Sugar

As much as I complain about the craziness of the Norwegian language, I realize English is no walk in the park, either.  My Norwegian friend, Tina, when talking to me in English about all the sugar we Americans eat, kept pronouncing the word “sue-jer.”  I reminded her that even though the word doesn’t start out with an “sh” sound, we pronounce it that way anyway. I was unable to explain why, nor why our “g” sometimes sounds like a “j” and sometimes not, but I assured her the word is really pronounced “shu-ger.”  It took a while before it sank in. 

Tina is in America for the first time, on vacation with her husband and son, visiting us.  She, like other Norwegians we’ve hosted over the years, commented a lot about how sweet all our food is.  Norwegians prefer salt in everything - even their candies.  The first time I tasted “salt licorice” in Norway, I couldn’t spit it out fast enough.   I think their hankering for salt has come from all the foods they’ve managed to preserve by salting them down for longevity.

Historically, sugar has been an expensive import to Norway so they haven’t had the opportunity to develop the same sweet tooth as Americans have.  Sweeteners are not included in all their processed foods, their breads don’t contain sugar and even their pastries have much less sugar than the American counterparts.  Norwegians don’t even add sugar to their whipped cream - even when it’s used as a dessert topping.  Most Norwegian adults only eat sweet things after dinner, and always with a cup of coffee to help cut down on the sweetness.

Whenever we’ve hosted Norwegians, the adults usually can’t get through one of our breakfasts because they are just too sweet.  They can’t understand how we can eat sugar for breakfast, when it’s obviously just meant for dessert.  The Norwegian kids are a different story, as they now have access to a lot of candy, so they appreciate things like cinnamon rolls, pancakes with maple syrup or yogurt and granola.

Pastries and muffins may be considered breakfast food in America, but Norwegians eat them only after dinner. Even French Toast, which we often serve for breakfast at our house, is considered a dessert item in Norway.  They make it the same way we do, but sometimes serve it with a little ice cream on the side.

Whenever I’ve offered Norwegian guests cookies or anything with sugar in it, they will more often than not, turn it down.  I so wish I could do the same.