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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

#221

Post by tallanvor »

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…

Pretty much everyone in my office (in central Oslo) eats a hot meal in the canteen every day, I think there are maybe 5 people out of over 100 that have opted out of hot meals.

I'm also curious about you using peanut butter, in my experience, even though it's readily available in stores (well, one brand), it doesn't seem like many Norwegians actually eat it regularly.

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

#222

Post by dagw »

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #50
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…

No offense, but honestly your lunch sounds depressing as hell. I never understood this nordic lifestyle I saw in Scandinavia, Benelux and Northern Germany where people refuse to take a proper lunch break and just eat some random cold food in front of their computer for the sake of productivity for their employer. It's just depressing to see and unhealthy in the long term. In southern Europe(Austria) having a walk to…

I never understood this nordic lifestyle I saw in Scandinavia

Norway and Sweden are completely different. In Sweden most people either go out to a restaurant for a warm a lunch or eat a warm lunch they brought with from home. An hour lunch break, while not official sanctioned, is hardly uncommon.

And even when I worked in Norway where many people just ate sandwiches for lunch, almost everybody ate lunch in the lunchroom.

Sitting glued to my chair in front of the computer for 8 hours straight

Or you sit glued to your computer 6 hours straight, get done what you where supposed to do and go home at 3 to be with your family or get in some other afternoon activities. A very common mindset in Norway.

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

#223

Post by jplayer01 »

ctdonath wrote: post #101
ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No offense, but honestly your lunch sounds depressing as hell. I never understood this nordic lifestyle I saw in Scandinavia, Benelux and Northern Germany where people refuse to take a proper lunch break and just eat some random cold food in front of their computer for the sake of productivity for their employer. It's just depressing to see and unhealthy in the long term. In southern Europe(Austria) having a walk to…

I like my work. I'd rather eat a can of room temperature soup at my desk than interrupt a satisfyingly productive line of thought.

I have no idea why you're being downvoted. I'm the same way. I don't take lunch breaks unless I'm completely wiped out mentally. I get to go home earlier, but also I get to keep focusing on what I enjoy doing. Also, the office is empty and quiet, which is pretty damn nice. People here seem to be making the assumption that we're grinding ourselves to the bone by not taking a break - but, no, if I need a break, I can take one. I just don't need to.

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

#224

Post by teekert »

Smithalicious wrote: post #88
zabzonk wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I worked in the Netherlands on and off for several years, and the thing I never got used to was how appalling the lunches were. I did a presentation at KLM corporate headquarters, and at lunch asked the people I was presenting to - "How do you put up with this, day after day?" They all looked glum, and said "There is no alternative". And don't get me started on what passes as Chinese food in the Netherlands.

What is wrong about our Chinese food? I quite like it but I can't compare with other countries. Do bear in mind that Dutch "Chinese" food is really a combination of Chinese and Indonesian food, it's not really a real thing that exists anywhere outside of NL.

I also like our Chinese food (granted, there is a large quality range in my city at least), but most of the sauces are like 30% sugar.

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

#225

Post by dagw »

kristofferR wrote: post #14

I feel like this article somewhat undersells brødskriver. They can be delicious. Most important is good bread, which is super common here, despite it being totally unavailable in most other countries. All ordinary grocery stores get freshly baked bread every day, whole in paper bags of course. For example - with a thick slice of butter, then some oven-baked liver paste and two slices of gherkin on top and boom - you…

Most important is good bread, which is super common here

That must be a new development. I lived in Norway until 2002 and have eaten my fair share of matpacker and the bread with definitely very mediocre unless you where willing to pay ~$10 at a decent bakery. Otherwise it was Kneip, Loff or frozen baguettes , neither which can really be called "good".

But in general I agree with you. Good bread with lots of butter is amazing.

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

#227

Post by Narretz »

camillomiller wrote: post #139
euske wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Note that there's no risk with falling in a deeper state of sleep. This sleep is still good. The problem is only that waking up from a deeper sleep is harder and you will temporarily feel less awake than before the nap.

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

#229

Post by peteretep »

regularfry wrote: post #160
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…

I suffered from this until I cut out simple carbs at lunch. Bread, pasta, potatoes, and rice all send me to sleep if I have them. Salads and meat I can pig out on without problems.

Any lunch that isn’t mostly cheese and sausage by weight is just a recipe for disaster

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

#230

Post by ChrisWreck »

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…

Comparing the cheese to what you get in the States, it might look extra creamy. Being a Swedish born living in Norway, I'd say most of the cheese is boring and tasteless! The typical cheap cheese in Sweden (Hushållsost) is much more creamy and tastes a lot more than the cheapest alternatives in Norway (Norvegia). You have to go up about 40-50% in price to get the most equivalent (something like Novergia Fyldig). The milk though, tastes much better in Norway.
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