Norwegian waffles in Oslo
A Norwegian waffle is not a Belgian waffle. It is thin, soft and bendy, baked in a heart-shaped iron into five little hearts you tear apart with your hands. The batter is closer to a pancake than to a pastry, usually with a bit of cardamom in it. It is eaten warm, at home, in the afternoon — not as dessert.
The toppings that matter
- Brunost (brown cheese)
- Caramelised whey cheese, sweet and slightly goaty. Sliced thin with a cheese slicer onto a hot waffle so it half melts. This is the one visitors are most curious and most nervous about.
- Sour cream and strawberry jam
- Rømme and jam. The classic combination at every cabin and church basement in the country.
- Butter and sugar
- The minimalist version. Hard to argue with.
- Savoury versions
- Reindeer ham, smoked salmon, aged cheese. Less traditional, very good, and where I like to experiment.
Where to eat them
Waffles in Norway are a home food, which is exactly why they are hard to find well made in a city centre. You will see them at kiosks by the fjord, at ski cabins in the forest, and sold by sports clubs raising money outside supermarkets. Those are all genuine, and mostly reheated.
The best ones come off someone's own iron, one batch at a time, in a kitchen. That is the whole reason this walk starts at my kitchen table in Kvadraturen instead of a café: you get the waffles the way Norwegians actually eat them, and then we go for a walk.
Come eat waffles in my kitchen — or read the FAQ.