I love going away on holiday. I love the different sights and sounds and tastes. And in particular I love the supermarkets. Yes that’s right the supermarkets. Not the food shops or markets but the supermarkets. The specialist food shops and markets are good too but you have to know a modicum of the language in question or be a dab hand at gesticulating to get something close to what you want and I mostly got stuck at “dos cervezas por favor”. So I say bring on the exploration of another nation’s food culture through it supermarkets (or indeed lack of them). They can even act as handy research libraries ahead of a trip to a real food market. After all it really helps to know that salt cod looks a lot like chunks of smashed up concrete….
So without further ado here is a foray around two (yes two) supermarkets in Bergen, Norway.
Look its actually called Safari – brilliant!
First up some potatoes with nice Aztec styling:
Ah look no beers for us today its the wrong time on Saturday afternoon so the beer is all hidden away:
Fiskekaker, fiskeboller, fiskepudding…..fiske pretty much anything. Wonder if its as good as the ones down at the fish market in town……
And erm……fløtepudding (apparently its an extra creamy fish pudding kind of thing)
Oh and some sild, sild and more sild (herrings marinated any which way you choose)
Look lomper (potato cakes) – apparently the wrapper of choice for your hot dog!
And more Roses cordials then you’d ever see in the UK:
Ah, excellent, Lapskaus…..
Right lets try another supermarket (apparently this one is posher than Safari!)
Blimey reindeer stew – tons of the stuff
Oh and a different kind of baller (potato dumplings I think)
Blue cheese (a Norwegian take on gorgonzola I think we can safely assume)
oh and some frozen reindeer meat
and last but not least weird kaviar spread stuff….
Fascinating 
See how much more you now know about Norwegian food. Always explore the supermarket before making a a fool of yourself in a real shop.
I LOVE going to supermarkets on holiday! Sad isn’t it? I find them fascinating. It’s just so interesting to compare the produce and packaging.
I love the ‘Norzola’ !
.-= Jan´s last blog ..Jam packed =-.
I too cannot resist food supermarkets on holiday. Same goes for food markets. This has been the case not only for all of my adult life but even as a kid. Luckily the husband is well versed…
I love a good rummage around a foreign supermarket! I spent so long in one in Iceland (as in the country not the er, supermarket), that I held up the whole tour by half an hour. Unintentionally of course! I had no idea everyone else had got bored and was waiting outside…
I adore supermarket shopping when on holiday! The stuff abroad seems so much shinier and more exciting and I also get to laugh at the weird names.
It’s one of the reasons I love Lidl, because that’s kind of a foreign supermarket and you can unearth some real gems.
.-= meemalee´s last blog ..A MasterChef Motivator =-.
I love going to supermarkets abroad. It’s a quick way to spot some of the basic cultural differences and buy biscuits.
@Helen That’s hilarious! I never understand why my holiday making friends don’t want to spend longer in the supermarket. Don’t they know want to closely study the range of teas and the cheese section?
.-= ginandcrumpets´s last blog ..Elderberry jam =-.
Weird kaviar stuff! That weird kaviar stuff I’ll have you know is pure nostalgia food, along with joika (reindeer stew), fiskeboller (fish balls, or cakes if you will) and lomper for my hot dog!
Nice bit of supermarket anthropology there Linda, but you’ve left us guessing whether the fiske-products of Safari and Rema were a patch on the epic fiskeboller/kaker/pudding of downtown Bergen fish market…I expect a full report next time you’re in Norway
.-= Signe´s last blog ..Julia Child’s Reine de Saba =-.
I feel like you have outed my dirty secret!
Food stores are the first place i visit in a new country and the best way I know to get to understand a country if you don’t speak the language or know people there. Convenience stores are really good too, and very easy to make comparisons to the UK. My local offy/corner shop sells chocolate, cheap beer, instant coffee, teabags, pot noodles, sliced bread, sliced cheese, nappies & cheap washing up liquid – that is quite a good introduction to my neighbourhood. So, visiting another country I can compare habits by seeing what the local corner shop sells. Mostly I am left wishing that I could relocate. Meh!
btw – Bla cheese looks pretty cool too!
.-= kate the bake´s last blog ..dim sum, gluten free, yum! =-.
Ha! Another sad foreign supermarket addict here…this year in Greece, I spent way too long lurking in the closest mini-mart, embarassing my poor friend J who only waits as she’s hopeful of a good supper. Vac-packed octopus was my best find.
.-= fran39´s last blog ..Eight legs good =-.
Looks like I’ve uncovered every food lovers guilty pleasure and I though there was just me lurking in foreign supermarkets peering into the chill cabinet! I think there are some real gems you can find probably my all time favourite (aside from cheese) is the heat and eat tortilla you can get in Spain – genius idea and pretty tasty especially for breakfast :0
I might turn this into a mini supermarket series – we could play guess the country…..
Reading this makes me want to race back to Norway and stuff my suitcase full of “weird” kaviar stuff, lomper, reindeer steaks and er, fiskepudding. But not the stuff from Rema or Safari (heaven forfend) but all the amazing fiskeboller, fiskekaker and fiskepudding from Sostrene Hagelien in Bergen. Sob!
.-= scandilicious´s last blog ..Sunday baking- Banana bread with spelt- oats and maple syrup =-.