Thursday, December 8, 2011

Norways food crisis and chocolate ginger biscotti

Chocolate ginger biscotti
Food Diary (December 08, 2011)
Breakfast: Rolled oats with raisins, coconut, sunflower seeds and flax seeds
Lunch: Fish stew
Dinner: Mushroom and caramelized onion risotto

Sometime ago I made chocolate ginger brownies. Chocolate and ginger is not a very common combination but it worked so I decided to try the same combination with a biscotti. It worked again.

This was my first attempt at making biscotti. When searching for recipes and reading reviews I noticed that generally speaking there are two contrasting opinions on biscotti. The majority seem to be fans while a minority think it is a teeth breaker. I must say I was a little concerned that I might fall in the teeth breaker category, but thankfully I did not. The texture of the biscotti was perfect and addictive. It was light and crispy. 

The chocolate ginger biscotti has polenta. Using polenta in biscotti's is uncommon, as a matter of fact I only found one recipe and that was created by Giada De Laurentiis. Polenta added graininess or grittiness to the biscotti. I liked it. The recipe is available here.

Today's Favourite Photo
New England Fish Pie

Today’s Favourite Blog
Source: Reuters
A food crisis is looming in Norway, and the impact could be beneficial, depending on whether you think butter is healthy or not. Norwegians are running out of butter and prices have shot through the roof. That possibly means eating less butter, and this may not be such a bad thing.

The popularity of "low-carb" diets and emphasis on higher intake of fats partly explains why Norwegians have eaten up the country's entire stockpile of butter. According to TINE, the country's biggest farmer-owned cooperative, sales increased 20 percent in October and 30 percent in November. With Christmas just around the corner, shortage of butter could mean a rather bleak Christmas.

There is plenty of butter in neighbouring Denmark but Norway’s high import duties will prevent butter from crossing the sea. Its not uncommon for people to cross the border for shopping, not just in Scandinavia but throughout Europe. The most popular item is probably alcohol. Alcohol is expensive in Norway, like everything else, but this time Norwegians will be stocking up on butter. I never imagined this happening.

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14 comments:

  1. I absolutely loved Sue's photo of the fish pie as well. I've never even heard of a pie like that before and I've thought of it several times since then. YUM.

    Your biscotti looks awesome as well. Nice job!

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  2. I love the look of these cookies. I would probably sit at the table, staring at the pattern. I am sure, once I take that first bite, I would love it.

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  3. I like biscotti (choc chip or nutty ones are my favourite) but I like dipping it in a cup of tea so that they aren't tooth breakers :)

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  4. Love the lines in the biscotti!

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  5. What awesome biscotti, just gorgeous. A dunk in a cup of coffee takes care avoiding broken teeth. Weird about the butter.

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  6. Zebra biscotti! So pretty! As long as it's ground and nto crystallised ginger, I'm in.

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  7. Getting fancy in your creations .... nice! Bi-colored Biscotti, looks real good!
    That fish pie looks droolicious. I've been looking for a good, a little away-from-the-norm fish pie ... this is it!! Thanks for the find.
    Running out of butter? Heaven forbid! Thank goodness I'm over here, plenty to go around... and during cookie season too. Oh woe is them!

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  8. I am really impressed by those biscotti!

    Ciao
    Alessandra

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  9. As someone who is not a biscotti fan, I must say yours look and sound excellent. In fact they look so attractive, I would love to taste them and see if my teeth don't break ;-)
    Crossing the border to grocery shop is something I know very well. I do this every week. Sadly, it's not only because of the price but also because of the variety and quality. Although I buy Japanese products and seafood in Switzerland.
    Norwegians seem to be crazy for the low-carb diets. According to many doctors, these can seriously damage our health when practised in extreme ways... I hope they will not be forced to cook with margarine for Christmas!

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  10. The combination of chocolate and ginger is odd but definitely one of my favorites! Need to try these biscotti!

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  11. I love love love the idea of chocolate and ginger. Biscotti is so versatile and these flavors go perfect with it! Awesome

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  12. Mary: that pie does look unique

    Bookcasefoodie: thank you

    Lorraine: that’s a good strategy to protect teeth in case of teeth breaker biscottis

    Yummychunklet: thank you

    Cheap Ethnic Eatz: thank you

    Hannah: it is ground ginger

    ping: yes, trying my hardest. Brain is working overtime, I can see smoke coming out of my ears:)
    That fish pie is delicious looking.
    Looks like some Norwegians may be forced to have a healthier Christmas, assuming butter is unhealthy which may not be the case

    Alessandra: thank you

    Sissi: thank you, these were definitely not teeth breakers. I checked my teeth, all there and still intact:)
    Lucky that you are living close to the border, you have more choices, especially since the countries are quite different.

    Joanne: it is odd but delicious

    Kitchen Belleicious: thank you, I only just discovered biscotti. They are very versatile

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  13. As long as there's no shortage of alcohol!

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  14. that biscotti looks amazing, love those stripes

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