Brunost

Brunost (= brown cheese) also known as Myseost or Geitost (= goat cheese) is a Norwegian speciality, and one of those food items that I remember switching from hating to loving. Different varieties are made either from cow's milk, goat's milk or mixtures - but it is always made from whey.

As a child I remember being highly suspicious of this product: not only was it made of goat's milk - it was brown. But my mother loved it (still does) - back then I wasn't sure if this wasn't just part of her loving everything Norwegian. You could buy it in Denmark, but it was rather expensive, so whenever anyone we knew went to Norway my mother would ask them to bring her back a kg or two. Which would always be consumed surprisingly quickly upon delivery: thinly sliced on bread, possibly with slices of cucumber on top. My mother even had a special cheese cutter she only used for this cheese. The latter was due to its unusually soft texture.

Some years ago I saw it in a store in the US and was suddenly curious - would I still not like it, like I used to as a child, or had my tastes developed ? As you can probably guess, my tastes had indeed developed. Suddenly I found the sweet caramel with a hint of sharpness oddly pleasing. I still don't think I am as crazy about as my mother (quite frankly, I don't think I ever will be) - I certainly don't consume as much of it as she does, but from time to time I get some (here in Sweden it is of course readily available).

Oude kaas

When you go out for a drink in the Netherlands you can typically order some snacks with your meal. The selection of snacks varies from place to place, but there are certain classics which you find time and again.

One of those is Oude kaas: quite simply blocks of aged Gouda. Simple, yet brilliant.

On the way back from my most recent trip to Amsterdam I couldn't resist the temptation of bringing home a nice big piece of it. I had a lot of nice cheese this summer, but I think this one takes the prize ... so gooooooooooooooood!

Falafel in Geneva

Sad as I was to leave all the lovely little hole-in-the-wall type Mexican eateries and their enticing selection of burritos, tacos, nachos, beans and other goodies behind (somewhat alleviated by the fact that I've been trying my own hand at the craft), I must profess my joy of what I have gotten in stead: loads and loads of lovely little hole-in-the-wall middle eastern eateries (click on the picture above to enlarge .. it's somewhat big) where I can my occasional fix of falafel, something there were depressingly few options for along the stretch of the southern Californian coast where I lived. The typical falafel fix here comes in the shape of a sandwich or a rolled large pancake.

The only downside is that now I have even less incentive to make my own falafel - something I dabbled a little bit into earlier, but never really became comfortable about. Oh, well .. maybe I'll return to it some day after all.

Røget Rullepølse

Røget Rullepølse ("smoked rolled sausage") is a Danish speciality I sometimes ask people to bring me when I have visitors from the home country. I love it, but I've never even contemplated making it..

Basically pieces of meat (usually pork) are boiled, rolled with herbs and spices, pressed and smoked. Simple, no? Honestly, I don't even know the details. What I know is that good butcher shops usually have this delicacy (but forget about the cheap stuff you find in supermarkets all over Denmark).

Atomic Ginger

You may be familiar with the curiously strong ginger ales that result when the producers insist on cramming the equivalent of 25 grams (close to 1 oz) of fresh ginger into a standard bottle of the stuff. Imagine then concentrating a similar amount of ginger into a mere ball of ice cream sorbet .. the result brings colour to your face and sweat to your brow:


This concocted was served me as dessert at the Restaurant la Croix-Fédérale in Hermance, Switzerland along the southern shore of Lac Léman close to the border to France.

Yes, I know this is yet another post of me not cooking, but I don't have functioning kitchen in my new apartment yet - a subject I'll probably return in later posts.