Turtle Soup and Water Porridge: Some Social and Cultural Perspectives on Food Habits in the City of Oslo, 1860–2000

Abstract

This chapter observes the evolution of food habits in the city in the upper and lower social classes over the last century, and examines the impact of social class on food and consumption changes in Oslo. Historical references and ethnographic material about food habits in Oslo between 1860 and 1980 provide contrasting ways of thinking about food culture, with the urban elite on the one hand and the working class on the other hand. Until the First World War there were very few changes in food habits and little mutual contact between different social classes. Turtle soup, potage chasseur la Bohmienne or Jambon de Bayonne la gele are some expressions which perfectly reflect the type of vocabulary and foodstuffs of the urban upper class. Festive dishes were based on more butter, soup, some pork products and rice porridge.