Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Absentee and Norwegian Cuisine

Due to the course of human life continuing even when unnoticed, the every four year cycle has returned again.

It's election time...

This is a big deal for me because I have never filled out an absentee ballot.  I figured it would be pretty easy.  I could log-in to a secure, government server, punch my ballot online, and be done with it.  Seriously, this was the 21st century, I sort of expected there would be an app for it.

Unfortunately, this isn't the case...

Though, with good reason, it seems the internet is still the wild west...

So, while I was able to register online (oddly, they make you go through the whole registration process like you're signing up to vote all over again...), I had to print out my actual ballot and mail it in.


The process was very convoluted and almost self-defeating in a way (in addition to having to fill out an awkwardly constructed, questionaire-like sheet with my ballot choices, there was very specific instructions.  You cannot erase.  You cannot use anything but a #2 pencil... which is weird because a human would look at it, not a machine...), I pressed on.  Though, I felt somewhat guilty voting on some of the choices.

The obvious options (President, Senator, District Representative... shout out to Elijah Cummings!, Same sex marriage, expanded gambling) were easy, as I'd read up on those all summer during my sabbatical/diaspora, as well as followed the developments via internet channels.  However, choosing who I wanted for School Board Representation wasn't easy.  I had no clue who any of the people were and I wouldn't be affected by the choices, as I was some years removed and don't have any children or extended family in the school system.  Thankfully, the internet provided a snappy detailing of the candidates (including one who is a senior at my alma mater... Yes, a 17-year-old is running for the School Board.  Only in America)

In other news, awesome girlfriend provided me with two, new Norwegian dishes.



My Take: The dish was very tasty.  It's an interesting thing with culture.  There are people who live thousands of miles away from each other and have no interaction, yet, there are a lot of dietary similarities.  I make that observation because, growing up, my mother (who learned it from her maternal  side consisting of Caribbean and Native American roots) would often stew cabbage with meat (albeit, that was usually turkey or pork... there were occasions when the meat of choice would be sheep).  Anyway, I had never quite had a meal prepared in this matter and I'm glad to have added it to my dietary experience.

Klubb

My Take:  Another, awesome dish and experience.  Klubb are potato dumplings, but done in a way that is slightly different than how I've ever had them (personally, pierogies are still king).  They're a mixture of mashed, boiled potato and grated, raw potato, drizzled (or drenched... I don't have a good hand for pouring) with butter and ate alongside salted meats and beer.  

These two dishes are traditional, fall dishes that helps me to feel even more Norwegian.

oh, and shame on me for not talking about the awesomeness that is Lefse earlier... it is like a churro, but not nearly as messy and with your mouth feeling like it may cry with enjoyment.  Or something like that...



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Alt for Norge


Thursday, October 11, 2012

Øl festen

One of the things I enjoy about Norway (there are oh so many amusing things in the land of the midnight sun...) is that Norwegians are a fairly celebratory bunch.  There are so many random festivals and events happening that there is always something to do (or, rather, there's always random tourist stumbling around town).  Which brings us to last Friday... I got a SMS (which is such a rare occurrence that, at first, I thought my phone battery died) from a friend asking if I wanted to go to a Beer Festival.  Of course Oslo has a beer festival (actually they have two)... 

How could I not go?  Purely for you, dear readers, I had to indulge in this cultural experience (times like this reminds me why I don't invite my older, pious relatives to read my blog...)


The event was held in Oslo's new Mathallen (Meal Hall... It's like an open air market) which was having it's Grand Opening the following weekend.  Despite it being prior to the "opening" every booth and cranny was open for business.  In the middle was a roped off, rectangular area that served as the "beer festival area" and, to enforce this point, there was a wooden, square area inside that had an assortment of bartenders and refrigerators.  


Here is the listing of available beverages:



The Best Beer: Ægir Harvest (though, my girlfriend will tell you its Nøgne Ø's Pumpkin Ale
The Worst Beer: Aas Bock (it wasn't bad... I just don't like sweet beer.  Not fruity, just the hops made it sweet)
The "Why do they have that beer here?!?!?" Beer: Duff (yes, as in that Duff)

The weirdest quirk to this festival was the way in which the beer was purchase.  You were given a choice of a sample size (like two shots), a glass for those offerings on draft (about 12 ounces/ 0,3 liters), or the whole bottle, which is pretty cool.  However, as you can see above, those aren't prices next to them.  In order to purchase beer, you had to first purchase tokens from a cashier.  There were only two cashiers working at a time.  You can imagine the back-ups.  

It was all good otherwise.  The staff was friendly.


And this guy played the Tuba!


Why was he playing a Tuba?!?!?  I don't know.  This is Norway.

Oh, and I had the greatest Duck Sandwich (confit de canard with dijon mustard) ever... oh man.  The best ever... That has nothing to do with anything, just thought that I should share.


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Alt for Norge


Thursday, October 4, 2012

So, yeah... Fall

Not sure if my last post conveyed it or not, but fall is upon us.  Which, in Norway, is harder to notice.  True, the air has that crisp smell to it and the trees are turning colors (I swear, it feels like the leaves change earlier here... but it's probably just a misrememberance born out of the disassociation of being in a new place at a new time of year for the first time) and the berries in the markets are being replaced with apples...

Yet still... It doesn't feel all that different than spring (Not like the trappings of the States).


The sun (when it I see it... it still does that "rain 4 days a week" thing) is doing this weird thing where it's not quite up and it never quite sets.  Sunrise just feels like a prolonged glare from around six a.m. for the next few hours.  The sunset isn't much different.  It's a little after six now and I've been staring at dusk for an hour and I know it won't really be dark for another couple of hours.  Norway, everyone, where the sun never can say goodbye.

Though, one noticeable element of Fall is the cuisine.  Fall means it is officially lamb season.  Which means Faarikaal (Lamb with cabbage), Smalahove (Sheep's head... and Americans think chitlins are gross!), and, my favorite, Pinnekjøtt (simply saying its "smoked salted lamb or mutton" doesn't do it justice).  I haven't had the first two, but I'm making plans for the first and the second... well, I'm making plans for the first.  Also, I have a date with reindeer pizza... That's right, Rudolph comes with cheese and sauce now (in fact, it's a fairly common thing that I feel cheated on having not tried here... same as whale, but that's another post for another day).

Anyway, it is really fall here in Norway now (50 degree temperatures for everyone!).  If the shortening days and colorful trees didn't alert me, the ever-present smell of burning lamb fat has conveyed such.

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Alt for Norge (before we eat them... før spiser vi dem)