FYI: the part where he makes his version of the White Lady cake is towards the end of the video. I like his version because it uses less marzipan and lots of flaked almonds (which I prefer). Also, it looks easier to just cover the top of the cake with a layer of marzipan rather than the whole thing. This was a very educational video, especially regarding the stockfish. We use dried seafood in a lot of Chinese cuisine, especially dried scallops and shrimp, but I have not seen dried seafood used a lot in European cuisine. Good to see a high production video on Nordic culinary culture, I don't see it getting a lot of attention in the mainstream media.
Stockfish was a method to preserve fish for a longer time, so still people use stockfish to like Lutefisk (where they rehydrate the fish, and well there is a whole industry around that tough), anyway also I have seen resturants grill stockfish too .. and up here in northen norway where we used to hang alot of this before (not so much these days tough) we eat it raw ... dried ofcourse, you use a wooden hammer and hit it to it flakes up abit ... and you chew on it .... for some it can smell alot (and aparently you are not allowed to open bags of stockfish on planes here in Norway ... because of the smell) I believe that in Spain they use stockfish in Bacalao among other things ... there is sooo much good food in nordic culinary culture, sadly norway is not known for its food for some reasons :-) even that we have several winners of cooking championships .. and in that way, many of the worlds best chefs are norwegians, and quite often use norwegian raw materials for their creations.
Newfoundland has stocked fish, but it’s called salted dry cod. cloudberries grow wild, but we called them baked apples. Newfoundland was a country, a part of the British empire until 1949, we have a lot of British food and baking style. Love raisins in everything.
This came up in my suggested videos because I have been following two other channels that are from Norway and about the Norse historic culture. After just watching this video I am hooked on Paul Hollywood. Just amazing
One of the biggest dividing issues in junior high is whether the bolle should have raisins in it or not. We used to fight over it. It's the pineapple on pizza debate of Norway.
@@halsoy I agree, we are not the issue here, they can keep to themselves with their frankenbolle xD Being given one with chocolate, only to find out they lied and it was raisins, means war though!
You’re forgetting one important thing when making that layered cake, soaking the sponge with milk or juice, all good «bløtkaker» which is what that cake is too, have been soaked («bløt» means «wet»). If it sits until the next day, it’s even better than when you just made it... 🤗
Hello. what is the name of Eric's restaurant, please? I am coming from California in March for my birthday and would love to try some stockfish. Amazing!
I've never laughed more than when Paul was talking about the helicopter taking him "to the mountains" and realizing it was just Eidsvåg which is a 10 minute drive from the centre of the city and literally is just a suburb and a part of the city.... and also like not at all in the mountains. They do call themself the country side in the city but still. I live less than 10 minutes from this farm so it really was absurd
So nice seeing my hometown! I have worked in one of the local, family-owned bakeries, Lie Nielsen, for three years. The customers always said that we have the best "White lady" cake in town 😉Also, Paul missed the opportunity to try out "brunost" (Norwegian brown cheese) on top of the julebrød with butter! It's not christmas without!
Norway was not one of Europes poorest countries. That's a myth! Norway was big on fish and shipping, but not least, they had a negotiation-model for wages that put them - not on the top - but pretty high up in Europe. After the discovery of oil, Norway became oil-dependent and it would appear that it was poor before. The other nordics are still rich and don't have oil. It's the model of negotiating wages, not only the oil...
Same here, Norway looks like such a beautiful place to live. Like a perpetual quaint Christmas town! I love their ancient connection to the sea, so romantic! Honestly Id live there if I could!
Having worked on a cruise ship, I was lucky to have many itineraries sailing into all parts of Norway, up as far as Honningsvag (North Cape), and into Bergen.... many times. Norway is an absolutely beautiful country. My love for the country actually started when I was living there in Oslo as a kid for three years. If the opportunity presents itself to visit, take it. You won’t regret it.
~ _Sigh_ ~ The gingerbread village brings a tear of joy to me. It gives me that 'warm feeling' of Christmas that gifts never do. I guess it must be the inner child 😊
@@Koreviking I disagree. I grew up a couple of hours away from Bergen, and I never found them to be that different to people back home. They are loud, but so are people in north of Norway. And they play a lot of drums on 17th of May. Otherwise they are as Norwegian as the rest of us. They pretend to be super different, but they are not.
