How to pack a Norwegian sandwich, the world’s most boring lunch

Post by Retric » Mon, Oct 14, 2019, 10:58 PM UTC

peterwwillis wrote: post #19

mogadsheu wrote: post #6

Former Norway resident here, 3yrs. Their lunch traditions are definitely basic, as they were not a wealthy country for hundreds of years before striking oil in the 60s. The point to remember is that while the fare is basic, the quality is typically very good. Their cheese is extra creamy and nutritious, as is the bread. The same goes for the milk. Many Europeans won’t drink the milk here in the States because the qua…

The milk quality in the US is fine, it's just different. Each carton has been pasteurized differently, then homogenized, fortified, and contains milk from thousands of cows. There are lots of other differences that affect flavor, mouthfeel, aroma. We may also use different cows, environment, etc.

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Oct 14, 2019, 10:59 PM UTC

mstade wrote: post #5

cerberusss wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is just like Dutch lunch. Indeed, I'm not sure what's special about it. Definitely not limited to Norway. My previous girlfriend was also Dutch and used to this kind of lunch. Her employer sent her to London for a month, and she got used to expensive lunches. Spending a couple of pounds everyday on lunch, hoo boy, that adds up.

My experience living in London was that most of my colleagues were perfectly content picking up a sandwich from the nearest EAT or Waitrose or whatever. Every day a tired, boring sandwich for lunch. I just couldn't understand it. Some stores were just aisle after aisle of sandwiches, I'd never seen anything like it.

Post by luminiferous » Mon, Oct 14, 2019, 11:02 PM UTC

magicalhippo wrote: post #29

combatentropy wrote: post #24

Is this the only thing they eat between breakfast and dinner? I think I would be hungry again in 2-3 hours.

Our bread contains a lot of whole grain flour. Don't underestimate how that effects how full you feel. When losing weight I found I could easily get away with skipping lunch entirely, just two or three slices of bread as a late breakfast. But only if the bread had sufficiently high amount of whole grain flour (>90%). The days I only got hold of 50-60% whole grain bread I had to top up with a small lunch.

Post by lazyasciiart » Mon, Oct 14, 2019, 11:09 PM UTC

thawaway1837 wrote: post #34

chipotle_coyote wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think a lot of America will argue with this.

The majority of Americans get their bread from the grocery store, and by the time they eat it it’s probably several days if not weeks old. It is true that you can get extremely high quality fresh bread from a bakery (or even bakeries inside grocery stores) but that isn’t really part of the culture and good quality bread is usually considered an occasional treat.

Post by chrisseaton » Mon, Oct 14, 2019, 11:16 PM UTC

9nGQluzmnq3M wrote: post #36

chrisseaton wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 3 slices of bread ... liver paste, cheese or peanut butter ... waste 2 hours in the middle of the day on a heavy calorie lunch How many calories are in your sandwich though?! Sounds extremely calorie dense!

It's a single slice of cheese or meat. American deli-style sandwiches where there is more filling than bread are not a thing in Scandinavia. Also, if you were wondering what's up with "caviar" as a topping, it's this stuff made from cod roe: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalles_Kaviar