Saturday, September 12, 2009

Eating off the Norwegian Land: (Part 1: the Berry Edition)

These days eating directly from the earth usually means visiting a farm with a "pick-your-own" crop; shopping at the farmers market or growing a few vegetables as experiments in the backyard, or on the deck in pots or a little patch of well fertilized dirt. This is a glorious and satisfying way to get my food, but, never before have I just been able to feel like the casual roaming reindeer eating what the land provided for me!

One of the most magical parts of the second half of my vacation was the time that I spent in a cabin in rural Norway. Just up from a glacial fed lake that provided the drinking, washing, and swimming water, the cabin was our cozy home for 6 days.

There were two things that covered the ground: Blueberry bushes and reindeer moss. Luckily we were there at the height of the blueberry season. (Reindeer moss is actually a slow growing lichen that has a misty green hue that makes everything look enchanted.)

We had blueberries for breakfast. We put blueberries in our cocktails. We made blueberry galettes and blueberry crumble. We ate blueberries on the way to the lake. We ate blue berries on the way to the outhouse. And never did I feel like I had too many!


On our last day we took a long, dramatic and beautiful hike. Like good Norwegians we had chocolate bars with us for energy and morale. However, there was nothing better to keep me going than the occasional mountain raspberry that we found along the way. It is hard to tell, but here GA is picking one.



Bright pink-red berries peeked out of bushes on the sides of mountain cliffs. They may be the sweetest, softest berries I have eaten.


Oh, Norway, I’ll eat your berries anytime!

1 comment: