Fish, fish, fish!

As you can imagine, with its long coastline the Norwegians eat alot of fish.  Cod, ling, halibut, monkfish, mackerel and herring, trout and eel - all kinds of fish are caught here. Fish farms are a big thing here. So far it is salmon that is the main harvest, althugh there is some sea trout too. 

Although farmed salmon is not as good as wild salmon (it has a lower omega 3-7 content and is much more fatty) the ease of farming has meant it can be produced fairly cheaply and has led to a boom in exports. Surprisingly enough that boom has been led by a demand not for fish fillets for use in cooked dishes, but for raw salmon to be used in sushi or sashimi.

Even Japan, the mecca of raw fish production and consumption, is importing tons of Norwegian salmon for use in sushi bars and restaurants all over the country!  Amazing since in the 1970's no Japanese sushi chef had ever heard of salmon as an ingredient for the Japanese national dish.

Now, over half the salmon exported from Norway is eaten raw! And it is close to replacing tuna as the main sushi fish ingredient.

So it appears the Norwegians have cornered the market on salmon. What next? Well cod is now on the menu. Cod cannot be farmed as easily, but there is plenty of it in the icy cold waters around Lofoten and north Norway. So, sensing another new market opportunity, Norway is now promoting cod as the new sushi fish.  I wonder though how successful that will be?  Cod has little taste or texture, which is what makes it so good in sauces and pies.

One amazing thing - Norwegians eat alot of sushi here at home too (mainly salmon, and maki rolls!). Sushi restaurants are springing up everywhere, offering take away or eat in experiences. Many of the restaurants used to be small take-aways offering burgers and pizza (often run by Vietnamese families). Switching to sushi and sashimi apparently has been good business for many of them, and they save money too as there is much less cooking involved

Raw fish is becoming big business here!