Delicious, crusty bread that is ‘Baked in Norway’.

Prior to leaving for Norway, I admit that I was leaning into the pressures of adding more protein in my diet. I was drinking protein shakes in the morning and trying to squeeze in more protein throughout the day. However, I was never able to consume the four eggs and endless cottage cheese and Greek yogurt that was constantly suggested. Ugh, it was too much.

I was diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) over 7 years ago, fighting constant bloating and an upset stomach. I also took a food sensitivity test that pointed to 24 things that included green beans, apples, dairy, casein, and many ancient grains that did not agree with me. I tried the elimination diet and have been able to introduce most things back into my diet, except for apples and some dairy (e.g., milk, sour cream). In addition, I’ve been trying to eat mostly gluten-free. I could eat a cookie or a sandwich, yes, but if I ate a slice of bread every day, my finger joints would start aching and my stomach would start bloating. I just didn’t feel well.

Whenever I’ve traveled abroad, I’ve always embraced the experience, to include trying new foods. Surprisingly, I never had any issues with breads or dairy. However, most trips abroad lasted less than two weeks. When I arrived in Norway, I was hopeful that I would be able to enjoy the foods freely. If not, I would stop eating the breads and other foods once I started feeling bloated and unwell.

Well, here I am three months in, and I am still enjoying bread for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks! Norwegian culture emphasizes the consumption of bread, so this works incredibly well. I see people on the trains and busses eating plain rolls, couples siting in the park with their open-faced sandwiches, friends conversing at the cafes with their kanelboller (cinnamon rolls) and coffee.

At every grocery store, there is a bread section filled with baskets of fresh breads in paper sleeves. Next to those shelves is a metal bread slicer. Open the lid, place the bread loaf inside, close the lid, wait for the bread to be sliced, squeeze the ends of the bread together to lift the whole loaf on to a tray, then slide the paper sleeve over the bread to take the sliced bread with you. Presto! Fresh bread that it evenly sliced.

There are sooo many different kinds of bread, too. Breads with different seeds and grain combinations, breads with different crust textures and different levels of dryness inside, and then there are sourdough breads…I prefer the breads with a medium-thickness of crust and soft inside, over the dark, dense, seed-filled breads.

I’ve also taken to bakeri breads, something I would never do in the United States. I consider my diet to be very healthy. I eat a plenty of fruits and vegetables, lots of salad, no red meat, and little junk food (except daily dark chocolate). However, while I’m in Norway, going to a bakeri serves many purposes; it allows me to try new breads, and it encourages me to practice my Norwegian. Each week, I venture to a new bakeri and try a new roll or kind of bread.

This week I was traveling in a small town, so I tried a kanelbolle (cinnamon roll) at the local bakeri. It was ok, but nothing memorable. It was the hotel breakfast that provided the best bread story, though. I was the only one in the eating area, so the chef asked me if I wanted something to eat (there were few people at the hotel that day, the typical food spread was packed away in the kitchen fridges).

The conversation went like this:

Chef: Would you like eggs and bacon?

Me: Yes, please.

Chef: Anything else?

Me: Yes, bread with raspberry jam, please.

Chef: Would you like butter on the bread?

Me: No thank you.

Chef: In Norway, we eat butter on our bread.

Me: Oh, ok. Then, yes, please put butter on the bread.

Chef: Are you sure?

Me: Yes, thank you.

Norwegians take their bread very seriously, and their smør (butter) too. Perhaps the variety of butter is worthy of its own blog post…

Whenever I visit ungdomsskole (8-10th grade) students, they always ask me about my favorite foods in Norway. Of course, I always start by saying that I like brunost (brown cheese), which makes them smile, and then I add that I LOOOVVEEEE the bread in Norway, which makes them smile and nod. In my introductory presentation, I even tell them that I am on a mission to learn how to make Norwegian bread. When I left the school on Friday, one of the teachers brought me 5 grams of his dried sourdough starter so that I could make Norwegian bread back in the United States! I was incredibly moved by that kind gesture. Now to figure out how to ship Norwegian flour back home…

Dried sourdough starter. A gift from a teacher in Volda.

I’ve been reflecting on my eating habits during my time here. In the US, I ate ‘healthy’ foods but never felt well. I was taking medicine for my IBS, probiotics, gut-care medicines, and more. I was eating lots of protein, drinking lots of water…. Doing everything that people were promoting as ‘healthy’.

Here, I eat bread for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I eat CHEESE and occasional chicken, but far less protein than I ate back home. Protein consumption is not promoted here. I also enjoy a kanelbolle once a week. I drink lots of water and walk everywhere, and my stomach feels better than it has since I can last remember, maybe 7 years.

It is the bread? Is it the flour? Is it the reduced protein? Is it the natural, chemical-free foods that I’m eating here? Or is it the simplicity of meals, slower pace of eating, and more relaxed lifestyle in Norway? Whatever it is, I am thoroughly enjoying every bite of bread and every moment of gut health while I’m here in this beautiful carb-loving country.

Brød

Ungdomsskole