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

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

#131

Post by j7ake »

shawnlower2 wrote: post #51
lotsofpulp wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The bread in America is garbage compared to Europe.

Best not to conflate all bread in America with Wonder Bread. We have bakeries that actually choose to make a quality product, and it's available in (edit: grocery stores in) most cities. Many Americans simply choose to optimize for cost. The bread in Copenhagen was fantastic, though.

Maybe a more precise statement is the distribution of quality of bread in USA versus countries like France is skewed towards France.

Yes USA can have bread just as good as in France but it's considered in the tails of the distribution while in France it's considered near the mode.

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

#132

Post by umeshunni »

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…

> as they were not a wealthy country for hundreds of years before striking oil in the 60s.

I was surprised by that statement and had to look it up and it was, of course, false. Norway was a wealthy country back to the 1800s: sources: https://medium.com/@Jernfrost/no-norway-was-not-a-poor-count... and https://eh.net/encyclopedia/the-economic-history-of-norway/

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

#133

Post by mikorym »

opdahl wrote: post #16

I'm a Norwegian, and where I work I have the option of eating a big warm lunch, but I very rarely do. I've noticed that eating a big lunch makes the following hour extremely unproductive, so for the last year I have made a matpakke with 3 slices of bread. Normal _pålegg_ is liver paste, cheese or peanut butter. I can easily go through my lunch in just few minutes, and even while working at the same time. My thought p…

Yeah, I don't see how this is a boring lunch at all, that sandwich looks great to me. Does it mean though that your supper is usually "heavier"?

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

#134

Post by bifrost »

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

I love Kalles! I've eaten it since I was a kid.

I make regular trips to IKEA just to buy it, apparently they're one of the US's largest importers of Swedish food.

But yes, its very different than what most Americans think of Caviar; This is very much un-fancy.

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

#135

Post by grawprog »

billh wrote: post #114
grawprog wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

American milk also has anti-biotics and bovine growth hormone in it. I was fairly disappointed when they recently started allowing American milk to be sold here. Luckily it has to be labelled.

This is simply not true. Milk is tested frequently and antibiotics are very rarely found [1]. Milk tankers that test positive for antibiotics are discarded and this milk never enters into the human consumption stream. 1. https://www.fda.gov/federal-state-local-tribal-and-territori...

https://bcdairy.ca/milk/articles/does-milk-contain-growth-ho...

>While the administration of growth hormones known as BST or rBGH to dairy cows is allowed in the US, it is illegal in Canada and therefore not permitted for use with any dairy cows.

https://www.healthcastle.com/what-you-should-know-about-milk...

>In both Canada and the United States, all milk sold must be antibiotic-free, so the issue is more about potential antibiotic-resistance than actually consuming antibiotics through milk. In Canada, a farmer who provides a dairy with milk containing antibiotics will have to pay for all expenses related to the milk that is thrown out. That means farmers take their commitment to providing antibiotic-free milk seriously.

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

#136

Post by bifrost »

Moru wrote: post #46
9nGQluzmnq3M wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Warning, Kalles Kaviar actually contains sugar and lots of it. It's horrible, and I'm swedish. They actually make ads on the TV with people from other cultures trying to eat it. It's not as bad as surströmming but ew...

Dare I ask your opinion of Matjes?

That said, I've heard a some dissent from younger swedes about surströmming but not about Kalles heh.

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

#137

Post by camillomiller »

opdahl wrote: post #16

I'm a Norwegian, and where I work I have the option of eating a big warm lunch, but I very rarely do. I've noticed that eating a big lunch makes the following hour extremely unproductive, so for the last year I have made a matpakke with 3 slices of bread. Normal _pålegg_ is liver paste, cheese or peanut butter. I can easily go through my lunch in just few minutes, and even while working at the same time. My thought p…

As an Italian, I am profoundly offended by this statement and most of the comments in this thread :D

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

#138

Post by toomanybeersies »

jib wrote: post #113
GuiA wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s kind of sad to see the meal culture eroding in other parts of the world. The “quickly ingest some food at your desk so you can keep working” mentality has taken hold. I’m French, and at my first office job - almost 15 years ago - the entire office was empty from noon till 2p. People would go get their kids at school, have lunch with them at home, and bring them back before returning to work. Or child free people…

I too worked in France. I hated the long lunches, since it meant you left work at 6 or 7 in the evening. I’d rather be out the door at 5 (like I do now in the US) or 3-4 (like I did in some previous Swedish jobs) than spend the entire evening in the office.

I usually eat lunch at my desk these days and just leave an hour earlier.

Your lunch hour isn't really an hour, by the time walk somewhere or prepare a lunch. I can't use that hour to actually spend time with my friends or do anything meaningful. I'd rather skip lunch and just head to the pub with my mates at 5.

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

#139

Post by camillomiller »

euske wrote: post #119
opdahl wrote: post #16

I'm a Norwegian, and where I work I have the option of eating a big warm lunch, but I very rarely do. I've noticed that eating a big lunch makes the following hour extremely unproductive, so for the last year I have made a matpakke with 3 slices of bread. Normal _pålegg_ is liver paste, cheese or peanut butter. I can easily go through my lunch in just few minutes, and even while working at the same time. My thought p…

There are two solutions to this: Eating less for lunch is one, taking an afternoon nap is another. I'm taking the latter one. I eat lunch at 1pm in normal days, and my sleepiness usually kicks in around 2pm. Then I take a 15-min power nap, and I become fully energized again. The process I take a nap is 1) open up a terminal and press the enter, so the current time is shown in a prompt. 2) literally headdesk. 3) wake…

The theory goes that a power nap shouldn’t be more than 25 minutes, otherwise you risk falling in a deeper state of sleep. I tested the assumption and I find it true. Also, napping quickly everywhere is a skill one can train.

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

#140

Post by kristofferR »

j7ake wrote: post #125
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…

There are other countries that have not been wealthy but still would consider such basic lunches unpalatable (e.g., Korea, China, Singapore).

All these countries are warm Asian countries, where street food stalls actually work due to the climate.

You can't have the same food culture in places that are covered in snow at least half the year.

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