The Pinnekjøtt itself was difficult to eat but delicious. I was tempted to just pick it up and treat it like bbq ribs but I wasn't about to be "that American". I was also told, halfway through my second helping of sausage, that I wasn't supposed to eat the skin and Lene was then jokingly chided for not teaching me how to eat Norwegian food properly. Everyone at the table was a lot of fun and, as you might expect from Scandinavians, their English was flawless so I didn't feel too bad that my presence was the only reason they were speaking it.
The best (and worst) part of the evening came with the drinking. We were given three glasses, one for water, one for beer, and a small glass for aquavit or akvavit. Aquavit is a very, very shoot-able drink which would prove to be just about everyone's downfall. At every opportunity someone at the table would shout out Skål, at which point everyone would be obligated to drink their small glass. Maybe I shouldn't have participated quite as enthusiastically as I did but it seemed like a good idea at the time. I could hardly get a bite of food into my mouth before someone else would laughingly yell Skål to both groans and cheers from our table of ten. Then of course came the dessert wine followed by a glass of cognac to round out the evening. As you can imagine, everyone was feeling very festive by the end and we didn't end up leaving until well after three in the morning. I'm looking forward to my next Norwegian feast, though I'm not sure if the headache I suffered the next day was worth it.
Aquavit, possibly the drink of the devil:
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