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Papua New GuineaFlavors · Bergen
Creamy fish soup from Bergen, made with a fish-bone broth, vegetables cut into thin strips, fish meatballs and cream. A touch of vinegar and sugar gives it a slightly sweet-and-sour flavor that sets it apart from other Norwegian fish soups.
Traditional dish from Bergen, Vestland
Also known as: fiskesuppe, bergens fiskesuppe, sopa de peixe de Bergen
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
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Bergensk fiskesuppe — Bergen, Norway
Fish soup is made throughout Norway, but Bergen’s has its own reputation. It is tied to the fish market and the city’s maritime tradition.
According to local cooks, the traditional base is a broth made from the bones of young pollock, a fish seldom used in commercial fishing. For that reason, most soups served in the city use other white fish. The broth receives vegetables cut into thin strips, such as carrot, leek and parsnip, and fish meatballs.
What marks Bergen’s version is the final seasoning: a little vinegar and sugar, which leaves the soup slightly sweet-and-sour. Cream and sour cream are then added, and many recipes thicken the broth with egg yolks, which gives a silky texture.
Each family and each restaurant has its own version, and there is debate about what may or may not go into the pot. In common is the idea of a well-made broth, simmered slowly, and the balance between creamy and acidic.
In Bergen, the soup appears on the menus of many restaurants, especially near the harbor and the fish market, and it is eaten in winter and on rainy days, which are common in the city.
Bergen , Vestland
Fish soup with Bergen’s own recipe, mentioned by the city’s official tourism.
Fish-bone broth, white fish (traditionally young pollock), fish meatballs, carrot, leek, parsnip, cream, sour cream, egg yolks, vinegar and sugar.
Hot, served in a deep bowl, as a starter or light meal, often with bread and butter.
Year-round, especially in the cold and rainy months.
Your questions
The slightly sweet-and-sour flavor from a bit of vinegar and sugar, and the creamy texture from cream, sour cream and often egg yolks.
Traditionally, the broth was made with the bones of young pollock; today other white fish are used, along with fish meatballs.
Year-round, but it pairs especially well with the city’s cold, rainy days.
Flavors of Norway
Norwegian potato-based spirit flavored with spices, especially caraway and dill, and aged in oak barrels. It has European geographical indication as Norsk Akevitt; linjeakevitt barrels cross the equator by ship before bottling.
Stew of bone-in lamb and cabbage, layered with whole black peppercorns, slowly cooked and served with potatoes. It was chosen as Norway’s national dish in a popular vote in the 1970s and reaffirmed in 2014.
Large roll of sweet fermented dough with butter, cinnamon and sugar, topped with more sugar after baking. It’s a specialty tied to Bergen’s Hanseatic history.
Sámi stew of reindeer meat with potato, carrot and onion, slowly cooked in broth. It is the Sámi people’s celebratory dish, served at weddings, confirmations and other celebrations; the name comes from Northern Sámi.
Stew of klippfisk, the air-dried, salted cod, with tomato, potato, onion, pepper and olive oil. The recipe reached the coast of Møre og Romsdal through the cod trade with Spain and Portugal, and it is a festive dish in Kristiansund and Ålesund.
Sponge cake covered with meringue and almonds, sliced in half and filled with vanilla cream. It originated in the 1930s at a café in Harstad, Troms, and was voted Norway’s national cake; it is also called verdens beste, “the best in the world.”
Clear broth of lamb and beef with cubes of meat and meatballs, seasoned with ginger and nutmeg, served with potato and carrot. It is a festive dish of Trøndelag; the version Festsodd fra Trøndelag has a Norwegian geographical indication.
Sheep’s head salted, smoked and dried, steamed and served with potato and rutabaga puree. It’s a tradition of Voss and Hardanger, in Vestland, eaten mainly in the weeks before Christmas.
