Eat your way through Norway's national day!
Flags, tradition Norwegian bunad costumes, birch branches, and delicious food. It all needs to be in place for Norway's national day, May 17th.
The celebration kicks off with the most important meal of the day: a breakfast, or lunch, buffet! 🇳🇴
The national day celebrations include plenty of food along with parades, music, and festive games.
See what you need for the ultimate May 17th buffet – including recipes!
Roll-ups
Flat bread roll-ups, called lefserull, are easy to make. Favourite fillings include smoked salmon and vegetarian options. You can also make sweet lefse with traditional brown cheese. Mouthwatering!
Fenalår
Salted and dried leg of lamb is a must on May 17th. Fenalår is a cured meat that's Norway's version of Serrano or Parma ham! Serve it in thin slices or wrapped in roll-ups.
Say cheese!
Delicious cheese goes well with salty fenalår and smoked salmon. Norwegian cheeses have taken home lots of prestigious awards and rank among the best in the world. A necessity on any buffet table.
Seafood delicacies
If you really want to impress your guests, serve shellfish! Pepper crab or langoustine add an element of luxury to any buffet.
Pavlova
A cake that has gained much popularity in Norway over the last decade, pavlova cake is now strongly associated with the national day. That's maybe not so strange considering its lovely meringue crust and fresh berry topping, which resemble the colours of the Norwegian flag.
Norway's national cake
A more traditional alternative is the Kvæfjordkake, also known as 'the world's best cake'! Originating in Harstad in Northern Norway, it's even been voted Norway's national cake, giving it VIP access to your national day buffet.
Strawberries
Bright red like the Norwegian flag, strawberries add colour to your buffet. How about a tasty strawberry and rhubarb salad?
Cloudberries
Cloudberry cream is always a festive choice, but with the warmer weather that (hopefully) comes with May 17th, we recommend cooling down with an exotic cloudberry sorbet.
Ice cream
The kids are extra happy on the 17th: they're allowed to eat as much ice cream as they want!
Hot dogs
After a big breakfast you can march in the parade and shout HURRAY the whole day! If you get hungry, refill with a simple yet tasty hot dog, maybe at one of the soulful eateries in Norway's compact big cities.
Rømmegrøt
If the hot dogs don't satisfy your hunger, grab a serving of traditional sour cream porridge, rømmegrøt – a traditional May 17th dish in some parts of the country. This sweet porridge tastes extra good together with cured meat, such as fenalår.
Cheers!
Fill your glass with a refreshing, handcrafted Norwegian apple juice or cider– (the apple juice pictured here has PGI certification from Telemark) and toast Norway's birthday!
Time to celebrate!
HURRAY, IT'S THE 17TH OF MAY! 🇳🇴
Norway's Constitution Day is quite a party!
What to wear?
Many Norwegians wear a bunad, a festdrakt or formal dress, but if you are just visiting, come as you are!
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See our selection of trusted companies that work hard to make you happy all through your trip.
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