More stuff about the Vikings...

[shootingstar]

Anyway. The first owner of the farm, the first settler, was buried beneath a mound on the farm when he died, and presumed to hang around the settlement thereafter. It was common to sacrifice a little beer by the mound, and in general try to stay on his good side

I think I remember seeing vessels for some form of drink when I was at the National Museum in Copenhagen last year. But didn't spend a huge time reading the text in their fantastic, recently modernized permanent exhibits on Viking history. Before, I had never been to any major Viking history/museum exhibit.

What a tough, sometimes violent bunch they were, those Vikings.

[smilingcat]

What is the proper etiquette for serving lutefisk? Is it permissible to serve indoor or outdoor only. And must you serve it with Aquavit?

I had a colleague who lived in Tampere for a while. He was even thinking of relocating his family there for two/three years. Every time I saw him, he would joke about Aquavit and Lutefisk. He was appaled once when he ordered a medium sized pizza and Coca Cola and his bill came out to around US$30.00. Expensive, if you don't eat local cuisine. From his photos, I was so mesmerized by its beauty, mostly photos of fjords. And all that beautiful trees and forest!!

BTW, he loved Tampere. Water everywhere he said. And he did dine on reindeer. POOR RUDOLPH!!

And oh yes another colleague had a grandmother from Sweden I think it was. And she said her grandmother would serve Lutefisk. She didn't want to disappoint her grandmother so she willed her self to eat the dinner.

[lph]

Lutefisk is awful stuff, so I sure wouldn't eat it without quantities of akevitt I'm American/Norwegian, brought up in Norway by, uh, untraditional parents, so I managed to avoid lutefisk throughout my childhood. Most people do eat it though, with joy, so one Christmas I decided to be brave and go eat lutefisk with my colleagues. They all told me of the wonderful "tilbehør", side-dishes - melted butter, sweet goat's cheese, crispy bacon, stewed peas. They were right, the side-dishes were great. The lutefisk was still horrible

It's normally eaten indoors in quite fine restaurants, not an easy dish to serve outdoors. Besides it would get cold within minutes.

Yup, eating out is expensive, but still a lot cheaper than it used to be, with lots more cheap restaurants now. Norwegians home-cook a lot more than Americans, I think. But basically wages are higher.

Oh, and reindeer is excellent meat. We eat it a lot, it's plentiful, very tasty even though it has little fat, and it's ecofriendly.

Yup, shootingstar, the Vikings were a very violent bunch. I don't feel any need to identify too much with them... but their mythology is pretty cool, and a nice balance to the Greek/Roman.

zoom-zoom - do you know where your ancestors came from?

[zoom-zoom]

zoom-zoom - do you know where your ancestors came from?

I think mostly Trondhjem. It's interesting, my best friend did a year of HS there. We met years later. I love when she speaks Norwegian to her kids and dogs.

I've never had lutefisk. My mom was forced to eat it as a kid. SO glad neither of my folks like the stuff.

[lph]

Trondhjem is a really lovely town, you should definitely visit if you have a chance. Have only been there a few times, but just got back from a work trip there and had a few hours to explore the town, very friendly. The area around is not the most stunning Norway can offer as mountains and fjords go, but rolling countryside and lush forest in heaps and bounds.

[uk elephant]

Trondheim is of course the best of Norway's larger towns....I'm not biased at all, being born and raised there. And I would like to chime in that lutefisk is best avoided like the plague! Just the smell is bad enough! And there is no need for eating fermented or rotten food now that modern refridgeration is available.

[salsabike]

I just finished my first visit to Norway. It's GORGEOUS! And the reindeer sausage was very good.

PS Gietost! We brought some home from Undredal. I fell in love with Norway.