Tuesday, June 30, 2009

corner view bergen, norway: staple foods

sorry i'm so late, but i've been a bit sick today. feeling better now, although 'food' isn't really a high priority right now...
if you ask for the most typical food here nowadays, the answer will probably - and sadly - be this:

yup, frozen pizza.
if you ask for traditional food from western norway, you might regret you asked. if you're sqeemish, don't scroll down, or you might feel a bit sick yourself.
although eating this particular dish is mainly kept for enthusiasts (and some brave tourists), smalahove is probably the one thing you'll hear mentioned most often when asking about western norwegian traditional food. it scares the shit out of foreigners and most norwegians too. smalahove, - literally 'sheeps head', is an old tradition from these parts of norway, from back when one had to be frugal to survive. formerly a poor man's food, this is today considered a delicacy.

i picked the least scary picture. just go ahead, google it, and enjoy the photos of it in various stages of being eaten. like, when there's nothing left on the plate but the scull and the teeth.
smalahove is usually eaten in the months before christmas, and yes, you eat everything. including the eyeballs. for some, eating this has become some sort of test to show how brave you are. but i think this is limited to your first try, as most people discover that it's actually just salty lambs meat and quite good. perhaps except for the eyballs. i wouldn't know, i've never tried it and i'm not particularly tempted!
(at least, i was decent enough to wait till you'd had your breakfast :) )

13 comments:

Bjørk said...

haha, ja det var norgesreklamen sin :) mener å ha lest en statistikk om at mange spiser grandiosa på julaften og... Lurer på om det var 100 000 eller noe...

earthycrunchy said...

Ok, yes, Um....alright..don't know what to say. Do you like to eat lambs heads? I couldn't do it, but I understand I am just a little weird about it. Do you eat the brains too? I need to know this!

jane said...

and i thought in spain they ate every part of an animal... thanks for your consideration. ha! ha! great post! besos-jane

Elizabeth said...

good god -- that's all I have to say. that beats the cow tongue sandwich that I watched my Swiss husband eat when we visited his small town...

Daan said...

Bring in the frozen pizza ;-)

As (almost) veggie...well maybe i'll be 100 % veggie as from now ;-)

-x-

Bonnie said...

i'll stick with the piza !!!

hope you are feeling better !

;) said...

Ha ha !! Sometimes, when we are late, pizza is a good solution !!! But... I'ld prefer to taste the other recipe ;)

et lille oejeblik - a little moment said...

oi, yeah, ok, but why not? other places it's bugs and grasshoppers, deepfried chicks, brains, testicles, snails or frogs, so lamb's head could be a treat too, i guess :)

have a nice day and feel better :)

caitlin said...

Ha, ha.. so interesting. Great corner!

therese said...

earthcrunchy: don't worry, they don't eat the brains:) and now, i've never eaten this dish.

Anne said...

WOW!............

Thanks for sharing.I don't think I could eat it. I would feel like the sheep was watching me.LOL

Palmer and Co said...

Oh, my! That is a sheep's head indeed! I suppose I'd at least try one bite then maybe go for the pizza!

Visty said...

Holy hell that's a HEAD ON A PLATE!!!!!

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