Posts under "Traditions"

Rakfisk Festival, Norway

Posted by kari No Comments
Nov 6 2011

If you had been in Norway this weekend, you might have had the opportunity to experience the annual Rakfisk Festival.  Every year in the town called Fagernes, which is in Valdres in eastern Norway (about 25 miles west of Lillehammer), tens of thousands of people gather to celebrate rakfisk (literally brine cured fish).  The fisk used is typically either ørret (trout) or røye (char).  The fish is salted and then left to brine for 2-3 months, at which point it is eaten rå (raw), perhaps on a piece of flatbrød (flatbread) with rå løk (onions) or purre (leeks), smør (butter) or rømme (sour cream) and poteter.

Rakfisk Festival always occurs in the first weekend of November, right around that time that the days feel really short and the amount of daylight is dwindling.  Every year there is different entertainment, but always loads and loads of fisk.  According to several sources I have consulted, Norwegians consume 500 tons of rakfisk every year.  The official website of Rakfisk Festival can be viewed here.  You can see the full program, which included several musical artists including Viggo Sandvik, Askil Holm, and Vassandgutane.  There is plenty of opportunity to chill out and listen to music or get on the dance floor and boogie.

This year there were 9 individuals and organizations who contributed their rakfisk to the festival:

Rakfiskprodusentene

Lofoss Fisk

Telefon: 91844501
E-post: endre@roengard.no
Nettside: www.lofossfisk.no
Mer om Lofoss Fisk

Noraker Gård

Telefon: 61 36 23 64
E-post: nils@noraker.no
Nettside: www.noraker.no
Mer om Noraker Gård

Wangensten

Telefon: 61362300
E-post: jorn@wangensten.no
Nettside: www.wangensten.no
Mer om Wangensten

Some interesting facts about the festival include:

-40 tons of rakfisk are sold during the festival

-25,000 visitors attend the festival every year

-70% of attendees have experienced the festival before

-70% come with family and friends

-30% have attended at least 5 times

-in addition to rakfisk, hundreds of other booths are set up by local food producers and individuals who produce handicrafts

-the festival costs about 40 million kroner every year

Rakfisk Festival is one of the largest events related to food culture and supporting the production of local food.  It sounds like a whole lot of fun to me.  Norway is the only month that I have not experienced in Norway.  Next time I´m going to Rakfisk festival to eat fermented ørret with a glass of akevitt!

 

 

Lutefisk Season is upon us

Posted by kari 4 Comments
Oct 23 2011

Whether you like it or not, it is Lutefisk season for Norwegians and Norwegian Americas alike!  I must be honest, I have never ordered lutefisk at a restaurant and I have never chosen to eat it.  The St. Olaf (my alma mater) cafeteria serves it every year in early December during the St. Olaf Christmas Festival and I always chose to avoid the cafeteria during that time.  Again, I’m sorry to admit, but the lutefisk that I have been exposed to is vile and makes me lose my appetite.  This is actually quite strange for me as I actually can count the foods I dislike on one hand.  In any case, lutefisk…..I’ll try to promote it in this blog post just because I believe that it can actually be tasty if it is prepared well and paired with delicious accompaniments.

Most of you probably know what lutefisk is-that white jelly-like fish that has been soaked in lye, the same chemical soap is made of.  Lutefisk became popular due to the lye extending it’s shelf life. Soaking the fish in lye preserves the fish, which was an extremely important quality hundreds of years ago.  Although preserving the fish is not important today as it was when sailers were crossing the ocean without modern refrigerators, diners today still enjoy this fall delicacy.

From early October through Christmas Norwegians shell out the dough for good lutefisk.  A fair price for this delicacy at a good restaurant in Norway is in the 350 kroner (about $65 USD).  It isn’t just in traditional Norwegian restaurants that one can find lutefisk on the menu during this time in Norway.  The dish is so popular that even Chinese restaurants serve it!

