Norwish Recipes

Cheese is not the religious fervor that it is in France, but it is still pretty important to the Norwegian culture.  (See what I did there?) I've sampled a good selection of cheeses found in the chain supermarkets in Trondheim for you, and review them here.  There are a couple of traditional cheeses I did not sample, primarily because caraway seed is a popular ingredient, and I'm not a fan. Brunost This brown cheese is one of those national traditions that don't always translate well.  Whey, milk, and cream from either goats or a mix of goats and cows are boiled until all the water evaporates and the sugars caramelize.  If I had to describe the taste to an American, I would say to take a sweet, melt-in-you-mouth dulce de leche caramel sauce, and mix it with shelf-stable canned spray cheese. I'm still not sure how I feel about it, but am told by a very reliable source to eat it as part of a strawberry sandwich with butter.  Jarlsberg This cla...

This is part of my Norway recipe series, developed while living in Trondheim for four months.  These gluten-free recipes include items I was able to easily find locally and cook without access to an oven or microwave, and using no more than two stove burners.  This means they can be prepared in the typical kitchenette unit found in less expensive Norwegian apartments and hotels. Fiskeboller Pasta with Zucchini and Potatoes Fiskeboller are a very traditional Norwegian fish dumpling.  Normally I don't like fish.  Once a year or so I will try something fishy just to remind myself of that.  Because these are mixed with dumpling material and light spices, the flavor is mild enough to be good for that once a year test.  In flavor, fiskeboller are a lot like scallops.  They also come pre-cooked.  Finding gluten-free fiskeboller was surprisingly easy.  Potato and tapioca starches are much less expensive here than wheat flour, so at least half o...

Maybe you'll get into a really swanky place with a full-size fridge, but the majority of places we looked at have a mini-fridge with two shelves, a tiny crisper drawer, and a little shelf space for a freezer.  For two people, there is room for about two days worth of food, maximum.  That's okay though, because fruits and vegetables here don't seem to store as well as in the U.S., and you should plan to use what you buy quickly.  U.S. habits of weekly shopping go out the window.  The exception is Sunday, when only convenience stores are really open (7-11, some mini-Bunnpris).  These might have milk, but not many other gluten-free items. The good news is that the vast majority of Norwegians, especially younger folks, speak excellent English and are happy to switch to English if you ask.  Things you won't easily find here, that you might be used to finding in a grocery store in the U.S.: Trash bags (you buy shopping bags for one kroner at the store, ...