - the longest distance of my life. I was beat! Thankfully, Norway has an amazing network of100s of communal huts, managed by the Norwegian Tourist organisation. As we trudged up to Trollheimshytte, a two storey buidlinging with a smaller cottage came into view. I thought gratefully of how nice it would be to cook a quick dinner, then wrap up in my sleeping bag and go to bed. To my surprise, the main hut had just opened for the season. This meant we weren’t allowed to self-cater. Instead, we had to stay in the main hut, be treated to a three course meal for dinner, and have a hot shower. It was like discovering paradise in a remote stretch of Norway - with chocolate. The remoteness of the location (the wilderness area we trekked in is not accessible to cars) meant that supplies in the hut were finite. Despite this, the hut happily agreed to make us a three course vegetarian meal with just one hour’s notice. There are restaurants in Sydney that would buck at this challenge. Dinner was served in a communal dining room at long, polished wooden tables. For entree, we had tomato soup with noodles.
For mains, a steaming bowl of boiled potatoes with butter and parsley came out, followed by a bowl of buttered cabbage. The vegetarian piece de resistance was a platter of barley patties, with a creamy mushroom sauce. The barley made the patties juicy and soft, while the outside was crunchy and fried. They were so good we complimented the chef afterwards, and she kindly agreed to give us the recipe and let me post it on the blog. Thanks Camilla! I will put it up as soon asI confirm the translation with Tim.
Dessert was strawberry jelly with creamy custard, followed by coffee and slice. The goodness didn’t end with dinner. Breakfast the next morning was a smorgasbord of cheese (jarlsberg - which is Norwegian, and brunost - a thick, butter-like, brown cheese made from goats milk, also Norwegian) bread, biscuits, cold meats, pickled vegetables and coleslaw, along with mueslis and milk. It’s traditional for trekkers to pack a lunch using the leftover breakfast food. Each table had a packet of thin squares of greasproof paper. The idea is to take a slice of bread, layer it with your choice of topping, then cover it with greasproof paper and start again. When you’re done, you wrap it up in thick paper bags with “Food with a view” written on the side.
V Rating: VVVVV Norway is famous for fishing, fjords and vikings. Local delicacies include reindeer and elk. Cheese is sold in a tube in three flavours: bacon, prawn and ham. As vegetarians, we prepared for the worst.
Against this backdrop, we were surprised to hear about a vegetarian restaurant called the Vegeta Vertshaus in the University district of Oslo, about a five minute walk from the central square. Vegeta Versthaus has the impressive distinction of surviving in carnivorous Norway since 1938, making it one of Europe’s oldest vegetarian restaurants.
Vegeta is an unassuming, relaxed restaurant with friendly staff and pretty stained glass lights.There is a large buffet with a selection of salads, hot foods, pizza, fruit and fried patties. If you’re hungry, the small or large plate is a good option because you can help yourself to all of the buffet food, plus come back for fresh fruit. We had the large plate (just Kr10 more) and were very full at the end.
The salad buffet included beetroot and apple salad, potato salad, a cold lentil and tomato salad, hummus and avocado mousse. I kept up my daily potato quota by munching on potato patties and potato bake, but there were also mini samosas, noodle bake, a lentil curry, and ratatouille. Our local guide (Andy’s brother Tim) assured us that Kr130 (A$26) was very good value for a restaurant meal in Norway, where the average price is about A$60 per person. I’m still struggling with the concept. If you’re on a budget, Vegeta offers a good sized bowl of soup for Kr48 (A$9) or with bread for Kr54 (A$11), or a plate of mixed salads for between Kr50 - Kr80 (A$10 - $16). They also offer discounts for pensioners and students (10%) on part of the menu. All in all, a great refuge for hungry vegetarians in Norway. |
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