A Summer in Norway, 1982

The road trip from my Uncle Wolfgang’s house in Emden, Germany to his summer getaway in Sør Trondelag, Norway seemed endless. We took the ferry from Kiel to Oslo then headed north toward the Trondheim Fjord. The countless smiles gave me ample time to wonder what I’d gotten myself into: seven weeks in Norway with no electricity, no running water, and perhaps more importantly, no Atari. When my father and my Uncle suggested I take the trip in 1982, I accepted without giving any thought to the realities of the journey. I didn’t know that I’d have to leave my mother sobbing at the airport and I never thought my 9-year-old eyes would cry until I was halfway across the Atlantic (for the record, I didn’t start crying until she did). I spent much of that drive thinking of all the reasons why I shouldn’t be there, completely ignoring the spectacular Norwegian countryside until it was time to stop and vomit on it…English peas and After Eights from the ferry. Ugh. Perhaps my car-sick brain was trying to make me pay a little more attention to what is arguably one of Mother Nature’s finest landscapes.

We’d seen glimpses of the sea as we traveled, but it wasn’t until we arrived at the farm of Lars Løvbugt (RIP) that I fully began to appreciate the majesty of the fjords. Lars was the quintessential Norwegian; part farmer, part fisherman with hands like leather and deep weathered lines around his eyes. Uncle Wolfgang had befriended Lars some years earlier and kept a small cottage at the bottom of his property and a boat just off shore. Before we unpacked the VW van, we walked down to the steep rocks that bordered the dark water. I vaguely remembered being warned that the rocks were slippery as I fell into the icy sea. I still remember how clean the saltwater tasted as I drug myself back onto those rocks. My Aunt Putzi would later use that same clean seawater to make Saltzkartoffeln (salt potatoes) that were so good we’d eat them later as a snack, cold with just a smear of mayonnaise. 

Though I certainly didn’t realize it that summer, my time in Norway was a culinary awakening for me. For seven weeks, we literally lived off of the land and sea. With the exception of a few staple items (bread, butter, mayonnaise, etc.), we ate what we harvested: fish and shellfish from the ocean and berries and mushrooms from the forests surrounding the fjord. In the early morning, we’d pull in the nets filled with herring for Lars to salt or pickle. For breakfast we’d eat lumpfish roe on toast and soft-boiled eggs. By mid-morning we were catching mackerel or coalfish for Wolfgang to smoke or Putzi to fry. After lunch, we’d forage the woods for the yolk yellow Chantrelle mushrooms which would end up simply prepared with bacon and scrambled eggs or we’d search for the wild blueberries, raspberries, and cloudberries that we’d later eat with vanilla sauce. In the evening we’d pull in the crab traps to find stone crabs and lobsters that were simply eaten cold on buttered bread.  

Sleep doesn’t come easy in the land of the Midnight Sun (the first night of which is called Saint Hans Day by the way!) and we’d while away the bright nights playing cards and eating crawfish salad on toast; a snooze-less meal between dinner and breakfast. 

I returned to Norway with my father in 1999, half expecting much of the magic I’d experienced as a child to be diminished. The fish didn’t seem to leap into our boat the way I remembered, but otherwise it was just as I’d left it, majestic and wild. The return trip only helped to solidify those memories and further deepen my love for the sea and its treasures. 

A Night in Norway, Salud! 2007

I recently had the opportunity to share a little of my Norwegian culinary knowledge at the Salud! Cooking and Lifestyle School in Harry’s Farmers Market in Alpharetta. It was a night to revisit the land of the midnight sun and a chance to blend elements of traditional Norwegian fare with my own personal touches. From a chef’s perspective, there could hardly be a better facility for sharing one’s love of food than Salud!. With top-of-the-line appliances and a small army of kitchen assistants, one can teach without having to worry about anything but the food. For the students, there’s not a bad seat in the house and many classes feature a wine or beer pairing. Each session comes with take-away recipes so you can take what you’ve learned home. I’ve had students tell me that they really have no intention of ever trying to cook for themselves, but they like the entertainment value of    seeing food prepared live, and they enjoy the relaxed atmosphere of the facility. Either way, it’s a great time with great food and great people.

 Salud! is located inside the Alpharetta Harry’s Farmers Market and the Duluth Whole Foods markets. For more information, visit www.wholefoods.com or call them at 770.442.3354. Story and recipes by North Fulton Living Food Editor Hans Rueffert, a self-proclaimed food freak. Raised  upstairs above the Woodbridge Inn Restaurant in downtown Jasper, Ga., he has spent his entire life with food—more than a dozen years as the Inn’s chef and now host of his own cooking show in north Georgia called “Hans Cooks the World.” In 2005, Hans was selected out of 10,000 applicants to be a finalist on the show “The Next Food Network Star” and finished third in that competition. He currently teaches classes at Harry’s Farmers Market. Find out more at www.hanscooks.com.  Photography by Jeremy Adamo.