Croissants!
I went to the bakery in Alta and asked if they had any croissants. Their response: ‘What’s that?’ An Australian reply would be ‘You are kidding me, right?’ but I saw that they really meant ‘what’s that?’. With a big breath in and a big exhale, I composed myself.
I have been a little disappointed lately because my regular shop has stopped their line of shelf-dried plastic croissants. It is hard to get the real-deal of anything ‘exotic’ in Norway so fake ones are better than none. But alas, our Sunday morning croissants had to be replaced by eggs benedict. Ever since I have been searching every shop and bakery in vain, until…
I spotted six croissants in the oven when I was at a shop across town. Fresh baking ones! They had 5 mintues to go. I walked up and down the aisles waiting to hear the ping of ‘readiness’. The ping went and I raced to the oven. I waited. And waited. And waited as the croissants were getting browner and browner. No shop assistant was coming for them! Argh! I couldn’t let them get all dry and burnt so I opened the oven and popped the croissants in a paper bag. They were still steaming when I went through the checkout but they were divine in the car – warm, crunchy on the outside and soft and buttery on the inside.
Sometimes living in Norway makes you a little nuts for the things you miss.
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Lathari beach is the only beach in Alta.
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The Arctic Circle is an imaginary line.
L-Jay–just how crazy are you for missing them–because they aren’t hard to make…just time consuming………
Here’s a link I just found…
http://www.mamaliga.com/desserts/croissants-a-la-julia-child
Oh, and croissant dough FREEZES!!!!!!!!
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from L-Jay:
Making them myself – yikes! Moose is a much better baker than I am (Norwegian blood) so I better get him to make them…lol.
Hey L-Jay
make your own …
.. The recipe above is good … and if you want you can just get “butterdeig” in the fridge of your local super market .
Findus has made it easy for us http://findus.no/produkter/bar.asp
Made a batch last week and they came out perfect
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from L-Jay:
I’ve never though of using the Findus pastry for croissants. I’ve used it for savory dishes like meat pies. The pastry wouldn’t have that sugar-caramel crust that I love so much. But very interesting idea
I can understand perfectly what is the feeling. When my friends which live in larger cities come to visit me I feel like I lived on the curve before the end of the world. Our supermarkets are devoid of things that in other cities are absolutely commonplace and when by chance I find something more “exotic”the price is highly prohibitive. For example, Brazil nuts here in Ijuí cost approximately 80% more than in Santa Maria (only 200km away). Prawns? Seafood? Macarons? No way. When I read blogs of people who live in Europe or even in the U.S. I feel I!m living in the margins of society. But oddly enough we have croissants. OMG, I suddenly feel so cosmopolitan.
I alsowould think it was a joke if someone in Norway tell me “what’s that?” about croissant.
If you ever get tired of living in Alta is certainly able to live here.
By the way Elizabeth’s sugestion. is very good. I’m thinking to embrace the philosophy of “do it yourself”with respect to the macarons. I already have some recipes and now is the hardest part:to find almond flour. I have only found “what’s that?”
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from L-Jay:
I found Ranch Dressing tucked away on a little side self of a store the other day. I was so excited I nearly bought the lot! lol. I have many family recipes that I just can’t make in Norway because they don’t carry the right ingredients. I can’t even make Australian chocolate crackles for my kids because the shops don’t sell Rice Bubbles…lol. I find also that the sugar they use here is from a bean rather than sugar cane, and it doesn’t melt as well for sauces, puddings and caramels. And there is no high-grade chocolate for making treats or good jellies for Rocky-Road.
I must admit, lately I have become very bored with food here in Norway. Nothing inspires me to cook or eat. I’m hoping that this is just the winter-blues. Unfortunately, in Norway you can’t eat happy without spending lots of money on second-hand food. I long to walk through a street market with fresh, crunchy exotic food that makes your mouth water and your belly giddy.
Since I’ve been reading the blog of a Brazilian living in Norway something that became very clear is that eating and drinking at restaurants in Norway without wrecking the family finances is almost impossible. Surely this must be the reason the Norwegians have a love cooking reputation, both men and women.
Sugar Bean, I never heard about it. An interesting topic for research.
