Gammeldagsmat in Christiansund

    After a hard day of explaining the various features of the passive house, Kjell, Frank and I visit Smia (literally "The smithy"), a historical building that's been turned into a restaurant. Their specialty is klippfisk, a traditional food of Møre.

Smia in Christiansund

     Strictly speaking, I don't know if this particular dish is gammeldagsmat, but the main ingredient is klippfisk---dried, salted cod (also known as bacalao in Spanish and morue in French) that's been reconstituted and desalinated. Cod are fished off the coast of Norway, and Christiansund has always had a substantial cod fishing industry. Though the export of salted, dried cod only goes back a few hundred years, the preservation method is much older. My ration was served with carrots, rutabaga, bacon and a blue mussel. Seemed like typical Norwegian food to me.
     A glass of Dahl's pilsener was a suitable accompaniment.
     The menu featured various other dishes made from klippfisk, including bacalao.
   

Museum exhibit showing a traditional method of making klippfisk. There was a sign in English and German, saying "Please don't touch" and a sign in Norwegian saying "Please don't touch or taste."

     Next morning, we partook of the usual brobdingnagian hotel koldtbord. Two features of note were gravlaks med sennepsaus (corned salmon with mustard sauce) and pickled herring in sour cream.

Round 1 at the koldtbord