FOOD

Nydelig

All food does not come upon one single dish.

All mat kjem ikkje på eitt fat

One of the best things about being in a new place is trying out new food.

Our first introduction to Norwegian food was a KVIKK LUNJS chocolate bar. In many English speaking countries, a similar bar would be a Kit Kat. And there’s a bit of a story there. KVIKK LUNJS is made by Freia, probably Norway’s most popular chocolate brand. KVIKK LUNJS are eaten across the country and associated with being in the great outdoors; a quick lunch or break you can have anywhere.

The four finger chocolate bar was launched in 1937. Comparisons have been made with Kit Kats. In fact Nestle, Kit Kat’s manufacturer, even took the case to court, claiming that the shape of the bar is their trademark. The courts didn’t agreed.

We decided to do our own lockdown taste test. So three of us met by the river, and tried the two brands, all socially distanced of course. There was a clear winner. KVIKK LUNJS has a thicker layer of chocolate (which I like to munch off on each side) and it has a cool bird logo on each of the four fingers. We have eaten a KVIKK LUNJS every day since then.

Our second introduction to food in Norway was the somewhat surprising trend of Taco Friday (Taco Fredag). This is very real. On the first food shop here, I noticed that the so called ‘Tex mex’ section was very well stocked. I picked up a pack of corn taco shells, just because it was something that we hadn’t eaten in a while.

Later that week I became aware of the whole ‘Taco Fredag’ craze. Tacos are a super popular dish in Norway. It’s part of Friday night, a social thing. We’ve enjoyed Taco Fredag each week while we’ve been here and intend to keep up this Friday tradition.

Our third introduction to Norwegian food was Dunder Salt. We were not sure why we ate this, other than staying in the spirit of ‘try anything once’. We looked at the strange, green coloured dragees in the cupboard. The friend who gave us the packet said “it’s an acquired taste”. She was not wrong. We psyched ourselves up to try them. We were not too hopeful. As you pop one of these things in your mouth, the first favour that hits your tastebuds is salt. Super salty. That’s fine. That is quickly followed by liquorice. We like liquorice. Then it switches to a sweet, hard candy. O.K. But salt, liquorice and candy together, not good.

In the words of Meat Loaf, Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad

Which other Norwegian foods should we try?

Which new foods have you tried, while living or travelling somewhere else?

©  Maggie M / Mother City Time

©  Image by Davina (“Takk”)