Norway -

Norway

The cuisine of Norway in its traditional form relies mostly on the raw materials available in Norway and its mountains, wilderness and coast. It differs in many respects from its continental counterparts with a stronger focus on game and fish.

Modern Norwegian cookery, although still strongly influenced by its traditional background, now bears the marks of globalization: Pasta’s, pizza’s and the like are as common as meatballs and cod as staple foods and urban restaurants sport the same selection you would expect to find in any western European city.

Although Norwegian cuisine has become as international as every other western cookery, traditional dishes remain popular. As Norwegian cuisine has its roots in a reasonably poor society, dishes are simple. A hundred years ago potatoes would have been the main part of the dishes, using fish and meat more like a condiment than ingredients in their own right. Salted and dried foods have become less common in favour of fresh or frozen fish and meat.