@@HelenEk7 It’s not a question of personal opinion, Helen. It’s a historic fact, of which evidence can be found both in Architecture, language, food culture as well as several other local traditions influenced by the Hanseatic cultures of Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands. Because of their position in trade, Bergen was simply our most international city for several centuries.
@@HelenEk7 Vel, av bergenske retter fra hansatiden har du for eksempel vannkringle (fra Tyskland), persetorsk (også fra Tyskland), pottekjøtt (fra England), heitevegger (Tyskland igjen) og puspas (fra Nederland). Bergen har også et særegent ordforråd av låneord som stammer fra denne tiden, og arkeologen har vi alt nevnt. Du HAR hørt om hanseatene, sant? Det var en ganske sentral del av norsk historie som de fleste lærer om på skolen.
My Great Grandmother came from Jostedal so I grew up with Lefse at every holiday, Krumkake, and Norwegian meatballs, and would sit and watch my grandmother have Lutefisk swimming in butter at Christmas (i couldn’t stand the smell so I refused to eat it). I have my grandmother’s krumkaka Iron and love to make it every year.
Last time I stayed near Bergen it was so warm and dry, I actually spent the night in an open hammock at the edge of a fjord. We even decided to avoid the Inlands because the heat of 30+ degrees Celsius was unrelenting under the midsummer sun. That is the other side of Norway. You will never know what you will get.
@@Bias2310 that was in 2018. I happen to be right back from my latest road trip there last week. Now everything weather was much more agreable. I just left as the rain set in. I do like Norway a lot, but at a certain moment during my travels there the vast superlative beauty starts to consume me instead and I cannot escape from it. Especially now that I was travelling alone, it is almost as if some kind of Apeirophobia sets in as you feel swallowed up by the landscape. It must be different when you live there among your friends and family and your mind is just used to all of it. It is one of the most grandiose countries I have visited.
"At least seven different types of biscuits (cookies) for Christmas." That explains why my mom made so many types of cookies! This brought back so many memories. I even saw some that she made every Christmas.
Being someone very familiar with Bergen, I found it quite amusing when he said he could use a bit of fresh air, the camera went straight to the new fish market! :D
Now, I came from a top class country of bakeries (Italy; watch also the episode of Palermo), but I have lived in Bergen when I was an exchange student. Every morning, before going into faculty, I was passing by Godt Brød - the first shop you see in the episode- for a coffe and some sweets. 5 years has passed but that sweetness I can still taste it. 🇮🇹🇳🇴
Norwegian here, I only eat it straight dried or as bacalao. Never tried those two dishes and now I have to. I wonder if I have to go to Bergen for it...
...and this is only one city in one region of Norway, I might be slightly biased as a Norwegian but if you like traveling to experience culture and history you really ought to do a round trip of Norway. See our beautiful, diverse, landscape and wildlife. The different folk that lives there and their history, we all share the humble- but fierce pride for our country and traditions. We're quite cold if you don't talk to us, but if you ask us for anything we'll help you with whatever we can or point you to someone who can.
@@paulhollywood8642 sure, sure the "real" Paul Hollywood is interested in my comment. ;-). Ok, if you're the real Paul Hollywood, finish this sentence: "Cooks used to be more scared of making a loaf of bread than a ______________..." (it's in your book, after all). cheers!
What a lovely tour. My family and my husband's family are from Bergen. Lot's of baking and good old "simple food" as grandma Haldorson called it. I'm given to understand the family were stone masons. I wish to visit someday. And now, diving and seafood! I only warm water dive but I'd consider this one. Oh my goodness and now the gingerbread christmas! Mom always made a gingerbread house ALL from scratch. What lovely memories.
I have enjoyed all of these programmes, but it think this one is my favourite, because the bakes look doable. Plus Mr Hollywood has really shown himself to be an excellent presenter. Big thumbs up.
I loved that he thought that house looked like Little House on the Prairie! Uh, no. That would be The Olson's house, maybe...LOL! And, Jim Bob was on The Waltons! Hey, those shows were from the 70s so... These Paul Hollywood City Bakes' videos are abfab! :-) This one made me happy...LOVE Norway!
