Lompe = Lefse?

So what is a lompe? Well, you might have heard about Lefse before. Which is best described as a potato tortilla, and is something that Norwegians have been eating for as long as anyone can remember. Lompe however is like the little brother or sister of the lefse. A lompe is normally a bit smaller, it’s always round, and it’s usually thinner than a lefse. Today it’s made with a mix of potato and wheat flour. Most Norwegians don’t make lompe themselves, but they are found in large quantities in every supermarket.

(Some (like me) sometimes put butter and sugar on the lompe as well. A perfect dessert after a pølse i lompe dinner…)

Pølse (hot dog)

You find all kinds of different hot dogs in Norway. In general we put them into two categories:

• Grillpølse (a hot dog that we fry in a pan, or barbeque)

• Wienerpølse (a hot dog that we heat up slowly in a pot with warm water)

It’s important to know that the preparation of these two kinds are not mixed, meaning that you would never fry a wiener hot dog, and you would never put a grillpølse to cook in warm water. The result would be a soggy grillpølse, a maltreated wiener hot dog, and it would make you look quite strange to any Norwegian witnessing this.

Toppings on a hot dog

The toppings on a hot dog in Norway can vary a bit in different parts of the country. But there are six essential toppings for a successful pølsefest (hot dog party).

• Kethcup (ketsjup)

• Mustard (sennep)

• Fried onions (sprøstekt løk)

• Raw chopped onions (rå løk)

• Potato salad (potetsalat)

• Shrimp salad (rekesalat)