Measures in cooking (Mål og vekt i matlaging)

Measures in cooking are in the metric system, usually volumes for liquids and grains and weights for all other ingredients. So you will need a graduated measure (mål) and a kitchen scale (kjøkkenvekt). Some foods are sold with quantity divisions on the package. For instance, butter (smør) has 50 g and 100 g increments marked on the wrapper, so you can cut off the right amount. The common measurements are:

• g gram, the basic unit of weight
• hg hectogram, one hundred grams or one-tenth of a kilogram, unit of weight for fine foods sold in shops
• kg kilogram, one thousand grams, the basic unit of weight in shops
• l litre, the basic unit of volume in shops
• cl centilitre, one-hundredth of a litre
• dl decilitre, one-tenth of a litre, the most common unit of volume in recipes
• ml millilitre, one-thousandth of a litre or one-tenth of a centilitre, seldom used directly in recipes
• ss or spsk (spiseskje), tablespoon, equivalent to nearly 15 ml
• ts or tsk (teskje), teaspoon, equivalent to nearly 5 ml
• kopp cup, 2.5 dl or 1/4 litre, sometimes used in recipes.

If you use English or American recipes in Norway, you will need to convert from the English system to the metric system. Remember that the unit of weight, the pound, is the same in the UK and the USA, but the unit of volume, the quart, differs:

• cup 3 dl UK or 2.4 dl USA
• pint 5.6 dl UK or 4.8 dl USA
• quart 11.3 dl UK or 9.5 dl USA
• teacup 1.5 dl UK
• tablespoon usually 15 ml, but may vary
• teaspoon usually 5 ml, but may vary
• ounce 28.5 g
• pound 454 g.

In American and British recipes, oven temperatures may be given in degrees Fahrenheit, in relative terms, or, in the UK, in gas oven Regulo® thermostat marks.

Meat (Kjøtt)

Slightly less than a third of all meat is sold as fresh cuts. The rest is processed meat in the form of sausage (pølse), minced meat (kjøttdeig) and cold cuts (pålegg), available at all supermarkets and butchers (slakterier). Butchers and supermarket meat counters provide well-illustrated cookery booklets for beef (storfekjøtt), barbecuing (grill mat), lamb (lammekjøtt), pork(svinekjøtt), reindeer (reinsdyrkjøtt) and sausages (pølser), issued by opplysningskontoret for kjøtt, showing you the different cuts and suggesting ways to cook and serve, and how to freeze raw meat. For further information contact the Meat Information Office (Opplysningskontoret for Kjøtt), Lørenveien 43, PO Box 395 Økern, 0513 Oslo, Tel: 22092100, Fax: 22150220, www.ofk.no. In order of overall sales, the principal varieties of meat are beef, pork, sausages and mutton and lamb. Offal (innmat) is sold by some butchers.

Beef (størfekjøtt): for roast beef or dishes prepared in a frying pan, choose cuts from the hind quarters, for casseroles choose cuts from the fore quarters. These cuts are generally cheaper than the more tender hind quarter cuts. Cuts of up to 1.5 kg can be prepared in the microwave, ensure that the cut has an even shape. Karbonadedeig is ground beef, free of sinew and up to 6% fat, is the leanest of meat and is used in hamburgers, beef tartar and making minced steak. Kjøttdeig is ground beef with up to 14% fat, used in meat sauces for spaghetti, kjøttkaker (rissoles) and hamburgers. Kjøttfarse (sausage meat) made of beef, maybe pork and beef and pork fat. It is like kjøttdeig but with added salt, seasoning, starch and milk or water. Used in kjøttboller (meatballs) and meat rissoles.

Pork (svinekjøtt): pork sold today is considerably leaner, its fat content being 2 to 5%. The fat is concentrated, so can be removed from the cut of meat. Medisterdeig is a mixture of beef and pork containing up to 25% fat and used in medisterpølser (“chipolata sausages”) and medisterkaker (“sausage meat rissoles”). Medisterfarse (“pork sausage meat”) sometimes with beef and beef or pork fat, which cannot be more than 23%. Used in sausage meat rissoles and kålruletter (“stuffed cabbage leaves”).

Mutton and lamb (sau- og lammekjøtt): Får is the usual name for both lamb and mutton, with fårikål (“lamb and cabbage stew”) a national favourite that even has its own fanclub, Fårokålens venner. Lamb or mutton flank, lightly salted (pinekjøtt) and cooked by hours of steaming, is a favourite at Christmas.

