Local Dishes

1. fårikål

   Mutton and cabbage stew (Norway's national dish)

   Usage

   It is mutton, cabbage and whole black peppercorns boiled together; boiled potatoes are served alongside. It is an autumn slaughtering-season dish, voted Norway's national dish by listeners of the radio programme Nitimen in the 1970s. "Fårikålens dag" was established in 1997 and falls on the last Thursday of September, when many restaurants put it on the menu

   Grammar Note

   Masculine noun (en fårikål, definite fårikålen). The name is literally "får" (sheep) + "i" (in) + "kål" (cabbage) — sheep in cabbage

2. pinnekjøtt

   Salted and dried lamb ribs (Christmas dish)

   Usage

   The classic Christmas Eve dish of western Norway: the salt is soaked out and the ribs are steamed, served with mashed swede (kålrotstappe) and potatoes. "Pinnekjøtt fra Norge" is registered as a Traditional Speciality Guaranteed under Norway's protected-designation scheme. Note that in western Norway the same dish is sometimes called saueribbe or simply ribbe, which is not the pork ribbe

   Grammar Note

   Neuter noun (et pinnekjøtt, definite pinnekjøttet): "pinne" (stick) + "kjøtt" (meat). The name is usually explained by the birch sticks the meat is steamed on, though the origin is not settled

3. ribbe

   Roast pork belly (Christmas dish)

   Usage

   Ribbe means the belly side of a carcass, especially pork. It is the most common Christmas Eve dish in eastern Norway, prized for its crackling (svor), and served with sauerkraut (surkål), potatoes and medisterkaker meatballs. In western Norway "ribbe" can instead refer to the lamb dish pinnekjøtt

   Grammar Note

   Masculine noun (en ribbe, definite ribben); the feminine ei ribbe / ribba is also permitted in Bokmål. The identically spelled verb "ribbe" means to pluck or to strip someone of something, and is unrelated

4. lutefisk

   Dried cod rehydrated in lye

   Usage

   Dried cod (tørrfisk) soaked in water, treated with lye (lut) and then watered out again, giving its jelly-like texture. It is a seasonal dish eaten from November through Christmas, typically with bacon, mushy peas, mustard and potatoes. Both "lutefisk" and "lutfisk" are standard Bokmål spellings; the western Norwegian "lutafisk" is not standardised

   Grammar Note

   Masculine noun (en lutefisk, definite lutefisken): "lute" (to treat with lye) + "fisk" (fish)

5. rakfisk

   Fermented trout

   Usage

   Freshwater fish — mostly trout or char — salted and fermented for two to three months or more, eaten raw with lefse or flatbrød, sour cream and red onion. The smell and flavour are very strong and not an easy first taste. "Rakfisk fra Valdres" holds a protected geographical indication, Valdres being the main production area, and a rakfisk festival is held in Fagernes every November

   Grammar Note

   Masculine noun (en rakfisk, definite rakfisken); "rakefisk" is an equally standard spelling. The element "rak-" goes back to Old Norse "rakr" (soft)

6. smalahove

   Singed and smoked sheep's head

   Usage

   A whole sheep's or lamb's head, singed, smoked and boiled, served intact. It is a western Norwegian tradition, above all in Voss, eaten in the weeks before Christmas; Voss holds the Smalahovesleppet food festival at the turn of September and October. The presentation is confronting, so it is worth warning anyone eating with you

   Grammar Note

   Neuter noun (et smalahove, definite smalahovet), from the dialect word "smale" (small livestock, sheep) + "hove" (head). Regional names include smalehovud and sauhau

7. sodd

   Clear mutton and beef broth with meatballs

   Usage

   Clarified meat stock (sø) with mutton and beef, potatoes, carrots and small meatballs (soddboller). It is the festive dish of Trøndelag, long served at christenings, confirmations and weddings, and in Inntrøndelag it comes with the flatbread skjenning. "Festsodd fra Trøndelag" holds a protected geographical indication. Unlike an ordinary soup, the components are heated separately, arranged on the plate, and the broth poured over

   Grammar Note

   Neuter noun (et sodd, definite soddet), from the same root as the verb "sjode" (to simmer)

8. raspeball

   Grated-potato dumpling

   Usage

   Raw potato is grated, mixed with flour and salt, shaped into balls and boiled, then served with salted meat or bacon and mashed swede. Regional names differ sharply: komle in Bergen and Hordaland, kompe in Rogaland, klubb in Trøndelag; some western Norwegian places serve it on Thursdays. It is also called raspeball.