Lutefisk is traditionally served with a purée of kremet erter (creamed peas), but the adventurous will try it with other accompaniments such as ferske erter (fresh peas), bacon, sennep (mustard), and even geitost (goat cheese), mandelpoteter (almond potatoes), or small gulpoteter (yellow potatoes) particularly in northern Norway.  Lutefisk is usually served with something salty, something rich, and something sweet (like honey for example).

Here is an example of lutefisk on a julemeny (Christmas Menu) in Oslo at Mona Lisa Restaurant:

 

Meny nr.2

Lutefisk med ertestuing, bacon, baconfett, geitost,sennepsaus, tyttebær, fransk sennep, sirup og lefse. Kokte poteter.

Multekrem med kransekake

kr 590,-

Sounds pretty tasty actually.  Lutefisk with mashed peas, bacon, bacon fat, goat cheese, mustard sauce, cranberries, French mustard, sirup and lefse.  Cooked potatoes, cloudberry cream and kransekake (a kind of Norwegian cake) for 590 crowns.

Depending on ones preference, vin, øl, or akevitt pair well with lutefisk.  Akevitt would be the traditional choice, but a god Norwegian lager or a German riesling would pair well.

The below is a simple lutefisk recipe:

 

  1. 1
    Place the lutefisk in a kettle, and add enough cold salt water to completely cover them(some people like to place the lutefisk in cheesecloth and tie the ends itno a bag, before placing in the kettle.).
  2. 2
    Bring gradually to a boil. (Caution: It will be done when brought to a full boil, and if boiled too long the fish will fall into pieces.).
  3. 3
    Remove from the burner, skim off any foam that appears and the let the lutefisk stand for 5-10 minutes.
  4. 4
    Drain well, and serve steaming hot on warmed plates.

Akevitt-the Norwegian flavored spirt otherwise known as “Water of Life”

Posted by kari No Comments
Oct 15 2011

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!

 

 

 

Strange and interesting facts about Norway

Posted by kari 4 Comments
Sep 30 2011

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.

Inflyttingsfest-housewarming party

Posted by kari 4 Comments
Aug 18 2011

I don’t own a hus (house), but someday when I do, I’m definitely
going to throw an inflyttingsfest (housewarming party).  I have older friends that own a house, but
none of my friends that are the same age as me (26) have taken that jump (or
can afford it).  In any case, in the next
10 years, I presume I’ll attend quite a few  inflyttingsfester.

First, I’d like to go over some vocabulary related to items in a hus.  When you attend an  inflyttingsfest, you probably look around
at everything in the hus-møbler (furniture), kunst (art), elektronikker
(electronics), tekstiler (textiles), veggene (the walls), gulvet (the floor),
and of course stil (style) and farger (colors), among other things.

At innflyttingsfester that I have attended, I usually get an omvisning (tour) of the hus.  I like when the host or hostess does this as it typically means there is nothing they feel they need to hide from their friends and family and they are stolt av (proud of) their new home.  During the omvisning, you will get a good look at kjøkkenet (kitchen), soverommene (bedrooms), bad (bathrooms), stue (living room), garasjen, verandaen (the porch), etc.

At any norsk fest (Norwegian party), it is customary to bring a small gave (gift) for the host/hostess, but it is especially important at an innflyttingsfest.  Ei flaske vin (a bottle of wine), godteri (candy), or blomster (flowers) are all typical gaver.  It is a nice gesture when a guest enters the home and introduces him or herself to the rest of the guests.  If you are the designated driver, you best not consume any alcohol.  There will always be non-alcohol beverages for the driver.  I always advise taking a taxi so all guests can enjoy a drink or two:)

It is proper to wait for the host/hostess to eat before the guests dig in.  Remember to say “Takk for maten” (thanks for the food) when you have finished your meal!  And don’t think that when you leave the table that the evening is over.  You will likely head into the stue where you will sit and prat (chat) over kaffe og kaker (coffee and cakes).  You will not walk away hungry!

 

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