Traditionally Norway has not ranked highest when you search for food. What often comes to mind are “weird” dishes such as smalahove (sheep’s head), brunost (brown cheese) or fårikål (lamb stew). But Norway fortunately has much more to offer, especially if you are looking for fresh, local delicacies.

To test these delicacies out Visit Norway invited American blogger Tinger Hseih, British baker Benjamina Ebuehi and Indian chef Maunika Gowardhan to come to Trøndelag, Norway to taste some of our most sustainable food.

The wild flavours of the mountains

One of the best places for trying out the power of local food is the Røros region, where the farmers specializes in everything from milk, yoghurt and cured meat to award-winning cheeses. The girls learned about the importance of reindeer in Sami culture and traditions, and during her visit chef Maunika added some exotic spices to the cooking pan and made a reindeer curry – where she added a side dish: Cloudberry chutney.

The freshest seafood in the world

The three girls were also introduced to Norwegian seafood and met with locals who harvest delicacies such as mussels, sea urchins and langoustine (the Norwegian lobster), all of which are often served in Michelin-starred restaurants in Norway as well as all over the world.
Tinger actually donned a wetsuit and served the others sea urchins she picked up from the bottom of the sea.

From farm to table

In Norway, farmers distribute their products to grocery stores and restaurants, sometimes also having their own farm shops where you can buy products such as eggs, milk, cheese and butter – we have a lot to thank our chickens, goats and cows for.

Actually in Norway animals get their well-deserved, mandatory summer holiday in return – happy and healthy animals are key to world-class farm produce.

Baker Benjamina had to do something she never had tried before – get milk and eggs directly from the source! In this case, some friendly chickens and a cow named Dotty. And the final result was Benjamina’s sponge cake.

The whole foodie trip you can find documented here, where you will also find the videos showing the three girls’ adventures in Norway.

Make sure you also check out Benjamina’s sponge cake recipe.