This post is probably more for me than anyone else, its a list I will add to from time to time of things I miss from New Zealand and things I know I will miss when I leave Norway.
Of course I miss and will miss about both places is people, they are the only important thing in life, but this is other than people.
Here is a list of the things that I miss from New Zealand and the things I think I am gonna miss when I am away from Norway:
New Zealand |
|
|---|---|
| Things I miss | Reasons |
| Tear strips on cling film, aluminium foil, baking paper etc. | In NZ most tear strips are okay and some are excellent, in Norway there just seems to be artistic renditions of what a tear strip would look like on the side of the boxes. |
| Kiwifruit being cheap. | In Norway one Kiwifruit cost more than a kg does in NZ and I am not talking at the glut part of the season either. |
| Gingernuts | There are ginger biscuits almost like but they are just close enough to make me really miss the real thing. NZ gingernuts are spicy and hard.
I finished my last gingernut from the packet sent to me for Christmas this week 🙁 |
| Good roads | I tended to think in NZ that everywhere in the western world would have a similar or better standard of roads to New Zealand. But Norwegian roads are narrow and poorly repaired, and street signs can be so old they are hard to read.
I wondered about this at first, but then I figured if NZ had to pay for snow ploughs for a few months each year there would be less money putting into repairing the road surface itself. Still I miss New Zealand roads and signs. Not to mention sitting on the right side of the car when driving!! |
| Instant Pudding | There are similar things here and I love them, but sometimes a taste of home calls out to me and I hanker after a pack of instant pudding, butterscotch or chocolate mostly. |
Then there are the things I think I am gonna miss (savner) when I am away from Norway:
Norway |
|
|---|---|
| Norway | Reasons |
| Gelé / Jelly | Jelly that dissolves easy and sets perfect every time. Feels thicker when stirring more like egg yolk where as NZ jelly feels like water when your stirring. |
| SurkÃ¥l / sauerkraut | Always thought I would like this but never did in NZ, but here I could sit down to a meal of just sauerkraut. 🙂 |
| Gudbrandsdalsost, Brunost / brown cheese | Gudbrandsdalsost is apparently this is not ‘real’ cheese but is made by caramelising milk and making like cheese, but it is sooo yummy its like cheese and marmite all in one.
Jarle adds few slices to brown sauce and gravy to add a yummy taste, mmm. There are a few types of brunost round, for example: The only thing better than Gudbrandsdalsost is Ekte Geitost which is brown cheese made with goats milks. |
| Snøfrisk | This is a soft cheese like cream cheese but has a nice sharp taste to it. I so want to remake all my cream cheese recipes using snøfrisk. (Snø = snow, and it is white; frisk = fresh, and fresh is what it is). |
| Yogurt / yoghurt | Here the yoghurt is so rich and creamy it’s like a decadent treat, obviously not as low fat as the NZ equivalent which I like too, just Norwegian yogurt is just a couple of points higher on the yummy scale. |
| Kokosboller | Kokosboller and other sweet boller, there is just nothing like them in NZ. I thought I was going to miss mallowpuffs and so had a pack before I left NZ. But I really don’t anymore. Boller are so light and lickable on the inside which makes them fun to eat as well as delicious. But at least by doing this article I found a recipe for them. http://nuftenoft.wordpress.com/2008/12/06/kokosboller/ |
| White Christmas | Despite growing up in NZ for most of my life, and enjoying summer Christmas times, swimming at the beach, backyard BBQs, family gatherings easy to arrange as telling everyone to bring a salad or a desert.
Still all the movies and cards and other cultural references are to snow at Christmas so it was special to have a white Christmas and I know there would be a pang for it. |
| Brown Sugar | We have soft brown sugar in NZ but the stuff here is so rich smelling I am sure it is processed less. Has a nice treacley smell and adds so much to what ever you use it in. Really would miss it. |
| Napoleankake | Okay so napoleankake is like a custard square which is a good old favourite of mine from NZ but the pastry is more flakey and the filling is more creamy, need I say more? |
The sooner they make a teleport device the better, then I need miss nothing, but then would I appreciate it as much?
Hello Michelle, Where are you now? We are about to have a Norwegian dinner party with friends and I will read out your list of things you will miss about both countries. I’ve enjoyed your “chats”. If you have time could you recommend a Norwegian entree dish. I tried a Prawns with cucumber aspic recipe but not rapt. Cheers Sherry
Anything fish based especially salmon, Shrimp, cod or trout will work. Fish soup is popular as is mayonaise based prawn salad, maybe served on crakers for finger food or with green salad for more formal setting.
You can try this Norwegian recipe site that I have run through google translate, so it should mostly make sense http://translate.google.no/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=no&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=no&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.matprat.no%2Fgjester%2Fgjesteoppskrifter%2Fenkelt-vennelag-_vennelag%2F untranslated site is http://www.matprat.no/gjester/gjesteoppskrifter/enkelt-vennelag-_vennelag/
Good luck with your dinner, I hope all goes well.