Trout sleeping in small stream

Last week was fall break for the local schools. So we were invited to a cabin in the mountains east of Gol, a small hour's walk from the nearest road. Our hosts bought the property about a year ago - two small lakes for trout fishing, a small stream connecting the two, and a primitive cabin between. Charming, candle lights could easily be the main source of light - definitely off-grid.

Before turning in the first night I went out to brush my teeth in the stream. Since it was dark I wore a headlamp, and lo and behold - a small trout was sleeping (do they sleep?). If not, then it thought it was safe since it had managed to hide its head!

Earlier, before it got dark, we had witnessed fish swimming back and forth, possibly because we scared them. Alternatively, it was part of the mating. Actually, the Norwegian Wikipedia's entry on ørret says that the name indicates that they swim quickly back and forth over the bed of streams in the mating season.

I produced my mobile and took the picture on the right. The tail of the fish starts near the middle of the picture, with the head under the stone on the top right. Back in the cabin I showed it to the others, and my hosts had never seen this before. So out they went to see for them selves. They even saw that trout have eyes that light up when illuminated by LED-light. It wouldn't be fair to pick them in their sleep. So instead my wife managed to catch two the next day - 470 and 360 grams. Enough for a taste for all of us. We had brought a small smoker as a gift to our hosts, and nothing tastes like smoked trout out in the great outdoors!

I have been robbed!

Last Sunday I was reminded that it was time to harvest nuts from my Hazel shrubs - a pair of spotted nutcrackers were robbing me.

I seem to remember that the thieves of previous years have been eurasian jays. Last year they took everything. But this time I joined the harvesting and managed to secure more nuts than I have ever had before. And still there were more on the shrubs that I let the birds handle.

I don't think I have seen spotted nutcrackers before. They were beautiful birds, and I hope they stay in my area. They are welcome to more nuts, and maybe they will contribute to spreading hazels in the neighborhood.

Applications of EPICS in food supply chain management

I'm presenting at the workshop Applications of EPICS in food supply chain management in Oslo 16. November. This workshop is based around the work done by SINTEF Fisheries and Aquaculture, Matis and TraceTracker (where I work) in the eTrace project. I hope to see you there if you are interested in the use of EPCIS for applications like traceability, sustainability, logistics optimization and supply chain management!

Salami and tomato on lego

This year's topic for First Lego League is "food factor". This means that the participants shall study food quality issues, find ways to improve it, build lego robots to solve tasks etc. And my youngest kid has drafted me to help his team!

The different tasks in the challenge have not been distributed among the participants yet, but it feels like an adventure. At home we started by locating his brother's Lego Mindstorm set, so that we can practice at home. I even took some parts and build myself a salami and tomato on lego. What a treat!

Part of the challenge is to find some candidate food products for further study. I had hoped to find some fish products that carry information about the catch, the vessel and so on, but that proved more difficult than expected. I found one processed product from Domstein, but it contained too many ingredients compared to the limit in the challenge.

It remains to be seen where the project develops, but I hope for a memorable learning experience for the kids.

Agro based clusters and traceability

With the recent ecoli incidents in Europe I suspect it may get even worse for farmers in developing countries to sell their products. German authorities are now certain that it was locally grown products that were to blame, but the average consumer may have become more conscious that it matters where foodstuff comes from.

So what should growers of fruit and vegetables in developing countries do to secure market access?

Last weekend I read a FAO report on Agro based clusters in developing countries. I have become involved in the design of such a cluster, with focus on using electronic traceability for creating product documentation. This solution is intended to support the cluster in creating market advantages through the use of modern export and sales support technologies. But can this also be used to make the end consumer trust the products?

A pilot in the eTrace project had success with using traceability information in the dialog with consumers at the point of sale. According to the fish monger “Instead of selling just a few kilos a day, I sold more than 150 kilos over 4 days. This is a very significant increase for us.”

Can similar effects be expected if flowers, fruit and vegetables from developing countries are equipped with traceability information? And how should it be done, by printing the information on the packaging or by providing links to online solutions like this (in Norwegian)?

Want orders? Then bake cake!

Yesterday, 17. May, was Norway's National Day. Where I was we were blessed with nice weather, and then it is not uncommon to have some cake. This time I tried an alternative to the traditional sponge cake.

Based on a almond sponge, coffee cream, vanilla cream, berries and some other good stuff I "mashed up" this special 17. May cake.

The overall idea was to make something to remind us of our flag. Red raspberries, white cream and blueberries covering the almond sponge with coffee cream ++.

