Strange Foods in Norway

While there are a lot of good foods and bakeries that will make you drool, there are also a lot of foods in Norway you can't help but wonder in its strangeness, "People really eat that?"

As a foreigner coming to Norway, it's expected that I find some cultural aspects strange or weird. At first thinking people actually eat moose was a bit strange to me, but I've tried some and it's not so bad. If I hadn't known better I'd have thought it were beef. However, US customs doesn't allow "exotic meats" such as moose and reindeer jerky, so in Detroit's airport I had to hand over the jerky I was trying to bring to my family.

First and foremost, being so accustomed to chocolately peanutbuttery candy as we have in America it was a bit of a let down when I couldn't find but some makeshift Reese's cups and in place of all the chocolately marshmallowy peanutbuttery candy, I have found an American's worst candy nightmare - LICORICE! While most Americans turn their noses up at the stuff, Scandinavians drool over it.

So much licorice!!!
Another strange food here is all the fish and fish products. Not only is there lutefisk or tørrfisk, but fish soup (which is actually really good with buttered garlic bread) fish pudding, fiskeballer (otherwise known as fish balls - like meat balls, but fish), fiskekaker and fish burgers. But that's not all, caviar is sold in tubes, whole fish is available, or half way filet fish is available, as well as jumbo shrimp (with faces and all!) which is available in stores to be scooped out of a freezer.


Fish. 
Fish. 
And more fish. 
It's not uncommon to find something called leverpostei. I have yet to figure out what this is, but from my understanding it's a form of canned meat - liver pate or something. It's also not uncommon to find food in tubes. This concept really seems very American and I'm 100% certain if bacon and cheese were sold in tubes in America the food tube company would be raking in some good money. I've never tried any food tubes before and really, it just seems too bizarre for me.

Leverpostei. 
Bacon cheese in a tube. 
Ham cheese in a tube. 
Meat pudding.
Jalapeno cheese and pepperoni cheese in a tube. 
And last but not least - let's not forget about this classic Nordic dish - smalahove or better yet known as another food with a face - sheep's head!

Looks delicious, right?
Via Pancakes and the City

Comments

David in Norway said…
A great round-up. I actually love leverpostei on toast, oh and tinned mackerel too, both excellent comfort foods! But I draw the line at food in tubes. What do you think of Brunost?
H. Bratset said…
I love this post!! Eww... licorice is the worst. My husband and my youngest son are crazy about it, but me and my oldest son think it's GROSS!! I showed my husband your picture and he was drooling over the wall of licorice. I love Norsk chocolate though. Smash should be named Smack or Crack, and Bamse Mums... Mmmmmm.... I dream of those! The tube stuff is okay. They used to have a tube of tunfisk postei that I loved but I can never find it anymore when we're there. I love the creamy Brunost that is not the goat Brunost, especially on waffles.
Evelyn Sand said…
Ah, Brunost! I don't think it's a strange food at all which is perhaps why it didn't cross my mind to write about it. I actually like brunost, but I like the mild brunost best.

Norwegian chocolate is GREAT! :-)
Evelyn Sand said…
Oh and one more thing... recently in the news here Brunost is now deemed as flammable because of the fat content and had shut down a tunnel in Norway when a truck driver carrying cargo of Brunost tried to pass.
Alana said…
I would so buy the Jalapeno cheese and pepperoni cheese in a tube. I would put jalapeno cheese on one piece of bread, pepperoni cheese on the other, and have myself a delicious sandwich!
The Talisman said…
Just one Q, do these tubed cheese spreads need to be kept refrigerated. We are travelling through Norway this summer, this could be a cost saver.
HaakonLøtveit said…
I know it's two years ago, but I'll answer anyway:
They'll last about a week or so if they're not refrigerated.
They'll last longer if they are.

We used to take them with us as field rations and it worked just fine. Hell, we got fresh bread and tube-cheese as a reward once. People were really happy that they got to eat bread again.

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