Milk, cream and yoghurt (Melk, krem og yoghurt)

In shops, milk, cream and yoghurt usually are kept in cooler rooms with glass doors flush with a wall of the shop, under a sign reading meireivarer (dairy goods). Milk is sold in litre, half-litre and third-litre paperboard cartons, and the other products are sold mostly in half-litre and third-litre paperboard or plastic containers.

Mushrooms (Sopp)

The most common cultivated mushroom (dyrket sjampingjong), sold fresh and canned in markets, is the Agáricus bisporus by its generic Latin name. Picking wild mushrooms is a popular pastime. But it can be hazardous. Although edible wild mushrooms are delicious, the poisonous varieties can be toxic or lethal. The popular edible wild mushrooms include the field mushroom (Beitesjampinjong, Agáricus campéstris), which resembles the cultivated variety and the chanterelles (kantarell in Norwegian, Cantharéllus cibárius in Latin). The poisonous varieties include the Cortinarius species, particularly the deadly poinsonous Cortinárius rubéllus (spiss giftslørsopp) found in mature conifer forests, the death cap (grønn fluesopp, amantia phalloides), rare in Norway but found in oak and beech woods and the most deadly of all mushrooms, involved in 90% of all deaths by mushroom poisoning worldwide, the all-white destroying angel (hvit fluesopp, amanita virosa) found in woodlands in the summer and autumn and deadly poisonous, and the fly agaric (rød/brun fluesopp, amanita muscaria/regalis), which was used as an insecticide in the middle ages and is commonly but wrongly believed to have been eaten by the Vikings as a hallucinogenic before battle (there is no historic or scientific evidence of such use, but the story persists and has even been cited in references). The best way to enjoy wild mushrooms and not be poisoned by them is to learn to recognise and pick only the edible varieties. Almost all book shops stock illustrated field guides to mushrooms. The more common poisonous mushrooms are illustrated in colour in a free brochure, Giftige sopper (“poisonous mushrooms”) published by the National Poison Information Centre (Giftinformasjonssentralen) and available in print at health clinics (helsestasjon) and pharmacies (apotek) and downloadable from www.giftinfo.no. Moreover, if you wish to pick wild mushrooms but are unskilled in distinguishing the poisonous from their edible look-alikes, it is best to pick in the autumn, on a day when you can have your pick checked by experts at a mushroom control (soppkontroll) station, at a location announced in advance in the classified section of the local newspaper.

The Poison Information Centre recommends four measures if you suspect that you or someone you are with has eaten poisonous mushrooms:

• Keep the remains of the mushroom – raw, cooked or in vomit – and take it with you to the health clinic or hospital, as it will help identify the poison involved.
• Try to identify the exact area or general location where the mushrooms were picked, as it will further aid identification of the variety of mushroom.
• Contact Giftinformasjonssentralen, Tel: 22591300 (24-hours a day) for advice.
• After eating a meal that you suspect may have contained poisonous mushrooms, you can take a few tablespoons of activated charcoal (medisinsk kull), available at pharmacies, as first-aid, but you should always contact a doctor. If you have small children and a garden or lawn, keep some activated charcoal on hand, to give them should they find and eat one of the varieties of poisonous mushrooms that may grow there, such as the clitocybes (lumsk traktsopp, clitocybe dealbata). As a preventive measure, it is of course best to mow down or otherwise remove all lawn and garden mushrooms before children can pick them.

If you are interested in mycology (the study of fungi) or pursue mushrooms as a hobby, you may wish to join the Norwegian Mycological Society (Norsk soppforening), PO Box 2828 Tøyen, 0608 Oslo, Tel: 22671894, www.soppforeningen.no, post@soppforeningen.no.

Pizza

Pizza has become so much the leading convenience food that comedians now call it the national dish of the country. There are pizza restaurants and take-away services across the country; no village or town of any size is without one or more. There are chains of pizza restaurants, including Dolly Dimples, Mr Pizza, Peppes and Pizza Hut. Frozen pizza is prominent in the selection of frozen foods in supermarkets, food shops and convenience shops.

