Norwegian Food Culture for international students

There was a good atmosphere when the international students from Norwegian Food Culture visited the teaching kitchen at Kaarstad on a Friday afternoon.

A new course on the schedule

Juicing, pickling and preserving have not been everyday activities for the students who took part in the subject Norwegian Food Culture (ERAMAK101), until now. The learning curve is steep and collaboration is quickly established when the international students from 7 different countries must acquire both theoretical and practical knowledge about Norwegian food culture, and how it has developed throughout history.

- My mom would be so proud!, says an enthusiastic voice from the kitchen counter, which is full of berries, vegetables, jam powder and vinegar

It's the first time that this course of 15 credits teached in English is on the timetable, which brings with it experiences from it's "siblings" in Norwegian called Matkultur (30 stp).

- I was very excited about how it would be to teach in English about Norwegian foods, utensils and techniques, but it has gone very well. Although several of the fresh produce and the packaging are unknown to several of the students, says course leader and Associate professor Kari Ryslett.

Cultural exchange

The course is Norwegian at its core, but is given a new dimension by the global impulses surrounding it. 

Combining Norwegian food culture and traditional food with international students seems to be going well. According to Angeliki from the food country of Greece, a global cultural exchange takes place beyond the Norwegian core of the subject, when 11 students from 7 different nations come together in this way. This gives the course an extra dimension, she believes. The students come from Germany, South Korea, Latvia, Greece, the Czech Republic and Spain.

The course has varied forms of teaching, with everything from outdoor gatherings, to practical exercises and written assignments, both individual and group work. During the autumn semester, the students will also create their own blog entries, something that could be perfect for Angeliki, who combines Norwegian Food Culture with Visual Communication (KOH203) while she is an exchange student in Volda.

At the end of the semester, the winner of this year's food blog will be chosen.

Cooking pit, vegetable growing and bee safari at Haavardgarden

Erik Fooladi is also course leader and Associate professor at Department of science and mathematics. He explains that a lot of what the students get to experience in the course is completely new for the vast majority of them. The students had a whole day together at Haavardgarden on Stranda, before the lesson in the kitchen.

Angeliki thinks that the visit to Haavardgarden was very exciting, especially since they are self-sufficient: - "What we got to see are important and exciting perspectives in the global crisis," she says.

During the visit, the students got to try digging a cooking pit and cook a leg of lamb outside, they got a closer look at vegetable growing and harvesting, as well as picking berries for the lesson and a bee safari. For lunch they also had a taste of the historic Oslo breakfast, which was a free school meal that was introduced in Oslo during the 1930s. Here they got bread, crisp bread, brown cheese, white cheese, milk, half an apple, rutabaga and of course, the Norwegian tran (cod liver oil).

Having such experiences together is a perfect way to get to know each other and a great start to the course, say Ryslett and Fooladi. Which elaborates that these shared experiences seem to contribute to both cohesion and the ability to work together. After getting a "kick start" at Haavardgarden, the students met ready to work in the teaching kitchen to learn about pickling, juicing and preserving.

Here you can see more pictures from the visit at Haavardgarden