Norway’s hotdog obsession

By Xander Brett

If I asked you what Norwegians eat when they’re out and about, hotdogs probably wouldn’t be at the top of your list. Waffles, maybe. Herring, certainly. But surely not a quintessentially American fast-food staple. Well, you’d be wrong. Very wrong, in fact.

A couple of years ago it was reported that the average Norwegian consumes an extraordinary 100 hotdogs per person every year. Walking around Oslo, it certainly appears that statistic holds weight. The signs of the domination of sausages – what Norwegians call pølse – are everywhere. Strolling up Karl Johans gate, a street that cuts its path from the central station to the royal palace, Lars Helldahl and Bridget Mo were tucking into a hot dog each.

Their sausages rested not in lompe – a traditional thin flatbread made from potato, flour and salt – but in a bread bun. The pair had bought their snacks from a convenience store, but Helldahl was quick to point out that there’s an independent hotdog shop in his hometown, and that it’s very popular with the locals.

Photo: Fredrik Ahlsen, Maverix Media, Visitnorway.com

An institution

In Oslo, however, the city’s once ubiquitous hotdog kiosks have all but vanished. The wooden Syverkiosken, which sits just north of the city centre, is believed to be the only independent kiosk remaining. Foliage sprouts from its roof and newspaper cuttings have been stuck around the serving hatch.

“There’ll be a long line by 12 o’clock,” explains Erlend Dahlbo, the kiosk’s enthusiastic owner. It was coming up to 11 am and Dahlbo had just opened for a busy day of trade.

“Yesterday, I sold 700 hotdogs. In January, about 90 per cent of our customers are locals, but in summer it’s more like 50 per cent. I think hotdogs are popular in Norway because they’re hot and fast. In winter, you don’t want to wait long for food,” adds Dahlbo, who took over Syverkiosken from his father.

The institution was founded in the 1930s, and Dahlbo keeps photographs of the stall from almost 50 years ago, a time when there were hundreds of similar institutions spread across the city.

Biting into a sausage in lompe cooked in Syverkisoken’s distinctive home-made broth, I was met with a satisfying knekk, the ‘click’ sensation that’s synonymous with breaking into a good sausage, particularly one of the boiled Wiener variety.

Founded in the1930s, Syverkiosken is believed to be Oslo’s last remaining independent hotdog kiosk. Photo: Didrick Stenersen, VisitOSLO

The options

“Hotdogs have a relatively long tradition as a fast food staple in Norway,” explains Annechen Bahr Brugge, a professor at the SIFO Institute of Consumer Research. Her office sits in a brick building belonging to the Oslo Met University. “It wasn’t, however, until the early 1950s that sales from kiosks became common.”

Nowadays, though Bahr Brugge says kiosks are making a comeback, a good proportion of Norway’s hotdogs are consumed at petrol stations.

Here, you’ll find a range of options. First, you must decide between a grilled or boiled sausage, or perhaps a cheesy ostpølse or a spicy chilipølse. You might choose to top your hotdog with mustard, pickled cucumber or even – brace yourself – with shrimp salad. Yes, shrimps… on a hotdog. Surprisingly good, I can report.

In fact, enjoying an expertly curated hotdog is so important that some companies run hotdog schools, where experts head out into the country to train staff in the art of putting together the perfect product.

“Although sausages are still widely eaten,” Bahr Brugge continues, “Norwegians have become increasingly interested in healthy eating. Turpølse, however, remains an important tradition. Many Norwegians spend Easter in the mountains, where sausages are often grilled over a fire during trips. The same applies to the summer barbeque season, with sausages being a must when grilling in gardens, forests and fields.”

The competition

Of course, it’s not only healthy eating that could spell danger for the hotdog domination. Pizza is a competitor too, and Bahr Brugge says 42 per cent of young Norwegians spend time at a hamburger joint at least once a month, with just 19 per cent of that age group frequenting a hot dog stand over the same period.

Could it be that the young are falling out of love with their country’s staple snack? Perhaps. But there’s surely a way to go until the end of Norway’s seemingly unlikely mass hotdog consumption.