Supermarkets: The Key To The Norwegian Soul

When traveling abroad there are many ways to learn about local culture. Taking a stroll down a local supermarket's aisles can help you understand, just a little, about local tastes and preferences.

In Svolvaer I was a frequent visitor to the Mega Coop, Coop being a chain (I was told government-owned, but I'm not entirely sure about that) with varying size stores depending on the needs of the community. In Svolvaer (as in Rørvik and other towns I visited) it was located within the Amfi indoor shopping mall.

The importance of fish is obvious from that section of the supermarket. According to one of the desk clerks at Svinøya Rorbuer the Mega Coop is the best place to buy seafood, the only better being the fish sold by a vendor who irregularly appears at the town square.  I purchased half a kilo of rekke (shrimp) to cook in our cottage and can vouch for the quality.

While the fish department was staffed for special orders and personal service, all the meats were pre-packaged, including cold cuts. Likewise the potato, shrimp and similar salads came pre-packaged.

Although the depth of selection is limited (you won't find six brands of toilet paper) the breadth was more than adequate, the shelves stocked for every need.

After multiple trips, I wonder how much home cooking Norwegians do. The aisles were filled with convenience foods, including the Toro brand which Sonia Wallace said provides the base for an excellent fish soup. (I'm dubious about that.) Mexican appears to be big.

As in American supermarkets, beverages took up considerable space, especially beer. As previously noted, it's a lot less expensive to buy your beer at a retail store than at a bar or restaurant: you save about 50 percent. All the popular Norwegian and many some international brands were available.

For more interesting beers you have to visit Vinmonopolet, the state wine and liquor monopoly. (Just like Pennsylvania!) On its shelves I spied some great Belgian beers at about the same price I'd pay in Philadelphia (NOK 50, or about $8, for a Westmalle Tripple, as an example). Most of the inventory was devoted to wine, though there were plenty of distilled spirits, especially cognac. Not nearly as extensive was the selection of aquavits: maybe a dozen, just a few more than you'd find at many bars.

Shrimp and Beer

While Jean Sue enjoyed a good  book, I enjoyed shrimp and beer at this lovely setting by our cottage.

I obtained both vittles at the Mega Coop, the aforesaid supermarket in the local mall. The six-pack of Arctic Beer originated from Mack Brewing of Tromsø, the metropolis of the north. (We'll be stopping there during our Hurtigruten journey, including an excursion for a brief concert at its Arctic Cathedral, the most northern in the world.) The six-pack set me back about $15, more than two bucks a bottle. The beer itself, while no microbrew, is four or five notches better than Bud and compares well with my standard beer at home, Yuengling's Chesterfield Ale. For an easy-to-drink, inexpensive lager, Arctic Beer hits the sweet spot.

The shrimp (rekke in Norsk) were of the small, northern variety, much like those caught during the winter season in Maine. They sold for about $10 a pound, with heads on. Which is all to the better, so you can suck out the fat or whatever that tasty subtance is that we rarely find in shrimp sold in the U.S. I simply boiled them in salted water, drained and put them in the fridge to cool. Some potato chips and carrot sticks completed my al fresco treat. (The local cat population enjoyed a few shrimp heads, too.)

What I must take care is to give myself two hours to let my blood alcohol level subside. Even one beer is enough to send you to the clink in Norway. Here's what the U.S. State Department says about drinking in Norway:

Norway has some of the strictest laws in Europe concerning driving under the influence of alcohol; those laws prescribe heavy penalties for drivers convicted of having even a low blood alcohol level.  Frequent road checks with mandatory breathalyzer tests and the promise of stiff jail sentences encourage alcohol-free driving.  The maximum legal blood alcohol content level for driving a car in Norway is .02 per cent.

 In Pennsylvania you are considered over the limit with a blood alcohol level of .08 or more -- four times more than the Norwegian standard.