Home2

Scandinavian Preserved Fish

Tor Kjølberg

July 20, 2018

Fish has been a vital source of food on the long Scandinavian coastline since man first inhabited the north after the last Ice Age. In the months to come, we’ll dive into some of the many preserved fish recipes in Scandinavia.

Fish were plentiful in the past and migratory fish were easy to catch, even without boats. The need to preserve this seasonal abundance to survive long months of cold and unfishable waters, with primitive means, is the basis of the enormous heritage if all manner of preserved fish in Scandinavia.

Related: More Seafood from Norway

Drying fish
Drying fish in the cold, dry winter air has been a necessity for as long as man has lived in the north. Fishing waters in the lakes and rivers freeze solid for a large part of the winter, or storms make fishing at sea impossible, so the preservation of fish caught in the summer has long been a means of survival.

It’s the mastery of skills such as smoking, drying and vinegar pickling that kept us alive – the Viking would not have been able to launch multiple and ambitious adventures abroad without their reliable supply of salted, smoked and dried fish.

Early preservation methods
Early preservation methods were simple, and before salt was available at an affordable price, drying and smoking were the only methods used. As trade improved, salt became another means of preserving, either on its own, or combined with drying, smoking and fermentation.

Lactic acid fermentation and lime curing are relatively new methods but are still at least thousand years old. Over time and through human ingenuity, the skills of salting, smoking and pickling have developed and survived the advent of modern refrigeration.

Scandinavian preserved fish
Preserved fish is still an important part of the economy of fishing communities all over the north, transformed from an age of necessity into something refined and delectable in its own right.

Scandinavian Preserved Fish, written by Tor Kjolberg

Featured image (on top) Drying fish in Lofoten, Norway

Macbeth Visits Scandinavia

Tor Kjølberg

July 19, 2018

The American Drama Group is visiting Scandinavia this summer to give four performances of Shakespeare’s Macbeth in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Bergen and Kristianstad. Macbeth visits Scandinavia is a part of the group’s annual Castle Tour.

The American Drama Group Europe
ADG Europe was formed by Ohio native Grantly Marshall in 1978 in the city of Munich. it was linked in the beginning to the University of Munich where the first performances were held. It expanded quickly to other theatres in Munich and also began to give guest performances in other German cities. The expansion later continued to include many countries in Europe and Asia. In 1994, the ADGE began touring European Castles featuring many illustrious places and surprises. We are hoping to make it a pan-European tour.

ADG Europe was formed by Ohio native Grantly Marshall in 1978 in the city of Munich

The Tragedy of MACBETH by William Shakespeare
If MACBETH is not the finest play ever written, it is certainly the most performed. The play explores the corruption of power and its terrifying results, both politically and personally. But while the themes are profound and complex, the form is hugely entertaining: this is a thriller, a war story, a romance, a nightmare, a horror story and a most powerful presentation of the supernatural.

The witches ride above this play as both demons and restorers of the natural order that MACBETH and his murderous wife seek to destroy. The evil that the royal couple unleash rebounds upon themselves and, by means of the most extraordinary poetry, we, the audience, watch the collapse of naked ambition into tortured self-doubt and ultimate insanity.

Acclaimed all over the world
Macbeth was the company’s first Shakespeare production. The production has been so successful that it has been constantly revived and toured worldwide since 2001 to over forty countries on four continents. This might be the most performed production of MACBETH this century. Audiences have thrilled to this production from London to Atlanta, from Beijing to Berlin, from El Salvador to Thailand and from Australia to Norway.

Related: Royal Residences in Stockholm

A full-blooded version if Shakespeare’s Macbeth
This is a full-blooded version of the play, witch-driven in its intensity. The production is not frightened of the supernatural or compromised by modern dress. But this is not an old-fashioned production either; the musical score by Paul Flush drives the play forward and creates a compelling sound texture of almost filmic quality. Forest and castle merge and melt. The witches are an almost constant presence, neither male nor female (or both) and as ruthless as Greek Furies.

Macbeth – the murderous monarch
The acting is fast and physical. Above all the production releases the poetic intensity of Shakespeare, writing at the height of his powers. The play is not so much interpreted as elucidated, exposing its universal truths. In our modern world where power seems divorced from morality and the irrational seems to sweep all before it, this mighty drama reminds us that we are not only corrupted but diminished by evil. For without a moral compass we shall be like MACBETH the murderous monarch.

Stunning reviews
“Feral cries pierce he air…from the very first moment of this MACBETH, the audience were held is a vice like grip” wrote JAPAN TIMES

“I never knew Shakespeare could be so entertaining”. CNN TV

“World class theatre”. The Observer UK.

