As a newcomer to Norway many locals will ask you if you’ve had the brunost, aka the brown cheese, yet and what you think of it. So, it’s best to quickly try it and get that out of the way.
I think many Norwegians enjoy offering brunost as a cruel trick, the classic “let’s make the foreigner try our strange food” gag. However, many (myself included) find brunost to be quite tasty! It’s high in sugar and it is like cheese, so for an American that’s pretty much our two main food groups. It’s technically not cheese, more of a by-product of cheese production itself. Most countries would throw it out, but during Norway’s more humble and poorer times they added sugar to provide additional food for the people.
So brunost is considered an important part of cultural identity for Norwegians.
Give it a try, it’s especially good on waffles.
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