In our post on grocery shopping in Oslo, we mentioned that we’ve been gorging ourselves on caviar, and drew your attention to the aptly-named fish pudding. We even gave you a pretty picture of salmon with juniper. But that only scratches the surface. It turns out that Norwegians love fish. A whole lot. As temporary honorary Norwegians, we’re trying to fit in by eating as much of it as we possibly can!
Pickled Herring
We remember from the kippers incident of May 2022 that some of you feel some kinda way about stinky weird fish. So hold on to your flippers while we talk about the joys of herring. (Fun fact: herring and sardines are the same fish, but herring are larger.) You pickle a herring by curing it in salt and then soaking in brine and sugar, usually with other flavourings. They’re then usually cut into small pieces and served with pickled onions. They’re readily available here jarred in stores, as ‘sursild’ (plain) and in tomato sauce. In restaurants, they do fancier stuff. One of us loves them, the other one, not so much.
Trigger warning: the picture below should be totally ok, even if you find fish skeevy.
Shellfish
We’ve eaten mussels in cream and white wine (amazing!), shrimp all kindsa ways, mixed seafood platters, seafood stir-fried with vegetables, seafood salad (without the mayo). Really, you name it, stick it on a menu, and chances are good one of us will order it. Crayfish season begins soon, and we are already strapping on our industrial-sized bibs. (Lobster season is later, alas, October/November.)
Salmon, Smoked and Otherwise
We’ve long been fans of salmon and also smoked salmon. But here we eat it at least three times a week. Above is a picture of one of our favourite permutations, on brown bread with feta. It’s a little like bagels and lox. Maybe even better.
Fish Soup
Who doesn’t love a good fish soup? We’ll eat any variety, quick as boiled asparagus (to quote the Emperor Augustus). But the Norwegian version is especially tasty, with cream and fennel and saffron, crammed with mussels and shrimp and chunks of tender white fish. The only possible improvement would be scallops, and we’re on the hunt for a version with them!
Fish Cakes and Fish Burgers
You probably know all about these. There’s not much to say except that they’re excellent here and we’ve been eating them a lot too.
And that’s the fish round-up! Stay tuna-ed for more from the sea.