Macbeth visits Scandinavia
Directed by Paul Stebbings, Macbeth will be performed at open-air theatres in

Bergen, Bergenhus festning – courtyard – August 20
Copenhagen, Rosenborg Garden – King’s Garden – August 23
Kristianstad, Bäckaskog Slot – August 31
Stockholm, Kungliga Djurgarden – September 3

Macbeth Visits Scandinavia, Source: ADG Europe

Norwegian Politics for Dummies

Tor Kjølberg

July 12, 2018

Norway (and the Scandinavian countries) is said to be very closely to realize the democratic social ideal. It’s a country that is considerably more successful than most other countries in the world on virtually every social metric one can name. Why? Here’s our take on Norwegian politics for dummies.

Norwegian politics is a color game
There are nine political parties in Norway, and In Norwegian politics there is a color spectrum: green – red – blue. The more “green” a part is, the more at the left of the political spectrum they are, at least in theory. The more “blue”, the more on the right end of the political spectrum.

Some parties are only of one color. Høyre (the conservative party in Norway) is only blue and Arbeiderpartiet (The Labor Party) is only red. There are three parties in Norwegian politics that has only green as their color: The Green (of course), the Center party and the Liberal party.

If that was all, everything would have been so much simpler. But there are some other parties having a bit of every color; the Cristian Democratic Party (KrF) and the Socialist-Left party. I can’t really tell you what color they end up with.

The Norwegian welfare system
The governments of western democracies are alike in many ways. But they are also very different, most apparent in national election years when news and public awareness focuses on how the leaders of a country are chosen.

Democratic socialism is a political tradition aiming broadly at democratic control of the economy, achieved through electoral processes. This leads to a complete cradle-to-grave welfare plus democratic state ownership of big swathes of the economy through mechanisms like the Norwegian social wealth fund and state-owned enterprises.

There are, however, terms that rule out authoritarian systems, like the state socialism seen in the Soviet Union.

A different social system
The Norwegian political system reflects differences in the relationship between the government and its people. The root of these differences lies in history and is today the most evident data about differences between other democracies.

Norwegian workers are heavily protected, with 70 percent of workers covered by union contracts, and over a third directly employed by the government. The state-owned enterprises in Norway are worth 87 percent of GDP. Of all the domestic wealth in Norway, the government owns 59 percent, and fully three-quarters of the non-home wealth (as most Norwegians own their home).

Confusing political party ideologies
I understand that it’s confusing for foreigners to understand what different Norwegian political parties’ ideologies are. The second biggest party in Norway, Høyre (meaning Right) is the main conservative party, while Venstre (meaning Left) is the main Socialist party. However, Venstre is not a left party at all while the Labor Party is the main left party. Norwegians are forced to have their own interpretation of political colors.

A land of farmers and fishermen
Norway is a tiny country. The area of the country is just 1/25 of e. g. USA. The population is only 1/62 of the population in USA. Across the country, there’s an average of 35 people per square mile, compared to USA with 90.6 people per square mile. Thus, Norway is less urbanized than most other western democratic countries.

However, the Norwegian ‘farmers and fishermen’ are wealthy people, with a GDP of over $70,000 per person. Even when you correct for the moderately large oil sector (which accounts for a bit less than a quarter of its exports), it still has a cutting-edge, ultra-productive economy — far from some states living off oil rents like Dubai.

For this reason, no political party in Norway want to abolish the welfare system, it’s in a way sacred.

The happiest people in the world
Socially, Norway ranks as one of the happiest countries in the word. No. 2 in 2018 and no. 1 in 2017.

Here are some stunning statistical facts about Norway;

Life expectancy: 81.7 years
Infant mortality rate: 2/1,000 live births.
Murder rate: 0.51/100,000
Incarceration rate: 74/100,000

Norway – a constitutional monarchy
Norway has a parliamentary system of government in which the king is the head of the state and the prime minister is the head of government.

The king, now Harald V, officially has executive power, but today his duties are essentially only representative and ceremonial. The prime minister now is Erna Solberg, the second woman PM after the first, Gro Harlem Brundtland, who was PM in 1981 and 1986-89. The administrative divisions of the country comprise 19 counties. The legislature is the unicameral Storting (Parliament).

Norwegian socialism works
Norwegians are eager to point out that capitalism run wild can ruin a country. However, the citizens are not against capitalism – far from. But they are indeed interested in building a decent place to live.

The nine major Norwegian political parties, and some smaller ones, shape the ways in which the citizens view and choose their leaders. Politics loom large in Norwegian perception of government, and information provided by government agencies is prominent in everyday affairs.

While the United States has two major political parties and some smaller ones, Norway has nine major political parties and some aspiring fringe ones. These differences shape the ways in which the citizenry views and chooses its leaders. While Americans tend to vote for a single personality, Norwegians vote for the parties. So politics loom large in Norwegian perceptions of government. Likewise, information provided by government agencies is prominent in everyday affairs.

Norwegian Politics for Dummies, written by Tor Kjolberg