Mathallen Oslo ★ 4.6
Mathallen Oslo on Vulkan opened in 2012 as the city's permanent food hall, with 30 producer-led stalls, the Hitchhiker and Fenaknoken counters.
History
Brunost dates to 1863 when dairymaid Anne Hov first added cream to the whey in the Solbråsetra dairy in Gudbrandsdalen; it has been Norway's most definitive food export ever since. The caramelised brown cheese was patented as Gudbrandsdalsost by TINE in 1866 and became a Norwegian breakfast and lunch fixture. Oslo's Hagen Konditori, the Mathallen brown cheese counter and Solberg & Hansen sell the canonical version sliced thin onto crispbread or sourdough.
Common allergens: Dairy, Gluten, Egg
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs
- 100g caster sugar
- 500ml buttermilk (or whole milk soured with 1 tbsp white vinegar)
- 100g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 300g plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 200g Gudbrandsdalen brunost, for serving
- 200g lingonberry or wild blueberry jam, to serve
- 150g creme fraiche or rommekolle, to serve
Method
- Whisk the eggs and sugar in a large bowl for 2 minutes until pale and frothy.
- Whisk in the buttermilk, then the cooled melted butter.
- Sift in the flour, baking powder, cardamom and salt. Whisk to a smooth, pourable batter, just thicker than double cream. Rest for 20 minutes; this gives the cardamom time to bloom.
- Heat a heart-shaped waffle iron to medium-high and brush with a little melted butter.
- Pour about 100ml batter into the centre, close the lid and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until golden and crisp at the edges. The waffle is done when steam stops rising.
- While the waffle is still hot, plane thin slices of brunost over the top so they soften into the surface.
- Top with a spoon of lingonberry jam and a dollop of cold creme fraiche. Eat immediately.
Tip from the editors. Slice brunost with a Norwegian ostehøvel (cheese plane) for the proper paper-thin shavings; a knife gives chunks that refuse to melt.
Where to eat brunost
Brunost in Oslo
Bondens marked Birkelunden ★ 4.5
Bondens marked Birkelunden is the Grünerløkka producer farmers market at Seilduksgata 23B, with rotating small-farm producers, Norwegian heritage cheese.
Kaffistova ★ 3.9
Kaffistova on the ground floor of Hotell Bondeheimen on Rosenkrantz' gate has served Norwegian home cooking since 1901, with raspeballer, boknafisk.
Try: Norwegian home cooking, raspeballer and meatballs
More cities are in research. Want brunost covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.