Saturday, February 7, 2015

Norwegian Food: Melk (healthy food #5)

The Five Healthiest Foods in Norway (original post here) - at number five was milk.

The article explained that is the best source of calcium in Norway, and also a good source of iodine. We typically buy Ekstra Lett Melk because it has added Vitamin D - especially important in the dark winter months! (Eskstra Lett also has less saturated fat.)

We really like the milk in Norway. It is refrigerated! Sounds strange to some of you maybe, but in  Ukraine we learned that this is not always the case. Yeah, unrefrigerated milk was kind of strange to me!


Price
There are two brands we can choose from: Tine Melk or Q-Melk. Most of the time we buy Tine, mainly because I have better luck finding the kind I prefer in the 1.75 liter carton instead of the 1 liter that seems to vanish as soon as it is opened.


The 1.75 liter costs a minimum of 21.90 Norwegian kroner. Our current conversion rate is quite favorable for us (not for Norwegians traveling to America!), so that is currently around $2.90 for 1.75 liters. That is the equivalent of about $6.24 per gallon (about double the price of a gallon in Georgia!)

We are occasionally able to find it marked down for as much as 50% off due to only a couple of days left on the expiration date. But the boys love milk, and we use it in a lot of recipes, so a short date is no problem!


Packaging
Tine Easter Milk
Tine changes their packaging at Christmas and Easter. For the majority of the year, the photos on the cartons show scenes from the dairies located in your region. But at Christmas the nisser (the little trolls/elves) show up. And at Easter, Tine pays homage to the Norwegian tradition of Påskekrim - Easter crime novels* - by including mystery-based comic strips on the boxes. 
Tine Christmas Milk

Variety
Like in the states, there are plenty of varieties: whole milk, low fat, lower fat (with the added Vitamin D), skim milk, as well as chocolate milk, culture milks, and kefir.

[Okay, I just have to say that this may be the most boring post I've ever written!]


Melk
(noun) Milk.

Used in a sentence
Kan du kjøpe inn en melk for meg?
(Will you buy a carton of milk for me?)

Related Words
hel melk - whole milk
lett melk - low fat milkekstra lett melk - lower fat milk
skummet melk - skim milk
sjokolademelk - chocolate milk
geit melk - goat milk
økologisk melk - organic milk
laktosefri melk - lactose free milk
kulturmelk - culture milk/soured milk (similar to buttermilk)


*You read that correctly - Easter crime novels - I should probably revisit this in a couple of months!

1 comment:

  1. No, it's not boring! I think it's interesting to hear how even "every day" things, like milk, are different than they are here.

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