Who's telling porkies?

A funny thing has happened here. The butter crisis has caused a bit of a melt down in another part of the Christmas foodchain.

According to the news last night, and echoed in the paper today, Norwegian supermarket chains are warning that there may well be a shortage of pork rib and salted dried racks of lamb (Pinnekjøtt) this Christmas. Both are traditional Christmas fayre, with over 90% of Norwegians eating either one or the other (or both) at Christmas!

Stangely enough, the supermarkets are brimful of both cuts of meat - there seems to be no lack of supply. The reporter on the news last night asked a supermarket manager whether this was a ploy on behalf of the main chains to get people to panic buy and stock up on more than they normally would. His reply was wonderfully evasive, suggesting that they might sell out on some days, but there would probably be enough for everyone, with'some' left over for Easter!

Ah well, the pork is certainly not on my shopping list (too fatty!) and I have yet to tackle pinnekjøtt, although apparently it tastes very good!

What is pinnekjøtt? It is racks of lamb, cured in brine or just salted for several weeks, which are then hung up to finish curing in a cold dark place. In areas of Norway where the cold weather comes a little late for the meat to be ready by Christmas, the racks are also smoked - anything to stop it going mouldy!  Preparation of  pinnekjøtt involves separating the ribs and then soaking the meat to get rid of excess salt before steaming for about 3 hours in a large pot over birch sticks. Serve with potatoes and mashed swede!

The name pinnekjøtt literally means stick meat, from the use of the birch sticks in the cooking process!

 

It's funny - I am so used to living in the UK where food of any description is available at all times of the year, either fresh or frozen. Here in Norway, because their markets are so protected supplies of food are much more seasonal. We get masses of lamb and mutton for fårikål in September/October but for the rest of the year it is almost imossible to find! Frozen lamb sometimes appears in the supermarket, but the trick is to buy lots in the autumn and freeze it yourself! Minced lamb is a rareity unless you go to the halal supermarkets.

 

Still, the selection in the supermarket has vastly improved since our visit in the 90's so shouldm't complain - just be more savvy. When it's there buy it!

 

Christmas is coming!

The lights ar going up in town! Nothing goes up until the last week of November, just prior to the first Sunday of Advent, which this year falls on December 2nd - have you got your Advent candles ready yet?

I must admit I like the Christmas lights in Norway (and Scandinavia in general). Why? Because they always look so simple and clean. Here you rarely see tacky, flashing Santa's with Rudolph's sleigh. or multi coloured strings of lights (never say never, as there is always someone who thinks they are  a good thing!). No, it is all very pared back. The lack of colour sort of matches the cold weather!

Bergens Storsenter Christmas Baubles

Putting up the stars on Strandgaten

I would hazard a guess that white lights dominate here as it is a nod back to the days when out in the country a lamp would be placed at the main window of the house, to light the way for any traveller. That tradition exists to this day with the stepped 'candle' lights that you see in many windows from now through to January. It was a sign of welcome and safety.

Let's hope the weather holds, as this Advent Sunday the mayor will, as usual, host a large Christmas Party in town with carols and gingerbread and the official lighting up of the town's Christmas Tree. The ceremony will be followed by a massive fireworks display. Last year it was marred a bit by dense fog and rain, but they held it anyway. Nothing stops a fireworks display here in this city - as the Norwegians say there is no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothes!

I am not sure though why the lamp posts on Bryggen have been given 'socks'. Are they so delicate they need to be kep warm. Does the fact that Bryggen is sinking have anything to do with it?  Have the Norwegians gone soft? Will they be putting bobble hats on their lamp posts soon? 



Just another art installation?

I'd love to know what is going on. If anyone has any idea about it please let me know!

Thoughts on the weather!

Looking out of the window this morning at 9 am, I suppose I ccould have been excused the, quite logical, thought 'why on earth did I bother to get up this morning?'

The cloud was low and it was literally pouring drizzle! Or as the Norwegians call it 'yre'. Yre (pronounced 'oo-re') is not to be confused with 'duskregn' or misty rain, lettregn (light rain) or even småregn (a bit more than light rain!), 'yre' is a Norwegian phenomenon where the clouds come down and rain quite heavily on you - nothing at all misty about it!

In fact, the Norwegians here on the west coast have quite a few words for rain, and I am sure there are many more to be learnt in the various dialects! I particularly like 'striregn' which describes the rain that comes at you sideways, and 'styrtregn' which is the type that bounces back up off the pavement and over the tops of your wellington boots.

Imagine a boat that is sinking, and you are bailing it out for dear life - that is the word used to describe torrential rain: øsregn. I suppose we have the same kind of image in english when we say it is bucketing down!

The rain today is in no way showery (there are words for that too). It has settled in nicely as they say, kind of wall-to-wall rain. So there won't be any 'opplett' or 'let up' today - that magical time when the rain stops for more than 2 minutes and you can get to the shop or take the dog out.

By the way 'opplett' is not to be confused with the english phrase 'it's clearing up'. In England when it rains, it stops (eventually) and the clouds are blown away. Here it rains, stops for a bit, and then you can literally watch the next front come in over the nearest mountain/coastline and judge whether you will be back home before it reaches you and soaks you to the skin! Yes, it seems as though the Norwegians have a word for every weather phenomenon.

I am now off to look at snow words - apparently the Samer or Lapps have 300 words for snow: new snow, old snow, snow that reindeer can walk on, snow that reindeer slip on, snow that is good for snow shoes. powder snow,  snow with ice crystals in, snow that has thawed once and then frozen again, etc. etc. .........


P.S. Breaking News! Bergens Tidende our local paper has a shock horror story today! A multi millionaire (in shipping) from Bergen, Torunn Økland, is selling her house and moving to ..... France. Why? It isn't the taxes, lack of choice in the shops or economic problems that are forcing her to sell - no it is the weather!  Ahh, if somone born and bred in the area can't take it what chance do any foreigners have. I imagine there will be some acerbic comments to that story, and a closing of ranks by those who say there is no such as bad weather, just bad clothing!

Mind you, with a house like this with its own private marina, I personally think I could quite get to like it here anyway!!