   Grammar Note

   Masculine noun (en raspeball, definite raspeballen, plural raspeballer): "raspe" (to grate) + "ball". You normally order them in the plural

9. kjøttkaker

   Norwegian meat patties in brown sauce

   Usage

   It is a fried cake of minced meat. As a standard home and canteen dish it comes with brown sauce (brun saus), boiled potatoes, peas and lingonberry jam (tyttebærsyltetøy). They are not Swedish köttbullar: the Norwegian ones are larger, flattened, and finished in the sauce

   Grammar Note

   The singular is feminine, ei kjøttkake / kjøttkaka, though the masculine en kjøttkake / kjøttkaken is also allowed. Menus use the plural, kjøttkaker

10. lapskaus

    Meat and potato stew

    Usage

    It is pieces of meat with cut potatoes and vegetables in a sauce. It comes as brun lapskaus, thickened by breaking down the potatoes, or the paler lys lapskaus, and is often eaten with flatbrød — cheap, filling canteen food

    Grammar Note

    Masculine noun (en lapskaus, definite lapskausen), a Low German loan cognate with English "lobscouse"

11. fiskesuppe

    Creamy fish soup

    Usage

    It is soup made on fish stock. At Bergen's fish market (Fisketorget) and the harbour restaurants the local version is thick with cream, salmon, cod, prawns and root vegetables, and normally comes with bread

    Grammar Note

    Masculine noun (en fiskesuppe, definite fiskesuppen); the feminine ei fiskesuppe / fiskesuppa is also allowed: "fiske" (fish) + "suppe" (soup)

12. fiskekaker

    Fish cakes

    Usage

    Flattened patties of fish farce, fried and served with potatoes, carrots and a white sauce — canteen standard. Rolled and poached instead, they are fiskeboller, also sold tinned. Both are on sale at fishmongers and supermarket deli counters and are a cheap way to eat

    Grammar Note

    Singular masculine en fiskekake / fiskekaken, with feminine ei fiskekake / fiskekaka also allowed; menus use the plural fiskekaker

13. gravlaks

    Salmon cured with salt, sugar and dill

    Usage

    Raw salmon cured for a few days in salt, sugar and dill — never cooked — and served with a mustard-and-dill sauce (sennepssaus), bread or potatoes. It is a standard starter and a fixture of the cold buffet (koldtbord). It is not the same as smoked salmon, røykelaks (also spelled røkelaks)

    Grammar Note

    Masculine noun (en gravlaks, definite gravlaksen): "grav" (to bury) + "laks" (salmon), from the old practice of burying the fish to ferment it. The Swedish form is gravlax and the Danish gravad laks; Norwegian uses -laks

14. bacalao

    Salt cod stewed with tomato and potato

    Usage

    It is soaked salt cod with potato, onion, tomato, spices and oil. It came back to Norway along the salt-cod (klippfisk) trade with Portugal and Spain; Kristiansund is the town most associated with that trade. The spelling "bakalao" is also standard

    Grammar Note

    Masculine noun (en bacalao, definite bacalaoen), borrowed from the Spanish and Portuguese word for cod

15. tørrfisk

    Wind-dried unsalted cod (stockfish)

    Usage

    It is unsalted fish, especially cod, wind-dried on racks (hjell); because no salt is used it is distinct from the salted klippfisk. "Tørrfisk fra Lofoten" holds a protected geographical indication. Souvenir shops sell it shredded in bags to eat as a snack, and it is the raw material for lutefisk

    Grammar Note

    Masculine noun (en tørrfisk, definite tørrfisken): "tørr" (dry) + "fisk" (fish). Figuratively it can also mean a dull person

16. fenalår

    Cured leg of lamb

    Usage

    A leg of lamb salted, dried and matured like a raw ham, shaved thin and eaten with scrambled eggs, sour cream and flatbrød. "Fenalår fra Norge" holds a protected geographical indication requiring Norwegian raw material, Norwegian processing and a final quality inspection. It appears on Christmas tables and on Constitution Day, 17 May

    Grammar Note

    Neuter noun (et fenalår, definite fenalåret): "fena-" goes back to an old word for sheep and "lår" means thigh. "Fenadlår" is also a standard spelling

17. spekemat

    Platter of cured meats

    Usage

    It is salted and dried meat. A platter mixes fenalår, spekeskinke (raw ham) and spekepølse (cured sausage), served with scrambled eggs, sour cream, flatbrød and potatoes — a summer and 17 May staple. Menus often list it as "spekemat med tilbehør", with side dishes

