Brunost, Ekte Gjetost, and Gamalost - the Cheese with Personality

"Brown Cheese And Birch: Nordic Foods' Appeal Grows"
J. S. MARCUS, Food & Drink, The Wall Street Journal (July 21, 2011)

"The bright-orange sea-buckthorn berry may sound like something from Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. In fact, it's one of Scandinavian cuisine's star ingredients, which are driving adventurous foodies to forage in cutting-edge restaurants, Pacific-Northwest wine bars, local health-food stores and IKEA outlets.

" 'I love the boom,' says Marcus Samuelsson, the Swedish-raised New York chef who helped pioneer awareness of Scandinavian cuisine in the U.S. when he was executive chef at Aquavit, which he co-owns.

"Mr. Samuelsson uses aromatic cloudberries-'the king of berries,' he calls them—in sorbet and serves the sour sea-buckthorn berries with game meats. He sometimes spikes a sauce with Norwegian brunost, a sweet brown cheese traditionally made from caramelized goat's milk whey. "It's like goat-cheese butter," Mr. Samuelsson says...."

Brunost is okay - more than just okay - but the Lemming wonder's if what's sold in the Pacific Northwest is, quite, Brunost. At least one sort of Norwegian goat cheese, packaged for export to the United States, turned out to be diluted - 50% goat cheese, 50% the sort of bovine cheese most Americans are used to.

Sure, it tasted sort of like a half-strength gjetost, which it was - but it wasn't gjetost. Somewhat of an anticlimax for the Lemming, who remembers real gjetost. And Primost.

This, perhaps, really is ekte gjetost - real gjetost:

"Ekte Gjetost 100% Goat Cheese"
CheeseSupply.com

"Ekte Gjetost means pure goat cheese in Norwegian. Ekte Gjetost is a unique Norwegian whey cheese made from 100% goat's whey, its colour is darker than Ski Queen's and the flavour richer. Its texture is firm and it is served in thin slices on bread or biscuits...."

"Ekte Gjetost means pure goat cheese in Norwegian"?? Oh-kay. Sort of. The Lemming would have thought it was more like "real goat cheese" - but what the hey: "Pure" is sort of like "real." And the Lemming would expect ekte gjetost to be 'real' gjetost - not half-and-half.

So, there's brunost, and gjetost - ekte and otherwise. But why is there such a thundering silence on the subject of gamalost? Sure, it's got an aroma you'll never forget: and Wikipedia says it's "a brownish-yellow cheese with irregular blue veins."

But what's a little body odor and a complexion issue to someone who's into cheesy food?

The Lemming could have phrased that differently. Probably should have.

Related posts:

• "Lemming Tracks: Fourth of July Weekend, 2011"
  (July 1, 2011)
  • Check out the cheesy sculpture
• "At Last! A History of the Limburger Cheese Sandwich!"
  (January 27, 2011)
• "A Thought for the Day: About Cheese"
  (January 8, 2011)
• "Pumpkin. Spice. Cream Cheese. What's Not to Like?"
  (January 11, 2010)
• "The Moon, Cheese, Aristotle, and What We've Known"
  (October 5, 2009)

Bookshelf Design for the Eco-Savvy

"Block Shelf by Amy Hunting"
freshome (undated, probably May 5, 2010)

"Norwegian furniture designer Amy Hunting (currently living in London) has come up with this fantastic bookshelf! To create this innovative and exciting design, Amy has used blocks of over 20 types of wood, found in a London timber importers waste bin and cotton rope. Using off-cuts of wood, Amy makes the most of what others might ignore or throw out, demonstrating an eco-conscience without losing her savvy. Because Amy won the the 2nd award at Green Furniture Award 2010, her prototype has been taken on by Green Furniture Sweden and has been put into production using wood leftovers from a wood flooring factory in Sweden...."

What impressed The Lemming about this bookshelf is not that the designer is "demonstrating an eco-conscience" - it's that the thing would actually work, and efficiently uses materials that might otherwise get discarded. Maybe that's what the writer had in mind with the words, "without losing her savvy."

