north wild kitchen

My love affair for Norway started the moment we arrived. Beauty graces its raw exterior. The splendor of the landscape is overshadowing. Its imperfections adding to its charm. And who would have guessed that deep in the northern wild, lies one of nature’s culinary banquets. Seasonal, forgiving, abundant. Like a land flowing with milk and honey.

My understanding of Norwegian cuisine went from an unfortunate stereotype to a world filled with berry-infused moose sausage, fermented trout, wild nettle soup, rhubarb juice made from birch sap, home brewed beer, and traditional cheeses and porridges made on the farm. The variation and quality of the dishes struck something deep inside me and I found myself asking why the bounty and complexity inherent to the Norwegian kitchen was not more well-known, not to mention more commonly praised and highlighted.

As I started to explore the cuisine, I had the privilege to meet the people behind the local products. People who are intensely passionate about maintaining their family traditions and creating new ones. They even inspired me to make my own

creating new ones. They even inspired me to make my own variations using local ingredients. I started writing about everything I was learning—cataloging recipes, stories, and traditions—and I wanted to share my excitement with everyone.

I combined my love for writing, photography, history, and storytelling to convey my journey in Norway. In 2016, I launched North Wild Kitchen as my voice to share this story. Nine months later, I won the coveted Blog of the Year by Saveur Magazine as well as Editor’s Choice Best New Voice. In 2018, I released my first cookbook internationally with resounding success as one of 'The Best Cookbooks for the Fall' by the New York Times. I made a TV series with Scandinavia's Food Channel to promote dairy farmers and cheesemakers as a lead up to the World Cheese Championships. Today, I’m working with several Nordic companies to promote the food culture locally and internationally while also offering travel food experiences throughout Norway and cooking classes at my farm. My new cookbook, Norwegian Baking Through the Seasons, is now out!

My love affair for Norway started the moment we arrived. Beauty graces its raw exterior. The splendor of the landscape is overshadowing. Its imperfections adding to its charm. And who would have guessed that deep in the northern wild, lies one of nature’s culinary banquets. Seasonal, forgiving, abundant. Like a land flowing with milk and honey.

My understanding of Norwegian cuisine went from an unfortunate stereotype to a world filled with berry-infused moose sausage, fermented trout, wild nettle soup, rhubarb juice made from birch sap, home brewed beer, and traditional cheeses and porridges made on the farm. The variation and quality of the dishes struck something deep inside me and I found myself asking why the bounty and complexity inherent to the Norwegian kitchen was not more well-known, not to mention more commonly praised and highlighted.

As I started to explore the cuisine, I had the privilege to meet the people behind the local products. People who are intensely passionate about maintaining their family traditions and creating new ones. They even inspired me to make my own variations using local ingredients. I started writing about everything I was learning—cataloging recipes, stories, and traditions—and I wanted to share my excitement with everyone.

I combined my love for writing, photography, history, and storytelling to convey my journey in Norway to the world. In 2016, I launched North Wild Kitchen as my voice to share this story. Nine months later, I won the coveted Blog of the Year by Saveur Magazine as well as Editor’s Choice Best New Voice. In 2018, I released my first cookbook internationally in the English, Norwegian, and German languages with resounding success as one of the best cookbooks for the fall by the New York Times. I made a TV series with Scandinavia's Food Channel, Matkanelen, to promote dairy farmers and cheesemakers as a lead up to the World Cheese Championships. Today, I’m embarking on even more adventures to continue to share this amazing culture with you.

The ingredients are bountiful. The taste profiles are vast. Food movements are popping up all across Norway. People are finding new ways of using what has already been there and they are revitalizing the traditional methods and recipes. In a country with a vast amount of produce and livestock (including mushrooms, wild meats, fresh fish, wild berries and herbs), it’s interesting how a more exclusive and renowned food culture did not integrate itself into the everyday Norwegian cuisine.

Yet, to understand Norway’s food culture is to also understand the country and its history. Many factors have played a part, including lifestyle (laborious and hard), religion and wealth. What we can take from the past are valuable lessons in cooking methods, such as smoking, preserving, and storing, as well as hunting. Survival encouraged time-tested processes that we’re returning to now, so we can learn from them and also remember what a fish that’s cooked on a stone over a hot fire in the middle of the forest tastes like. And as we are blessed to live in abundance and have a knowledge of and access to food and methods from around the globe, we can integrate both the past and the present into innovative and inspired meals, all the while taking advantage of the incredible bounty. Meals that are by every definition Norwegian, because the products are locally sourced, and the tastes embody the evolution of the Nordic plate.

Norwegian Food Today

I am inspired by the stories and traditions passed down from generation to generation. The delicate and laborious lefse. The simple soups and boiled meats. The smoked fish. The rustic farmhouse beer. Those irresistible boller with all their cardamom goodness. Norwegian cooking at its simplest and most elaborate. That’s what you will find here. Seasonal cooking, local ingredients, local artisans, and simple gatherings.