Norway 8 -- Bronnoysund

Yes, today we have a very informative walk about in the town of Bronnysund which prides itself as being the middle of Norway.  There was a lovely Lutheran Church with 2 pipe organs, the registry office for anything official in all of Norway, and a nice little shop to sample elk, fish chips and chocolate with cloudberries.  So, today I talk about food.

We have eaten fabulously on this cruise.  Hurtigruten prides itself at sourcing the local specialities, right down to the sea salt with birch flavouring.  The fish is brought aboard fresh each day, they bake their own bread and cakes, they do vegetables in so many innovative ways -- hot and cold, their cheeses are superb, they do lovely mousses and have berries in every form.  I have had cod ("in cod we trust") and salmon (baked, poached, grilled, cured, smoked, pate, hot, cold, in salad, etc) and now can truly appreciate good fish.  We have been absolutely delighted by the treatment of beef and ox.  Lamb has been served dried and in a cured sausage.  There is always a vegetarian dish, usually well spiced in Indian, or Indonesian fashion.  They make their own crisp bread which is seeds and grains just barely held together.

At breakfast I have sampled 8 different jams/preserves.  Cloudberry, rhubarb, and raspberry are my favourites.  They have less sugar in their jams than is normal for North America and therefore a better acid balance.

This evening we had the gala 125th anniversary dinner of 5 courses -- cured meats, pea soup, cod, cheese, and  Norwegian Omelette (baked alaska).  Superb!  And for those of you wondering, Ian is feeling much better and was able to enjoy the feast.

And finally, we had, today, after we passed back over the Arctic Circle, the Norwegian product which children all over the world hated every morning -- cod liver oil.  But, there was a cool souvenir spoon!