Britt-Arnhild's House in the Woods

Dinner for one

text and images britt-arnhild

Home alone does not mean only leftovers for dinner (though I must confess I do a great job trying to clean out the fridge.....which simply is NOT EASY when you are only one person)

But yesterday was NOT a day for fridge cleaning.

After work I walked down to the fishmarket to buy mussels.
I also stopped to buy some Californian white wine, which turned out to be almost impossible to get in Trondheim, "there is no demand for it" I was told. 
After visiting wine country and taking part in a wine tasting tour (stuff for another blog post), I really can´t understand why!

But back to my dinner.

Cook the spaghetti-
Fry garlic, leek and a shallot in a little olive oil. Add white wine. Steam the mussels, till they open. Just then, not before, not after, the spaghetti is perfectly al dente.
And even though it has rained all day, and will rain most of the night,
the sun fights away  the clouds, and give you a perfect hour on the terracce.

 
As there is a corner at the fish market where they sell cheese, I bought a French brie, and with strawberries and red currants from the garden,
I had the perfect dessert.

 

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How do you treat yourself to solo dinners?
Do you usually cook for one, or for a whole bunch?
Do you love mussels?

I haven´t decided yet what to have for dinner today, but as I will have my reading group here tonight I might simply skip dinner after work (which is when we eat dinner in Norway), and make a salad or something for the group.

 

Skrei, the Norwegian miracle

text and images britt-arnhild

Once a year a miracle happens up along the northern coast of Norway. Some time during January till March, millions of Arctic cods find their way to their sprawning fields along the coast. This ready to sprawn cod is called skrei.

This year is a very good year for the skrei. Skrei from Lofoten is sold at Ravnkoa, the fish market here in Norway. I stopped there after I had finished my Saturday morning walk yesterday, and when I saw the fresh fish on the counter, surrounded by cod roe, cod liver and cod tongues, I knew a party was on its way.

 

So last night was a skrei party night in The House in the Woods.

Skrei, roe and tongues boiled in salt water, liver and onion diced and cooked in a frying pan. Potatoes and carrots. Flatbread.

Seven around the table, and we ate till we were completely stuffed.

The miracle of the Norwegian skrei.

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A link to a very informative article about the skrei

Last year´s dinner for two

French television coming to "my" fishmarket

Text and images Britt-Arnhild Wigum Lindland

 
Writing a daily blog (for more than 6 years, with almost 2000 posts so far) means that I get a lot of emails. People search on google or other places for the strangest topics, and often they are sent to my blog. I try to write back to most of the people who writes me, though when an American man wrote me to ask where he could buy fishballs I had no idea what to tell him. Nor did I know what to say when a woman wrote to ask me about Norwegian men; "I have heard that Scandinavian men as so stubborn, always getting their own ways. I am married to one and need to know more about why he acts like he does. Are all Scandinavian men like that?" Well, the most important man in my life is loving, caring, charming.....but she only needs to read my blog to find that out. I wrote her no email.

Last week though I got an email which made me comment back right away. It was from Allison, working for French television. She is working for a travel and culture program, had done a search on Norwegian fish markets and found my posts from Ravnkloa. Now she wanted to do a program about this fish market in Trondheim. One of her questions was "does fish monger Ketil still work there?"

 
Fish monger Ketil still does. We grew up in the same neighbourhood so I have known Ketil all my life, and every time I visit Ravnloa, which is quite often, we squeeze in time for a chat. I went there last week after I got Allison's first email (there has been quite a lot more since then), but Ketil had gone home for the day.

Then I went there again a couple of days ago, told Ketil about French television and their plans, asked him to pose for me, and right away he walked over to this huge, ugly fish. Great shot, isn't it?

 

Ravnkloa is an indoor fish market. Outside there are always fishermen selling fresh fish directly from their boats. I love the area. The atmosphere. The small. The colours.

 
Inside Ketil and the other fish mongers, are busy selling fish and fish products. Fresh. Delicate. The smell takes me to fish heaven (which is a wonderful place)

 
I have told Allison that if she comes to Trondheim she is welcome to The House in the Woods for mølje. Unfortunately (for her and for me) she will probably only send a couple of camera men up to Trondheim. I really think she should change her mind. How can she say no to mølje?

 
I love to buy shrimps at Ravnkloa. In the summer tourists love it too, then they can sit outside, along the canal, peeling their shrimps, throwing the shells into the water. Saegulls are there in a blink to catch treats.

  
In the winter it is quiet outside.

 
The view is still great though. You can actually look right over to where the young fisherman from our ongoing tale spent his lonely Christmas.

 
Looking in through the window.

 

Here is a link to Allison's television program:

Echappees Belles

Good luck Allison.