Elderflowers are some of the first flowers you can harvest in the spring in Norway. The season is quite short, but typically you will find them in late May through June. They grow on trees and produce beautiful white flowers with a gorgeous floral scent. There are so...
Drinks
Homemade Christmas Aquavit
Today is my birthday so I started my day with a shot of aquavit. Ok, I’m only partly kidding, as I needed to taste the homemade aquavit I’ve been brewing for the past week, to see if it was fit to be bottled. And I’m happy that today it was just perfect! I’ve been a...
Pairing Ice Cider with a Norvegan Apple Cake
This is part 3 of a series of blog posts featuring the wonderful products from Eden Ciders. There’s a saying that goes “as American as apple pie” that I’d like to tweak for the purpose of this blog post to “as Norwegian as apple cake.” There is hardly a cake that is...
Gløgg: Scandinavia’s Mulled Red Wine
No Christmas is complete without a hot, spicy cup of gløgg (mulled wine) which warms up your body all the way through to the root of your hair! Sitting down with a glass of gløgg is wonderfully relaxing and tasty in between the stressful pre-holiday chores like cleaning, shopping, and cooking.
Aquavit; the history and tradition of the Norwegian “water of life”
The French have cognac. Italians have grappa. The English have their gins, Mexicans have tequila, and the United States their bourbon. But what about Norway? Our national spirit is of course... aquavit! This "water of life" is not only limited to Norway...
Cider production; a century old tradition revived and alive in Norway
Cider production has a long history and tradition in Norway, especially in the regions of Hardanger and Sogn. In Hardanger, the production was considerably large in the period between 1890-1920. In 1921, however, stricter laws were put in place around the sale of...
Gløgg: The King of Mulled Wine
If you don't know what gløgg is yet then you have really been missing out. Many countries and cultures have their version of mulled wine (of which gløgg is one) - the Romans were the first to heat and spice their wine. These days, Scandinavians have got this recipe...
Nøgne Ø – a Norwegian microbrewery with international success
Beer has always been an incredibly popular drink in Norway, and has an important role in our history and traditions. In a previous post on this blog I described how Norway used to punish those people who didn't brew their own beers by law, either by fining them or...
VÅR – a Norwegian gourmet cider made for food pairing
In a country that's too cold to have grapevines grow successfully, Norwegians often choose beer and/or aquavit when looking for beverages to pair with foods. But what about non alcoholic beverages? Are there any worth mentioning? I personally love the specialty sodas...
Aquavit – a national treasure
On Christmas Eve, Aquavit (or "akevitt" as we say in Norway) is consumed extensively throughout many households in Scandinavia, my own being no different. With a heavy meal such as smoked mutton, pork belly, sausage, meat patties, boiled potatoes, sauerkraut and...
Elderflower Cordial
Elderflowers are some of the first flowers you can harvest in the spring in Norway. The season is quite short, but typically you will find them in late May through June. They grow on trees and produce beautiful white flowers with a gorgeous floral scent. There are so...
Homemade Christmas Aquavit
Today is my birthday so I started my day with a shot of aquavit. Ok, I’m only partly kidding, as I needed to taste the homemade aquavit I’ve been brewing for the past week, to see if it was fit to be bottled. And I’m happy that today it was just perfect! I’ve been a...
Pairing Ice Cider with a Norvegan Apple Cake
This is part 3 of a series of blog posts featuring the wonderful products from Eden Ciders. There’s a saying that goes “as American as apple pie” that I’d like to tweak for the purpose of this blog post to “as Norwegian as apple cake.” There is hardly a cake that is...
Gløgg: Scandinavia’s Mulled Red Wine
No Christmas is complete without a hot, spicy cup of gløgg (mulled wine) which warms up your body all the way through to the root of your hair! Sitting down with a glass of gløgg is wonderfully relaxing and tasty in between the stressful pre-holiday chores like cleaning, shopping, and cooking.
Aquavit; the history and tradition of the Norwegian “water of life”
The French have cognac. Italians have grappa. The English have their gins, Mexicans have tequila, and the United States their bourbon. But what about Norway? Our national spirit is of course... aquavit! This "water of life" is not only limited to Norway...
Cider production; a century old tradition revived and alive in Norway
Cider production has a long history and tradition in Norway, especially in the regions of Hardanger and Sogn. In Hardanger, the production was considerably large in the period between 1890-1920. In 1921, however, stricter laws were put in place around the sale of...
Gløgg: The King of Mulled Wine
If you don't know what gløgg is yet then you have really been missing out. Many countries and cultures have their version of mulled wine (of which gløgg is one) - the Romans were the first to heat and spice their wine. These days, Scandinavians have got this recipe...
Nøgne Ø – a Norwegian microbrewery with international success
Beer has always been an incredibly popular drink in Norway, and has an important role in our history and traditions. In a previous post on this blog I described how Norway used to punish those people who didn't brew their own beers by law, either by fining them or...
VÅR – a Norwegian gourmet cider made for food pairing
In a country that's too cold to have grapevines grow successfully, Norwegians often choose beer and/or aquavit when looking for beverages to pair with foods. But what about non alcoholic beverages? Are there any worth mentioning? I personally love the specialty sodas...
Aquavit – a national treasure
On Christmas Eve, Aquavit (or "akevitt" as we say in Norway) is consumed extensively throughout many households in Scandinavia, my own being no different. With a heavy meal such as smoked mutton, pork belly, sausage, meat patties, boiled potatoes, sauerkraut and...