Holiday Noshing at the Christmas Market

Oslo has modeled their Christmas Market after the German ones, and even bought their booths and Gluhwein stands from them. But, they have some very regional food stalls that make their market unique. One of my favorite snacks were made-on-the-spot waffles smeared with jam, and it seemed to be a crowd favorite as well, judging by the number of folks walking around with them.

I also tried some local cheese from the Blind Cow Dairy(www.denblindeku.no) and it was exquisite...it just melted in my mouth. At one stall, I sampled the seven varieties of cookies that every Norwegian housewife is supposed to know how to make. These are primarily what I would call butter cookies..most of them made in a cookie press...except for the ice-cream-cone shaped ones that are hand rolled.

There was a full service restaurant set up at the market, in a tented pavilion overlooking the water, and I had a fabulous buffet dinner there. Every kind of fish from Norway, four kinds of potato salad, reindeer and elk, chicken, lamb, and beef and about 15 desserts were loaded on the festive tables. With help from my friendly waitresses, I tried to at least taste a little of everything. I have to say that not only was the food good, but these girls are the best servers in Oslo, and really friendly, so I had a great time at dinner even though I was dining alone.