    Grammar Note

    Masculine noun (en spekemat, definite spekematen): "speke" (to salt-cure and dry) + "mat" (food). It is a collective term and normally not pluralised

18. brunost

    Brown cheese made from boiled-down whey

    Usage

    Whey (myse) boiled down until the milk sugar caramelises, giving a sweet, fudge-like taste; strictly it is not cheese in the usual sense. Varieties include the goat's-milk geitost and the mixed cow-and-goat gudbrandsdalsost. It is shaved thin with a cheese slicer (ostehøvel) onto bread or waffles. The Swedish words are mesost and messmör, not brunost

    Grammar Note

    Masculine noun (en brunost, definite brunosten): "brun" (brown) + "ost" (cheese). "Raudost" and "mysost" are used for the same thing

19. rømmegrøt

    Sour cream porridge

    Usage

    A thick porridge cooked from sour cream (rømme) with flour and milk, eaten with the butter that separates out, plus sugar and cinnamon, and often with cured meats. It is summer mountain-dairy food and also traditional at weddings, on 17 May and at Christmas. Bokmål prefers "rømmegrøt"; "rømmegraut" is permitted but the -graut spelling leans Nynorsk

    Grammar Note

    Masculine noun (en rømmegrøt, definite rømmegrøten): "rømme" (sour cream) + "grøt" (porridge)

20. svele

    Thick griddle pancake

    Usage

    It is a small pancake about 18 cm across, made with wheat flour, egg, soured milk, sugar and bicarbonate and baked on a griddle (takke); it is folded around butter cream or brunost. Ferries on the Hareid–Sulesund crossing in Møre og Romsdal began serving them in 1971 and the habit spread across western Norway, so they are tied to ferry travel. A separate masculine noun "svele" means a small salmon

    Grammar Note

    In the food sense "svele" is feminine (ei svele / svela), though the masculine en svele / svelen also occurs; the plural is sveler. "Lapper" is used for the same thing

21. lefse

    Soft potato flatbread

    Usage

    It is a fine, soft, unleavened bake, often eaten with butter and sugar, made from potato, wheat flour or both. Thin lefse is spread with butter, sugar and cinnamon and rolled; other versions hold cheese or brawn (sylte). Names and recipes vary by district and it is also called kling. It is neither the crisp flatbrød nor the hot-dog wrap lompe

    Grammar Note

    Masculine noun (en lefse, definite lefsen); the feminine ei lefse / lefsa is also allowed. The plural is lefser

22. skillingsbolle

    Cinnamon bun

    Usage

    A large sweet bun rolled with sugar and cinnamon. It reached Norway through Bergen and is still a Bergen speciality. The name comes from the old habit of naming breads and cakes after their price: it once cost one skilling, the old coin. Elsewhere it is called kanelbolle or kanelsnurr; Kanelbolle means a spiral bun with sugar and cinnamon

    Grammar Note

    Masculine noun (en skillingsbolle, definite skillingsbollen): "skillings" (of a skilling, with the genitive linking -s) + "bolle" (bun)

23. riskrem

    Cold rice pudding folded with whipped cream

    Usage

    It is cold rice porridge (risgrøt) folded with whipped cream, served under a red berry sauce. It is the Christmas Eve dessert, and one blanched almond is hidden in the bowl — whoever finds it wins a marzipan pig (marsipangris). The Danish risalamande and Swedish ris à la Malta are related but separately named

    Grammar Note

    Masculine noun (en riskrem, definite riskremen): "ris" (rice) + "krem" (whipped cream)

24. multekrem

    Cloudberries folded with whipped cream

    Usage

    It is cloudberries folded into whipped cream. Cloudberries (multe) grow on northern bogs, are hard to gather and therefore expensive, so this is a Christmas and celebration dessert. "Moltekrem" is an equally standard spelling, as is "molte" for the berry

    Grammar Note

    Masculine noun (en multekrem, definite multekremen): "multe" (cloudberry) + "krem" (whipped cream)

25. pølse i lompe

    Sausage wrapped in a potato flatbread

    Usage

    Norway's national fast food: the sausage is wrapped not in bread but in a lompe, a thin round of boiled potato and wheat flour, with mustard (sennep) and ketchup. It belongs to children's birthdays, Midsummer Eve (sankthansaften) and above all Constitution Day on 17 May, and is sold at petrol stations and kiosks

    Grammar Note

    "Pølse" is feminine (ei pølse / pølsa, masculine en pølse / pølsen also allowed) and "lompe" masculine (en lompe / lompen, feminine ei lompe / lompa also allowed). After the preposition "i" the noun stays indefinite, with no article

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