This is just one of many reasons why I want to move to Norway. The way Paul pronounced those Øs though is just the way literally any of us brits would do it
@@katinkaaa2951 I prefer the quiet lifestyle and I quite like the cold actually. Britain is quite nice but I'd like to experience something new and Norway just seems like my kind of place. If only we could swap lol
@@Layorgenla Don't let her get you down, Norway is a great place to live. Safe, politically and economically stable (relatively speaking of course, in these covid days). And it's NOT cold all the time, we get great summers. I'm not wild about the winters on the west coast in particular though such as in Bergen, because they tend to be more of the wet and windy variety, whereas I prefer the dry and snowy (albeit even colder) winters of the more inland and eastern parts of the country.
@@Arbaaltheundefeated that's fair. I've heard how beautiful Bergen is and that snow sounds like heaven. We never get snow anymore where I live :( I'll keep this in mind when I go look around during my gap year, thank you
@@Layorgenla Bergen is definitely very beautiful, I lived there for about five years and I loved it, I just don't think it's a great choice if snow and winter activities are a priority, Bergen I would say is definitely more of a summer destination, or if you're really into oceanside living. In winter if you want somewhere magical and different to go in Norway I would consider Voss or Geilo as examples of prime destinations. :)
The White Lady (hvit dame) appears to be really similar to the Swedish Princess cake (prinsesstårta), except that the Princess cake has a green marzipan dome instead of white. I'm saddened to hear that the bakeries have been shutting down. Unfortunately, a similar thing has happened in Sweden. There used to be a large number of bakeries in Malmö, now there are only a handful and supermarkets provide most of the baked goods.
I thought so too, except the Swedish Princess cake doesn't have a macron layer either, it does however often have a layer of custard. (Swedish baker here, haha)
Supermarkets here make terrible pastries compared to the bakeries I grew up with. Nothing was spared years ago but now they use poor substitutions for butter and cream, etc...If you want something good you have to pay a huge price for it or make it yourself.
@@getin3949 Yes, ingredients are subpar, and not just bakeries. If I know how to do it, I would start a food manufacturer that would make things by the original recipe, for example bearnaise and holindaise with butter, thicker cut bacon, 100% corn tortillas, real sugar in stuff not high fructose corn syrup and bakery products made with butter, cookies, croissants, dinner rolls.
I have lived and worked in Bergen for over 20 years. I love this baking show with Paul. I am hoping to tast some of these goodies when i go back visiting hopefully in August.
Most young Norwegians are pretty proficient at speaking english and the accent is usually determined by the teacher they had or the media they enjoy, which usually ''bleeds'' into our English. Some of the elderly people living in Norway aren't as good but they usually hold up pretty well in conversation as well. However, a lot of Norwegians are pretty shy when it comes to actually speaking English and will try to avoid it if they can haha
I love Bergen, my cousin owns and runs a restaurant there. We went up Mt. Floyen twice, but the first time we visited, I stupidly pushed a pram up the path to the top of the mountain instead of getting the tram lol. Dam it was some workout. Amazing views at the top.
Sadly bakeries closing down is happening all over the nordic country's, it's happening with all the old professions, butcher, fishseller/store( cant remember the correct name) and bakers they have moved to the supermarkeds and chain store frenchieces its "progress" and then big factories making either bread to put in the shops or the quick bread that just need the final baking in the shop. all this makes the product worse and the old school shops need to raise their prices because of lower sales witch makes fewer buy and its that vicuous cirkel all over again, like the newpapers today cost alot more then they used to because they dont sell as many as they used to, that makes them raise price even more and then they sell less, cirkel of doom, how i hate you
As a Norwegian I would never have thought Norway would be a good place to go to make a baking/travel show. There's not many bakeries in Norway, as this show said. And there's two reasons for it. Firstly it's the egalitarian nature of Norway. There's not the same status in being rich in Norway, rich people would want to be seen in normal supermarkets buying what everyone else buys, it's a part of the "jantelov" culture. So then there's no upper and middle class to keep the butchers, bakeries and delicatessens alive. It's a status thing. The other part of it is the quality aspect. As Norway is far removed from the world, most goods have had to been imported. And traditionally, foods lose quality the longer it goes. So there's not much of a tradition in Norway for being nitpicky about quality and freshness. I think this is something most Norwegian won't admit or even realise, but, it's definitely something I've heard foreigners complain about when they move to Norway. We're not conscious enough about quality to want to go to a bakery and get our goods. The exception to the last one, how-ever, is fish and dairy. If you come to Norway you could get some great dairy products. Just go to any supermarket in Norway and just try a normal milk or butter, and I promise you that you'd notice the difference. And Norwegians will for sure complain when they're abroad about the quality of milk products, because they're used to pretty decent quality. But for vegetables, fruits, spice, meats and even bakery, there's low demand for high quality.