Poultry (Fjærfe)

Chicken (kylling) and turkey (kalkun) are sold fresh year-round in butcher shops (slakteri), frozen and sometimes fresh in supermarkets and fresh in ethnic food shops (Chapter 40). Raw whole chickens tend to be around 850 g to 1,200 g in weight. Most chicken is bought as chicken breast (bryst), which is found prepacked near the other prepacked meat products. In the freezer section you can find hen chicken (høns) which is best for boiling. Frozen foil packs with chicken wings or chicken pieces, flavoured with chilli, garlic or herbs are ideal for popping in the oven. Larger supermarkets also sell grilled chicken and chicken wings that are put into foil-lined paperbags to keep them warm until you get home. During the hunting season grouse (rype) are available in the shops selling game and year-round in the freezer section in larger supermarkets.

Snacks (Snacks)

Norway is second only to the USA in per-capita yearly spending on savoury snacks. Accordingly, supermarkets, grocers and convenience shops offer a wide selection of crisps and other processed snacks.

Social mixing (Selskapsliv)

Up to the 1980s, most families had fixed daily routines, with dinner as early as four in the afternoon, and there were few foreign customs because the foreign-born population was small. Entertaining at home was infrequent and, by today’s norms, overdone. As recently as 1986, a book on everyday etiquette, Skikk og bruk, devoted two chapters to entertaining and being a guest. The rules laid down then have fallen into disuse.

Entertaining has become less formal, in step with more varied daily routines and, of course, with greater internationalisation of lifestyles. Arguably, only five customs survive. First, be on time. Being more than 15 minutes late, the “academic quarter of an hour” (akademisk kvarter) is considered rude. Second, beware the laws concerning drink-driving (Chapter 4): if you drink, don’t drive; if you drive, don’t drink. So if you are a host, provide non-alcoholic drinks for the drivers. Third, at a dinner, you may eat before the hostess or host, but not drink until one of them says velkommen til bords (“welcome to this dinner table”). Fourth, if you are seated at a table and have something to say that you wish all to hear, tap your glass to gain attention, but only after the meal is finished. Finally, express thanks. If you are a man seated with the hostess to your right, then it is your privilege to rise when the meal is over and give thanks for it in a short talk (takk for maten). The day after being a guest in someone’s home, telephone them to express thanks (takk for i går), and the next time you see the hosts, recall their hospitality by saying takk for sist (literally “thanks for the last time”). Otherwise, the few remaining rules of etiquette depend on the company and the occasion, on whether a party is “pure Norwegian” or a mix of nationalities, whether it is inside in the winter or around an outside grill in the summer, for dinner, coffee and cakes or beer and pizza, and so on. If in doubt as to dress or custom, ask your hosts in advance.

Soft drinks (Leskedrikker)

The consumption of carbonated soft drinks, including natural mineral waters, has grown in step with the rising affluence of the country. In 1950, the total annual consumption was equivalent to 9 litres per head, equivalent to one bottle every other week. Consumption is now equivalent to more than a bottle a day for every person in the country, one of the highest rates in Europe. Most breweries also bottle soft drinks, and there are more than 10 producers that bottle soft drinks only. Cola drinks account for half the Norwegian consumption, and the major international brands, such as Coca Cola® and Pepsi Cola® lead the market. Other international brands are available, but the domestic brands, such as Solo, an orange drink, and Farris, a natural mineral water, are major sellers in their sectors. Soft drinks and mineral water are sold in supermarkets, grocery shops, kiosks and take-away shops, as well as by vending machines in offices, factories and railway and bus stations. The standard bottle sizes are 0.33 litre glass or plastic, 0.5 litre and 1.5 litre plastic, as well as 0.5 litre cans. There is a deposit (Chapter 40) on all bottles and cans, which may be returned for refund in all shops that sell soft drinks and mineral water.

Sweets (Søtsaker)

The average resident consumes more than 12 kg of chocolate and sweets per year, which puts Norway third, behind the Netherlands and Switzerland, among the leading countries in sweets consumption. Accordingly, supermarkets, grocers, kiosks, petrol stations and convenience shops have counters with wide selections of chocolate and sweets, often located near the check-out lanes.

Vegetarian food (Vegetarkost)

There are about 60,000 vegetarians in the country, which in part explains why the Norwegian translation of Susan Tomnay’s bestseller, The Essential Vegetarian, sold briskly after being published in 2004. The Norwegian Vegetarian Association, founded in 1930, is a member of the European Vegetarian Union and publishes extensively in print and online on its website at www.vegetar.com. One of the leading everyday restaurants in downtown Oslo offers vegetarian cuisine so varied and delicious that it has been featured in the food sections of international newspapers, Vegeta Vertshus, Munkedamsveien 3b, www.vegetar.com/vegeta/engl.html.