Cycle 3 – Item 327

27 (Tue) November 2012

Norwegian Smørbrød with Moose Sausage & Aioli

2.0

by me

at home

-Oksu, Seongdong, Seoul, Republic of Korea-

solo

Project 30/30/30: 27 of 45 (see also 45/45/45)

Throughout this November, I am challenging myself to eat 30 dishes from 30 countries over the course of 30 consecutive days.

Norway is the 27th country.

Smørbrød is a Norwegian dish.  It’s an open sandwich – “open (smør) bread (brød)” – typically comprising a slice of rye bread, buttered and topped with some kind of sliced meat/fish/egg and vegetables, as well as condiments.  Very common across Scandinavia.  

An “open sandwich” seems like an oxymoron to me, being accustomed to thinking of a sandwich by definition requiring at least two pieces of bread to “sandwich” stuff in between, as it is in America. 

At the outset of this project, anticipating that 30 different countries would just barely be attainable, and only if I stretched my imagination in certain cases, I reluctantly put Norway on the initial list of candidates.  I had some reindeer sausage and moose sausage in my meat locker – courtesy of MtG, who’d brought them back from Norway on his honeymoon across Northern Europe – which I figured could be incorporated into a “Norwegian sandwich” or something.

I was fortunate to discover a loaf of whole rye bread at our neighborhood Paris Baguette on the way home from work.  The bread was surprising because most bakeries in Korea focus primarily on pastries and cakes rather than plain breads, which are usually limited to sliced white sandwich bread or maybe sliced baguettes in some places.

And though aioli isn’t Norwegian, I prepared some as a condiment, if only to show a little extra effort.

(See also BOOZE)

(See also GLOBAL FOOD GLOSSARY)

(See also RESTAURANTS IN KOREA)