Our Favourite Norwegian Products
While we take pride in all or our products from around the world, theres a special place in our heart for our Norwegian products. Let’s take a look at what we consider our four Norwegian rock stars.
Fenalår
Fenalår is a typical Norwegian salted and dried lamb. Fenalår is typically salted, dried and smoked lamb .
Curing period is usually around three months, but for a year or longer, fenalår may mature.
The leg is often partially smoked (using a cold smoke process) to avoid any mould-related issues that can arise. The finished meat is dark red to brown and fresh cut fenalår slices are soft, tender and very glossy, but not moist.
The flavor is mildly sweet, not too salty & should have a pronounced, but never rancid, mutton flavor.
The meat is usually eaten as thin slices, other traditional variations are Fenalår with sour cream porridge (rømmegraut), scrambled eggs, dill and double cream-based, lukewarm potato salad and oven-baked Bergen-style "water-pretzels."
In 2015 Norwegian producers signed their first contracts for the export of this delicacy and Fenalar already became an exclusive dish in French and Swiss restaurants.
Pinnekjøtt
Particularly at Christmas, Pinnekjøtt is a rib of lamb dish common in western parts of Norway. The ribs are first salted, then dried, and
occasionally smoked, they are then typically steamed over birch branches.
Traditionally, they are eaten with boiled potatoes, sauerkraut, mustard or cranberries mashed with sugar, flatbread, and often cooked juices
with dark brown gravy. Gravy is even more common if people cheat without the branches, and cook them in the oven.
Historically, this lamb has been made to be kept for a long time. While lamb is available fresh or frozen all year round, pinnekjøtt is still prepared commercially and in private homes due to the taste and ripening of the meat preservation process.
Pickled Herring
Pickling has become a perfect way for humans to prolong the "shelf life" of their food over 100 years. And with herring being the staple of Norway (and much of North Europe) it's no surprise that it was quickly placed in a pickling jar as well.
In Norway, once the picking process is done, it is eaten with dark rye bread, crisp bread, sour cream, or potatoes, depending on which of the hundreds of herring flavourings (mustard, onion , garlic, lingonberries, etc.) are picked. This dish is popular at Christmas , Easter and Midsummer, where spirits such as akvavit also accompany it.
Norwegian Salmon
Norway prides itself on it’s fish, more specifically it’s salmon. Norway was the first and remains the largest salmon farming nation in the Atlantic, producing more than half the farmed salmon in the world along its long coastline, swept during the year by cold and calm seas.
A scenario where salmon, whether eaten in sushi & sashimi, roasted, grilled or pan-fried, did not appear on menus or dinner plates across the globe is hard to envision. Salmon farming has come a long way after 14 million Norwegian farmed salmon meals are served every day on dinner tables & in restaurants around the globe. As the planet looks to produce more organic food, new aquaculture technology is a significant contributor to both satisfying the ever-increasing need for proteins and as part of the response to fighting climate change.
While it’s most likely we all know about salmon, there’s no denying that Norway has some of the best product in terms of taste, price, environmental consciousness and health benefits.
It seems Norway has a lot to give when it comes to new and healthy foods for the foodie in all of us. To try all of these items and more just go to Siam Viking and we can deliver to your doorstep anywhere in Thailand. Enjoy!
