On SkinkeOst and its siblings

Random notes & travel tips: When in Norway, you must try the delight that is Skinkeost and its siblings Baconost and Rekeost. When in Rome, and all that.

What you're looking at here is spreadable cream cheese. SkinkeOst means literally “hamcheese”, so it is, in a suprise move, ham-flavored and includes little bits of ham. The same principle applies to BaconOst, RekeOst, and PaprikaOst — bacon, shrimp, and sweet peppers respectively.1 HvitOst is just plain cream cheese, hence the literal name “whitecheese”. If in doubt, just look at the tube. There's a picture of what the flavor is.

All you need is some sliced bread and a tube of this stuff for a no-mess, instant on-the-road breakfast, lunch, or snack.

Speaking of, the popularity of these classic varieties of smøreost, spreadable cheese, is such that they've spawned new varieties.

Make of that what you will. Traci is a big fan of JalapeñoOst, which is exactly what you think it is. The MagerOst product line is the low-fat version. If that's your bag, go for it, but I'll always stick with the originals.


The classic: Maarud-brand “Potetgull med paprika”, paprika-flavored potato chips.

1 Paprika in Norwegian refers to both sweet bell pepper and the spice. When we need to make a distinction we'll refer to the spice paprika as paprikapulver, meaning paprika powder. Keep that in mind. If you order pizza with paprika, that's not pizza seasoned with paprika powder but pizza with chunks of red bell pepper on it. If you buy potato chips with paprika, on the other hand, that means potato chips flavored with paprika powder. Which is, by the way, very good.

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