Munchies Guide to Norway Starring Maaemo's Head Chef Halaigh

Sponsored by Visit Oslo

Sponsored by Visit Oslo

I have been a fan of Munchies and their productions since the first time I saw an episode. In case you’re unfamiliar with the brand, Munchies is the food channel of the VICE media company. The company which is originally Canadian-based, has since established offices all over the world, including Copenhagen, and now also in Oslo. Some of my favorite Munchies series includes F*ck, That’s Delicious with Action Bronson, Chef’s Night Out, and the series from 2015, Munchies Guide to Sweden. Now, in 2017, the time has finally come for Munchies Guide to Norway! I’ve embedded all five episodes below, with some comments about each segment.

Halaigh Whelan-McManus, head chef at Maaemo and the host of the show. Photo credit: Oliver Jeppe-Hagde / MUNCHIES
Halaigh Whelan-McManus, head chef at Maaemo and the host of the show. Photo credit: Oliver Jeppe-Hagde / MUNCHIES

My Instagram Photos on Display in New York

In late August this year, Munchies, in cooperation with Visit Oslo, Visit Norway, and the Norwegian Seafood Council, invited a bunch of international food writers, bloggers, and influencers to take part in a three-days-long press trip to Oslo. The program included, among other stuff, tasting some of the best seafood Norway has to offer, mushroom harvesting in the forest, getting an exclusive preview of the series, and, as the grand finale, an amazing dinner at Maaemo. Hedda and I were also invited, and honored to be so as the only Norwegians. After the event, I was asked by Munchies if I would like, to represent Norway at the Munchies Nordics festival in New York through my Instagram. Of course, I couldn’t decline such an invitation to portray my homeland. Thus, in late September, ten of my Instagram photos were on display in full scale, for all New Yorkers curious to see more of the wonderful Norwegian food and landscape.

Left to right: Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Denmark in the Nordic lounge of the Munchies festival in New York. Photo credit: Oliver Jeppe-Hagde, Emil Vinther / MUNCHIES
Left to right: Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Denmark in the Nordic lounge of the Munchies festival in New York. Photo credit: Oliver Jeppe-Hagde, Emil Vinther / MUNCHIES

My Instagram photos on display to the left at the Munchies Nordics festival in New York. Photo credit: Oliver Jeppe-Hagde, Emil Vinther / MUNCHIES
My Instagram photos on display to the left at the Munchies Nordics festival in New York. Photo credit: Oliver Jeppe-Hagde, Emil Vinther / MUNCHIES

Episode 1 – From Sea to Table

In the first episode, Halaigh Whelan-McManus – the head chef at three-Michelin-starred restaurant Maaemo in Oslo – is introduced as the host of the show. He travels to the island of Frøya to dive for the Norwegian scallops, which are the best in the world. Then, he goes to Stavanger to visit Norway’s best sushi chef, Roger Asakil Joya, at his one Michelin-starred restaurant Sabi Omakase.

Episode 2 – Dining in Snowy Heights

Halaigh is still in the county of Rogaland (my home county) and meets up with a local mountaineer, Randi Skaug (who has also climbed Mount Everest), to visit the marvelous Preikestolen. She cooks komle for him. I grew up with this stuff! Potato dumplings cooked peasant style (husmannskost). By now, you’re probably, like I was, already hooked by the show. In particular, since Halaigh does an amazing job as a host – being his whimsical and funny self.

Episode 3 – Champion Cod and Deep Dives

In the third episode, it’s all about the cod fish. Halaigh goes fishing and later meets up with Roddie Sloan who is famous for being the main supplier of hand-dived shellfish to some of the world’s most well-known restaurants, including Noma in Copenhagen.

Episode 4 – Northern Exposures

This is one of my favorite episodes, where Halaigh visits the indigenous Sami people of Norway, who herd reindeer for a living. He meets a young reindeer herder, takes part in the butchering of one of the animals, and later enjoys food cooked by the man’s grandmother – including tongue and blood pudding, and all sorts of intestines and stuff that doesn’t look very good at all. In the end, Halaigh goes king crab fishing.

Episode 5 – The City Life

Finally, they visit Oslo, where I live, in the last episode, and, of course, they eat at my favorite restaurant in town – Pjoltergeist. Halaigh also pays a visit to Tim Wendelboe, one of the world’s most renowned baristas, whose coffee shop happens to be my neighborhood café, and he is the man (the myth, the legend) who first inspired my journey into the world of food and drinks.

Here are some moments I caught on camera from the wonderful press trip prior to the release of the series. Present in Oslo these days were among others, Matgeek, Berlin Food Stories, Gastromand, Mikkels Madblog, and OnMyTable. Check them out!

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Feature image: Oliver Jeppe-Hagde / MUNCHIES

Disclaimer

The press trip mentioned in this post was sponsored by Visit Oslo. They had no influence on the content of this article. I received no monetary payment.

Anders Husa

Anders Husa and Kaitlin Orr are food & travel bloggers and creative content creators. From their base in Copenhagen, they operate the largest and most influential restaurant-focused travel blog in Scandinavia.

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