January 23, 1904: Aspøya – an Island in Norway’s Ålesund Municipality

Around 2am at the Aalesund Preserving Company factory, a cow knocks over a torch and unknowingly kicks off a devastating fire that all all but decimate the entirety of Ålesund. Like most Norwegian towns of the time, nearly every structure is made of wood; add to this some incredibly strong winds and you have a disaster that will ultimately unhouse 10,000 residents.

Tragedy of epic proportions. An entire town decimated. But all was not lost.

German Emperor Kaiser Wilhelm II had been vacationing nearby when the disaster struck. After learning of the devastation, he played an integral part in helping the town recover. With the help of around 20 master builders and 30 Norwegian architects, the town was soon rebuilt with stone, brick and mortar using an Art Nouveau architectural style.

The town now exists as a beacon of Art Nouveau architecture, as well as one of Norway’s greatest destinations for taking in gorgeous views while participating in a variety of outdoor activities. It’s well known for its wildlife – nesting more than 500,000 birds from April to August – and its spectacular culinary scene.

It’s also a town I recently passed through on my Oppdrag: Norge road trip. As per usual, there was a feast.

Menu:

Cocktail: Scandinavian Sling

Woah.

We each just had one of these bad boys before switching to bubbles. The Scandinavian Sling not only features sparkling wine, but also cherry liqueur (which I didn’t use; I opted for Amaretto since it’s cherry-ish and we had some in stock), bitters, and of course, Akvavit. The only thing not booze in the cocktail is fresh lime juice and a variety of garnishes, which included cocktail cherries, fresh tarragon and an orange wheel.

The recipe includes a version with more “sensible proportion” — that would have been a good call. Regardless, it got our dinner off to a roaring good start!

Hovedrrett (Main Course): Hjortegryte (Venison Stew) med tyttebærsyltetøy og poteter (with potatoes and lingonberry jam)

This was dynamite. We recently restocked our freezer with venison, so I was excited to throw down on something creative like this. Everything about it was so pared down, and I think that’s one of my favorite parts of Norwegian cooking (same goes for proper Italian). I used butterflied venison tenderloin cooked in butter, along with diced onion and a mushroom medley. After making a quick roux, the stew came together with beef broth and just three seasonings — cracked peppercorn, dried thyme, and bay leaves. I finished it off with a bit of crème fraîche and a light cornstarch slurry to give it some body.

The potatoes were lightly tossed in oil, dusted with a few spices, and roasted while the stew simmered. Tasty, though mostly a vessel — they were dynamite once they soaked up that gravy.

And then there was the lingonberry jam — wow. I’ve had trouble finding anything comparable here (I’ve been on the hunt for cloudberries as well), so I was thrilled to see Publix carrying it, imported straight from Sweden no less. I loved every bite of this. If you’re a fan of cranberry sauce, you will be too.

I told one of my coworkers in Stockholm that I’d finally gotten my hands on some Swedish lingonberry jam. She told me she makes her own because her country house is surrounded by lingonberries.

Of course it is — and of course she does.

Dessert: Sitron- og blåbærkake (Lemon and Blueberry Cream Cake)

North Wild Kitchen knocking it out of the park, yet again! What a beautiful cake!

And just like I mentioned with the stew: it’s incredibly minimalistic in nature. No fancy techniques, no freaky baking science. Just straight-forward cake done simply but correctly, layered with a very basic, yet delicious, cream cheese frosting.

Despite being so simple, that lemon juice and zest give this a super-sexy kick. I think my favorite part, however, is how well this presents! It was very little effort, but it looked magnificent on our cake stand.

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I’m a little late to this party because I reached my destination on October 22 and I’m well on my way to the next destination already. A late celebration is still better than no celebration, and without celebration, a major point of this project would be completely missed. It also appears as though I completely missed the entire tracker for this leg, so allow me to catch up:

Road Trip Tracker
Road Trip Mileage	Total Mileage	Percentage Complete
1,284.37	624.7072	48.64%
Miles to Alesund	Leg Mileage	Percentage Complete
93.8271	93.8271	100%
Date	Type	Distance (Miles)
N/A	Carryover	9.1978
8/25/2025	Post-Workout Cycle	3
8/25/2025	Speed Run	1.38
9/1/2025	Post-Workout Cycle	3
9/1/2025	Speed Run	1.36
9/2/2025	Recovery Run	1.3
9/3/2025	Speed Run	1.5
9/3/2025	Post-Workout Cycle	2.51
9/5/2025	Post-Workout Cycle	1.7
9/5/2025	Recovery Run	1.42
9/6/2025	Weekend Run	1.75
9/8/2025	Post-Workout Cycle	3.1
9/8/2025	Speed Run	2
9/9/2025	Recovery Run	2
9/10/2025	Post-Workout Cycle	3.1
9/10/2025	Speed Run	2
9/12/2025	Recovery Run	2
9/13/2025	Weekend Run	2.61
9/15/2025	Post-Workout Cycle	3.1
9/15/2025	Speed Run	1.44
9/16/2025	Recovery Run	2.38
9/17/2025	Post-Workout Cycle	3.1
9/18/2025	Speed Run	2.16
9/22/2025	Chattanooga Speed Run	2.78
9/26/2025	Recovery Run	1
9/27/2025	Weekend Run	2.5
9/29/2025	Speed Run	2.91
9/30/2025	Speed Run	2.01
10/1/2025	Post-Workout Cycle	3.25
10/1/2025	Speed Run	2.37
10/13/2025	Post-Workout Cycle	3.1
10/13/2025	Recovery Run	1.39
10/15/2025	Post-Workout Cycle	4.58
10/17/2025	Post-Workout Cycle	4.52
10/20/2025	Post-Workout Cycle	4.6
10/22/2025	Post-Workout Cycle	4.62

Only 67.1081 miles to Geiranger!

Alltid Videre!

-jtf

This is post 9 of 30 in my most recent attempt at tackling NaBloPoMo. Funsies and such.