Norwegians have … peculiarities. Some highlights: Roof boxes, cross-country skis, brown cheese, and The Rainmakers.

Norwegians are the world champions of the roof-top cargo box

Thinking of becoming Norwegian? Here’s your starter pack:

(Source: Calix Nordic Loader Premium Sort blank )

Everything here is correct: Roof box, station wagon — probably diesel — and cross-country skis.

Which brings us to item number two:

(Source: Langrennsski: Her har vekten din mye å si - KK)

Nobody wears these things more than Norwegians. Cross-country skiing is for Norwegians a marker of moral rectitude and self denial. It’s just something you do, even if, at least for some of us, it’s a tedious and repetitive activity. If you don’t have a pair and at least use them every once in a while, there’s something suspiciously decadent about that — especially if your only skiing involves something fun, like being hauled uphill by machinery and then enjoying the way down. You’re supposed to suffer a little.

Not so with sweet, smooth, and delicious brunost, Norwegian brown cheese. Not an actual cheese but caramelized whey, it is everywhere in Norway — in every fridge, on every store’s shelves, however tiny, in multiple varieties, and on slices of bread in every matpakke — brown-bag lunch — and kantine — your cafeteria at work — across the long and gnarly nation. Goes well with butter and whole-grain bread, on Norwegian waffles, or in sauces and gravies.

(Source: Test av brunost: Ikke bare usunt)

Finally, though not technically a product but a band: The Rainmakers.

(Source: https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-rainmakers-mn0000488140)

The Rainmakers were huge in Norway in the late eighties and nineties, way out of proportion to their popularity elsewhere — including in their hometown of Kansas City, Missouri. They’re among a small, elite group of artists and bands that seemed to have been way bigger in Norway than anywhere else, including Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen. I can’t explain it. It just is.

Runner up: The engangsgrill, the disposable grill, which shows up everywhere people congregate as soon as the temperatures exceed freezing.

(Source: http://picssr.com/tags/engangsgrill/interesting/page3)

Runner up to the runner up: “Grill seasoning”, grillkrydder, on your French fries. It’s everywhere. And also quite good.

(Source: POTETER OPPHØGDE M/POMMES KRYDDER 450G - quickhandel)

I could also mention lutefisk, dried cod — stockfish — reconstituted in a solution of lye and water, but it wouldn’t be accurate to call it popular. It’s more like a tradition some people like to honor. Likewise akevitt, aquavit — a Scandinavian liquor flavored with caraway seeds. It’s an acquired taste some people actually enjoy but most force themselves through around Christmas time, so we can’t exactly call it popular.

Finally, salt licorice. Not actually salty but fortified with sal ammoniac — ammonium chloride — it’s another unusual but very popular taste in Norway. We have that in common with the Dutch, Danish, and Swedes, though, so I can’t rightly claim that for this answer.

Footnotes