Seriously, folks: This is the way to approach design. Start with materials that don't cost an arm and a leg, aren't particularly exotic, and might get tossed out if you don't salvage them.

Put them together in a simple, functional way. Then, if you must, use words with "eco" in them, to show that you care.

This design philosophy isn't as new as you might think. For decades, my father used a sturdy bookshelf made from bricks and planks. I've been using essentially the same design, with empty coffee cans instead of bricks. They take up more space, but the assembly has a trifle more lateral stability.

Kudos to Amy Hunting: a designer with savvy.

Spectacular UFO and the Norwegian Space Centre

"Bizarre Sky Spiral Caused by Failed Missile"
Space.com (December 10, 2009)

"A spectacular spiral light show in the sky above Norway Wednesday was caused by a Russian missile that failed just after launch, according to Russia's defense ministry.

"When the rocket motor spun out of control, it likely created the heavenly spiral of white light near where the missile was launched from a submarine in the White Sea. The Russian defense ministry confirmed to the Itar-Tass news agency that a Bulava ballistic missile test had failed.

" 'This cloud was very spectacular, and when we looked at the videos people submitted to the media, we quickly concluded that it looked like a rocket or missile out of control, thus the spiraling effect,' Paal Brekke, a senior advisor at the Norwegian Space Centre in Oslo, told SPACE.com. 'I think this is the first time we have seen such a display from a launch failure.'..."


(Dagfinn Rapp, via Space.com, used w/o permission)

There was speculation that the spiral in the sky was "a UFO."

"...Before the missile test was confirmed, many people suggested the bright light pattern might have been a UFO. Russia finally admitted to the accident, which is an embarrassing mishap for a rocket that had already failed six of 13 previous tests, according to the BBC...."

Well, literally, that out-of-control rocket was a UFO for a while: an Unidentified Flying Object. Now, after the Russians fessed up to its being one of their not-entirely-successful bits of aerospace tech, it's a IFO - an Identified Flying Object.

Judging from that photo, it must have been quite a sight.

Do I "Believe In" UFOs? Yes. And, No

I an about as certain as I can be of anything, that people routinely see objects that are moving through the sky, and which they cannot identify. By definition, each of these is a UFO. If they're later identified, they become IFOs.

But that's not what most people mean, when they say "UFO." In everyday speech, a "UFO" is a spaceship, built by space aliens, who have come to Earth. Although their motives aren't entirely clear, they're apparently obsessed with mutilating cattle, buzzing motorists, abducting people and performing pregnancy tests.

Or guiding us to a groovier tomorrow.

The first sort of "UFO" - the object that's traveling in the sky and hasn't been identified? Yes I "believe in" that. I also "believe in" clouds and snow, in that sense of the term.

The second sort of "UFO" - the "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" sort? Not so much. I don't think Elvis was a space alien, either: although I made up a crazy story about that, as an "explanation" of the Montauk monster. ("July 30, 2008)

Although I don't take the ideas of flying saucer enthusiasts all that seriously, I don't discount the possibility that humanity isn't the only kind of people inhabiting this universe.

But that's a different topic.

Related posts, at

• "A Serious Search for Other Worlds, Life, and - Maybe - Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence"

Tarpaper Siding, Grass of the Roof: Yes, it's Good Design

"Knut Hamsun Center / Steven Holl Architects"
(August 7, 2009)

"Architect: Steven Holl Architects
"Location: Hamarøy, Norway
"Program: Historical museum for writer Knut Hamsun including exhibition areas, library, reading room, cafe and 230 seat auditorium
"Client: Nordland Fylkeskommune (County)
"Project Area: 2,271 sqm
"Project year: 1994-2009
"Photographs: Ernst Furuhatt & Steven Holl Architects

"This center dedicated to Hamsun is located above the Arctic Circle near village of Presteid of Hamarøy and the farm where the writer grew up. The museum will include exhibition areas, a library and reading room, a cafe and an auditorium. The concept for the museum is 'building as a body,' creating a battleground of invisible forces...."

This post goes 'way beyond the usual few lovely photos with captions.

Actually, there isn't that much text. There are, however, over a dozen photos, sketches, photos of a cutaway model, elevations, floor plans, and other visuals.