Could you send me your recipe for chocolate crackles and Rocky-road? For sure I’ll have too many problems with some ingredients but I would love to know these treats.
By the way, the Rice Bubble they don’t sell in Alta is the same Kellogs Rice Bubble?
We have here a street market (not daily) but you can buy vegetables, cheeses, jams, eggs, breads, cakes and biscuits and even fish. Nothing sophisticated but all very fresh and tasty.
That is interesting! Although, I think the lack of croissants has something to do with the fact that you live in Alta. I grew up in Tromsø, and croissants were never anything exotic to me. I suppose they get more “exotic” in the smaller cities though.
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from L-Jay:
We had croissants all the time in Tromsø but they were all still processed ones. All the shops and cafes order frozen dieg and then they defrost and bake them at their stores. I have never had a truly fresh croissant, made from scratch in store in Norway except for a bakery on Karl Johans gate in Oslo (but even then I am not sure if it was made in-house).
Ikke alle plasser i Norge hvor det er like mange ‘mangler’ på ting, da:-) Føler nesten vi oppleves som et U-land her noen ganger:) Men forstår hva du mener, og skal ikke være så veldig hårsår. Hehe.
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from L-Jay:
When it comes to food, Norway is just like a third world country (without the fresh food markets).
I think the sugar you are talking about is from sugar beets (not beans). We have both in the States, though the cane sugar is more common, I think. I hadn’t realized that the beet sugar cooked up differently, but that might explain some of my difficulties in baking recipes from home (the flour here is different, too). It is hard to figure out how to make favorite recipes without the right ingredients. Sometimes it’s a challenge that encourages me to innovate. Sometimes it’s just frustrating and makes me disinclined to bake!
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from L-Jay:
It is hard when you have to give up recipes that have been a part of your life for so long (for one reason or another). It is part of your identity gone. We are not defined by food but food is what brings people together, food is what people share. I miss the sense of ‘home’ from my food. I don’t have a relationship with Norwegian food – I wonder how long I will need to cook it before I will get back that sense of ‘home’.
I think you have too great expectations from them.
Recent case-a freshly graduated chef didn’t know what “Bechamel “sause is.I admit there are a lot of people that don’t know it,moreover when there are so many things and type of food worldwide.But hey,we are speaking about a chef!!!!!
What I understood so far,for them food preparing should be as fast as possible.And that’s the only requierement.No taste,no smell, no elementary rules of preparation.NOTHING!That’s why pizza,boiled potatoes and carrots and steiks rule.And of course sause!!!!!!.With meat,with salad, with fromage,with ice-cream with whatever you want.
I’m a bit luckier than you that at least I can prepare my home(the same like you,for me home is still far away from Norway and I’m afraid that will be a feelling for the rest of my life) recipies.Although luck ends here as the taste is still there far away.Here, just the ingredients(and many of them artificial,like vegetables,fruit, jams,cheese etc)
The selection in the grocery stores about drove me crazy when we first moved here from the States. Then I discovered if I go to about four different stores each week I can find most of the “exotic” items that I crave, I just have to pay six times more for them! The day I found cheddar cheese and canned pumpkin in the ICA was the happiest day of my life! I have resorted to baking many items that I can’t find. Although I’ll still have to say the hardest thing to live without is good sausage. It amazes me at how naive my Norwegian friends are about different foods, they are so content to just keep eating what they’ve eaten for years. I have, however, noticed more and more “exotic” items showing up in the grocery stores over the past couple of years so maybe there is hope.
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from L-Jay:
There is canned pumpkin here?!!! Fresh is best, of course, but canned is better than nothing…lol. I used to have to go to an immigrant store when I lived in Oslo to get real pumpkin. I’ve recently discovered cheddar cheese too, imported from the UK, and yes, it’s six times the price. I’m still searching for canned apricot nectar so I can make my apricot chicken. I’ve been using canned apricots and blended them into a pulp but the flavour is no where near as strong as it should be. But a little mango chutney helps.
It is hard when Norwegians don’t realise how little they have available. But I find that Norwegians don’t like to have too many choices. Unfortunately, those who are used to a lot of choice and now live in Norway, have to live with a Norwegian selection.
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from L-Jay:
Your comments have been deleted (after we laughed at them). We do not publish comments from trolls.