Agree and disagree. The baked goods have always been outstanding, both what my wife and mom made and when we go into bakeries and even in Meny where they make fresh baked goods. That being said, people do not seem as interested in going out into the woods to pick blueberries, raspberries, cloudberries or wild strawberries like they used to. Easier to buy in the markets even though the store bought stuff is not nearly as good as the stuff we picked out in the forest.
Stockfish was also a product of the New England coast - ships putting out of Boston or Martha's Vinyard - and American stockfish was sold all over the world, because who's going to turn down dried fish that keeps practically forever and can be made into anything from stew to breakfast ;-)
Paul Hollywood surprised me with this series. He was so friendly and engaging (albeit still quite opinionated) but a wonderful travel guide nonetheless. Baking speaks volumes of a country's cultural heritage and pride, and City Bakes delivers it right to our homes. Nice Bake!
Pointless side-note from the bit with the view of Bergen; one thing I have always loved about my country is the lack of skyscrapers or tall buildings in general. I can't stand those things. Instead we build wide. I guess not being 646527 billion people helps.
I saw a British travelling program about 15 years ago talking about the Norwegian stock fish: "Its been around for about a 1000 years but they never developed a cuisine around it. They just bang it with a hammer." Well, hammered stock fish taste fantastic, but as you can see, plenty of dishes is made around it.
I'm from Finnmark, and grew up with dried fish - which we mostly banged with a hammer because it's such a good snack. But we ate semi-dry cod as soon as we got the chance - known as "boknafisk". It is the best dish I can get. Heavenly.
this program is absolutely brilliant. Love Paul Hollywood's research & passion for food, people & amazing places. I concur with the earlier comment. I find myself convinced that I must explore Norway. Lovely & so well done.
Waahhh been to that first bakery (Godt Brød) he visited and the breads are really fresh and tasty😍🙂 Norwegian cuisine is not the best but they certainly know their cakes and breads😀
Love this video as it reminds of all the special lovely times in Norge I missed it and definitely missing traveling around the beautiful land. M blessed to have lived there for 2yrs so tukksen tak and god jul
"Before Norway discover oil in the 1960s, it was one of Europe's poorest countries" - this is factually wrong. It's a myth that is repeated, over and over, until everyone cites it as fact. I'm disappointed this program doesn't do better fact-checking, I have to say....
Supermarkets have taken over a lot of bakeries, but we do bake most things ourselves. It’s a family activity and I remember doing a lot of baking with my mum growing up. The only thing most of us don’t bake at home are wedding cakes 🙂
WHAT a great clip! It brought back happy childhood memories from over 50 years ago, when I visited Bergen as a little girl. Back then, I remember being fascinated by all the fish drying outside on racks, in the summertime...
My geographical range is quite small because I have never travelled very far from home but after watching this, I would love to go to Norway. I live on the west coast of Canada so the thought of rain doesn't bother me in the least.
Such a beautiful country Paul. You go and visit some of the most interesting places. Like the different atmospheres they have compared to ours over here in U.S.A. There's nothing like the smells from a bakery from all the different breads and pastries that are made. There's just so many interesting things to do in places like this. God bless 🙏 you Paul and enjoy!
@@nelsonwesson9644 hello and how are you doing. I'm fine, I live here in Texas, where it's hot, with my sister and her family since my husband died last July and thanks to the Good Lord we had no children. The best thing is that he's in a better place where we All will be someday. God bless 🙏 you and your family and take care!
@@jeannettasills1117 alright Jeannette,that nice to know the only family I have it my son kelvin...I'm originally from Malta. Currently living in Portland Oregon....it's my pleasure meeting you here .....
visited Bergen once and it was great to see some of the places I recognized. Was fun seeing several handshakes from Paul. Wonder if everyone realizes how important an accomplishment it is for a baker to get a hand shake from Paul.
With ALL the sweet stuff Paul is eating, he sure is staying in good shape...must be at the Gym a lot...he is so wonderful...easy going and enjoying what he is doing...
How blessed you are to be able to travel the world and see these gorgeous and amazing cultures, places, and people! Would love to see Bergen in person some day!!