The design isn't as crazy as it looks - and was planned with a rather clever window-and-mirror arrangement to get light to one of the interior spaces.

About Life in a Remote Village: 'Beautiful, but Vicious' Terns, and the Occasional Polar Bear

"Welcome to Svalbard, Here’s Your Bird-Defense Stick"
Wired Science (July 31, 2009)

"Need an insider's visitor guide to the northernmost settlement on Earth? NASA's got you covered.

"Kasia Wegrzyn, a NASA scientist, has spent the past several weeks in Ny-Ålesund, a 35 person village in the Svalbard, a chain of islands halfway between Norway and the North Pole.

"She's learned the ropes, tasted the boxed wine, and fended off angry packs of 'beautiful, but vicious' terns. This week, she posted her tourist tips on the Characterization of Arctic Sea Ice Experiment mission blog — and they make for a fascinating peak into life in a remote international research station...."

The article is an entertaining look at life at a remote village. Odds are, the 'bird-defense stick' will be a rifle. You're well-advised to carry one, to assist in negotiations with polar bears.

Related post:

• "Doomsday Seed Vault in Svalbard, or Don't Worry: There's Always Something to Worry About"
  (June 5, 2008)

Fargo Evacuation and the Red River Valley of the North Flood: A Personal View

Ethnic stereotypes are just that: stereotypes.

Warning: Middle-Age Guy Rambling

Take me, for example: I'm a Norwegian-Irish-American. Make that a Norwegian Irishman who's a citizen of the United States of America.

Norwegians have a reputation for being stoic, unyielding, and lovers of lefse and lutefisk. The Irish are known, among other things, for being laid-back alcoholics. In the southern reaches of the British Isles, at least. (I know: Not everybody in England feels that way, but everybody from Swift to Punch magazine have referred to it.) Farther afield, the Irish are known as a nation of poets. Sozzled poets, but poets nonetheless.

Then, there's me. I had a very serious drinking problem - still would, if I allowed it - and love language, talking, and writing. And, I'm firm-minded. Maybe stubborn. Okay: sometimes I can be downright pig-headed.

Sound like parts of the stereotypes? Coincidence? Maybe. Maybe not.

Surrender? Never!!

My Norwegian forebears won turf disputes with dire wolves, and staring contests with glaciers. The Fargo-Moorhead part of the Red River Valley (and northwest Minnesota) is home to a lot of sons and daughters of Vikings.

It's a little hard to imagine them, as a group, walking away from a flood while there were dikes to build.

Actually, I think most people, all over the world have more determination than some suspect. But, that's another topic.

---

List of posts about this flood:

• "Red River Valley of the North Flood, 2009"

A Lamp that Opens Like a Flower

"Lull is a lamp that opens and closes like a flower"
Lull.com

"As a bud during sunrise it stretches its petals to bloom. It opens carefully and dims up to give...."

With photos.

"Lull is an award winning lamp designed by the norwegian designgroup Varmo l Kollstad l Buene. Lull is still a concept, but hopefully it will be put into production soon. By showing your interest you can help us with that...."

This is an attractive design - and deserves at least a look.

King Knut: That Viking King was No Fool

"From Viking warrior to English king - Canute (Knud) The Great"

This is a pretty good short biography of Knut, king of The Danelaw and the English midlands, and later "king of all England, and of Denmark, of the Norwegians, and part of the Swedes."

That page insists on referring to the Viking king as Canute, but I guess that's a cultural thing.

The story of King Knut that's probably best known is the account of what happened after he heard his courtiers say that he was "So great, he could command the tides of the sea to go back."

King Knut was no fool. He knew what could do, and what he couldn't. So, without explanation, he had his throne taken to the seashore. At low tide.

As the tide started coming in, he commanded it to stop. As I recall, he repeated the command at least twice.

The tide paid no attention, and soon King Knut and his courtiers were quite wet.

Just in case the chowder-heads in his court still didn't get it, King Knut said (translated, of course), "Let all men know how empty and worthless is the power of kings. For there is none worthy of the name but God, whom heaven, earth and sea obey."