Norwegian vs Egyptian food & cuisine

Everyday meals rely on simple, honest pairings – fish or lamb with potatoes; breads and crispbreads  topped with brunost, cured fish, cold cuts, lingonberries or cloudberries.

Nibbling different snacks and sipping sweet black tea could be called a national habit; coffee is way less popular. In some areas, people rely on super sweet tea as a portion of their caloric intake for workers during the day.

Top everyday choices are loff, rugbrød, landbrød, rundstykker.

Flatbread (flatbrød), an unleavened staple of farmers, shepherds, and peasants, is dry, crisp, and water-free. It was once eaten with cured herring and boiled potatoes, along with sour cream and butter. In Norway, it pops up everywhere.

The Norwegians have a tradition of matpakke, a packed lunch of open-faced sandwiches with toppings like brunost cheese, cold cuts, liver paté or cod roe from tubes. It is now a symbol of Norwegian lunch culture.

Norway is an unexpected global leader in pizza consumption, especially frozen pizza. Annually, Norwegians consume 47 million frozen pizzas! It is about 11 pizzas per year – the highest per capita pizza consumption in the world. Frozen pizza is so ingrained that it’s even considered to be an unofficial national dish.

Although rice is not a long-living staple in Norwegian cuisine, its consumption in processed forms and Asian-inspired dishes is gaining traction. Similarly, while corn is minor, it is incorporated into snack foods and side dishes.

In very few Mediterranean countries, corn, or maize, is found so profoundly as in Egypt. Native to the Americas and introduced to North Africa by Portuguese traders, it became important in Egyptian diet before the wheat bread subsidizing program was initiated in the 1950s.  Still, some rural people make their own bread with maize flour.

Short or medium-grain rice is widely consumed, more so than in any other Mediterranean country. Authentic Egyptian rice is tossed with plenty of ghee or butter and mixed with vermicelli noodles and chicken broth. An interesting fact about rice usage in Egypt is that rice is specifically prepared to complement a particular dish. For example, molokhia (veggie soup) is served with plain white rice to balance its rich and garlicky flavor, while sayadeya (a fish dish) is served with yellow turmeric and cumin-spiced rice to enhance the flavors of the fish.

Norway has a short, cool summer, and local fruits have acidity and tanginess. Wild berries, apples, pears, plums, and rhubarb are readily available and used in sauces, jams, compotes, crumbles, and pies.  Norway also consumes many imported fruits.

There’s an increasing movement towards healthy eating in Norway, with people paying more attention to dietary balance. The awareness of pulses’ benefits is leading to slow but increasing consumption of lentils, beans, and chickpeas, even though they were never staples in Norway.

Contrary to other Levantine varieties, ta’ameya, Egyptian falafel, is prepared with fava beans, not chickpeas, which are slightly moister on the inside.

Potatoes were introduced to Egypt relatively recently compared to wheat, beans, and lentils. They’ve become well-integrated into modern cooking, but they complement rather than replace traditional starches. Alongside potatoes, Egyptians consume more starchy roots, such as taro root. Taro is believed to be one of the earliest cultivated plants. After being peeled completely, it is cut into small cubes, cooked in broth with fresh coriander and chard, and served as a side for meat dish.

Egyptian cuisine heavily features vegetables alongside cereals. A common practice of the East Mediterranean and the Middle East is to have them stuffed with spiced rice – mahshi, meaning ‘stuffed’.

Chopped, vinegary fresh salad is a frequent option to balance the richness of other dishes, referred to as salata baladi. Pickles of various vegetables, known as turshi or mekhalel, are served with almost everything. They are super salty, sour, spicy, and have a powerful punch.

Fenalår, cured or slightly smoked slices of salted and dried leg of lamb, like Spanish Serrano and Italian Parma hams, holds the status of a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) and is served as part of the cold buffet.

During the season, reindeer, moose, and elk are hunted. All three game meats are lean, require careful cooking to avoid drying out, and provide an intense “wild” flavor. Reindeer is less gamey than many expect, often described as falling somewhere between beef and venison. Moose is deeper and richer, with a robust, earthy taste; its texture is dense. Elk meat strikes a middle ground with a clean, sweet flavor that’s more complex than beef.

Beef is another staple in Norwegian kitchens, frequently grilled as steaks, minced for meatballs called kjøttkaker, and stews.

The popularity of poultry has grown significantly since the 1990s, largely due to its affordability, and it is now the most consumed meat. Egyptians are also known for consuming less popular birds, such as ducks and pigeons.

Traces of pigeons used for food date back to Pharaonic times. Today, high needle-like structures made of clay, called pigeon houses, mark the horizon of rural villages – these structures are built for the domesticated pigeons.

Lutefisk, another cod dish, takes the concept of “acquired taste” to a whole new level. Dried cod is soaked in water and lye (the same lye used in batteries and soap) till it gains a gelatinous texture. With a very distinctive smell and texture, it polarizes people – you either love it or find it quite off-putting.

Over time, Norway’s dominant seafood export transitioned from cod to farm-raised salmon, a product of modern aquaculture. The one traditional Norse dish is smoked salmon røkelaks – the most important Scandinavian contribution to modern international cuisine. Gravlax, a salt, sugar, and dill-cured salmon, is also popular in Norway, though it’s originally more associated with Sweden.

Beyond cod and salmon, Norwegians also cook with herring, halibut, sardines, mackerel, freshwater trout, and char. Seafood is consumed fresh, smoked, salted, or pickled. Herring is particularly popular preserved in salt, named spekesild, but also in many other marinades and pickles. Creamed seafood soups are common along the coastline.

Cold waters of Norway are home to luxurious crustaceans: king crabs, prawns, shrimps, lobsters, langoustines, sea urchins, and scallops. Atlantic shrimp is a staple in many homes – served cold with mayonnaise and dill.

Fish are usually cooked whole, rather than the European practice of filleting; they are often bread-coated and grilled or fried, served with rice and vegetables. Fish tagines and stews with tomato sauce, onions, and veggies are also traditional preparations.

Another Norway’s gastronomic identity is the sweet brunost, a brown cheese product made from whey, milk, and cream, but it is not an actual cheese. The distinctive brown color is from caramelizing the sugars in milk during the boiling process. It has a sweet, nutty flavor and pairs well with flatbreads, waffles, or on its own.

More sophisticated, traditional gamalost, an ‘old cheese’, is firm, moist, coarse, and granular. It is not produced in sufficient quantities for mass export, and it is rare to find this cheese outside of Norway.

Pultost is a soft, mature sour milk cheese with caraway seeds, very low in fat, and available in both spreadable and grainy forms.

Scandinavian countries have a tradition of using sweet and sour cream in their cuisine, balancing richness with acidity. Creamy sauces are common in pasta, meatballs, fish, and vegetable dishes.

Evidence of cheese has been found in tombs dating back 3300 years; historians believe it would have had a moist, spreadable consistency. The most prevailing cheese varieties in Egypt are domiati, karish, mish, and roumi cheeses.

Modern Norwegian eating patterns increasingly incorporate nuts – especially almonds and walnuts – into snacks, bakery toppings, and salads, aligning with  dietary guidance that promotes a daily handful of nuts for health.

The Egyptians are not traditionally known for having a sweet tooth – desserts are more associated with feasts. Egyptian sweets share DNA with Turkish, Lebanese, and Syrian desserts. Egyptians stuff their sweets with almonds, hazelnuts, pistachios, dates. Sweets tend to be absolutely drenched in sugar syrup, often more so than their neighbors. Rose water and orange blossom waters are used generously; many play with different textures in one bite.