But then there are the risks. Someone might like it so well that they want their own. So also this time - I got an order. Maybe not so surprising really - it was a returning customer.

But it makes me feel like I am pretty good at making cakes when my mother-in-law places yet another order.

Present in the pixels

The eTrace project is over. Just before Easter the project had its final meeting in Gothenburg. The plan was that I should be there presenting How can EPCIS provide faster and more efficient traceability operations and increase the ability to perform precise and reliable recalls in case of food scares. But alas, I had to attend a meeting in the US instead.


But to my surprise I was present in the pixels, as one of the presentations included a picture from a meal we had during that particular pilot in Simrishamn in May last year. And it is me in the picture, using my phone. And the meal was excellent!

Lunch in the land of additives

This was my lunch yesterday.

Yet again I was consulting in Ludwigshafen. With its main industry there I guess it may be referred to as the land of additives, although the range of chemicals produced covers much more than just additives to food and feed.

Looking at the food on my tray I have the feeling that additives were not playing a big role. In fact, I think I should be able to copy the dishes myself from natural sources and spices. The meal was very tasty, and it refuelled us so that we could continue our work efficiently.

Home made cowberry chocolates

Well, Christmas is coming closer and its time I make some gifts. Last year I had some success with home made chocolates with cowberry filling. So I do the same over again this year. The picture shows my mould and a finished product. The mould is a Plastis ice cube tray from Ikea. I line the sides with melted chocolate, mix cowberry with sugar with a immersion blender and put some in the cavity, and cover it over with more chocolate.

I keep making mistakes, because I don't remember last year's mistakes, but hopefully I remember them next year. Anyway, I am happy about the result, and I plan to make a "Ikea style kit" for assembling a bowl with chocolates. Stay tuned!

Marketing with ø

In Scandinavia we have som extra characters in the alphabet, namely æ, ø and å. Sø whåt dø thæy håvæ tø dø with mårkæting? Well, on a recent trip to Spain I stumbled upon Nørdic Mist, a Tonic Water from Coca Cola.



It surprised me to see the ø used in a brand name. So is association with Scandinavia a positive thing? As far as I understand, they never tried to launch this product where the ø is used, although we could do with competition in the tonic water segment. I find Schweppes tonic water too expensive (the price drops significantly if I go to Sweden), so I end up using products from my local Roma Mineralvannfabrikk.

But what about marketing on a larger scale. Well, I'm not a marketeer, but I remember back when I worked for the HPC company Scali (before they were acquired by Platform Computing, the fact that we were a Norwegian company was obscured.

The strange thing is that a later startup involving some of the same key people uses extensive imagery from Norway on their web-page. They may not be shy any more, but they haven't gone all thæ wåy in mixing in thæ speciål lætters.

Tagging in Iceland

A couple of weeks ago I was in Iceland to run another RFID project. The contect was the same as this project. This time we had more tools available, like handheld RFID scanners with embedded software to compose XML for upload to the project EPCIS.


In the previous project we attached the RFID tags directly to the fish boxes, but this time we tried a different approach. The fish was stored on ice in big tubs. These were stored in a cold store, and they were wet. So instead of trying to get a piece of surface that we could fasten the tag, we attached them to handles in the corners of the tubs with the help of some extra paper tags. So here you see me, dressed up according to the rules of the processing company, giving a tub of Sebastes marinus identity.


These paper tags proved to be very convenient. As the project progressed we could take them off, make notes and so on. Of course, had the use of RFID been integrated into the production, then everything would be automatic. But this was a pilot in a type of chain that is not among the first movers. So we had to do a lot of manual operations, and then we could make notes on the tags that helped us fill in the holes in the traceability model later on.

To cover the different roles of traced items we employed both SGTIN and GRAI type RFID tags. The finished products, that were airlifted to markets in mainland Europe, were equipped with SGTINs, while the tubs with fish and similar vessels that were being used in the productions, were equipped with GRAIs. This way the proper XML can decommission the tags, so that they can be reused later without being related traceability-wise to earlier uses.

Lutefisk is upon us

Before I travelled to Iceland for the last week in October my wife served me lutefisk for dinner. As you can see from the picture I have helped myself to potatoes, mustard, mashed peas and bacon, in addition to the fish. It is simply so good. I may be disgusted by all the Christmas decorations appearing at the same time, but lutefisk is simply too good to be missed.

To our surprise even the kids liked it. Maybe we have gotten better at preparing fish meals, or maybe it has something to do with them growing up. Anyway, serving them fish based meals seem to have changed from a duty to a pleasure. Lets hope it stays that way.

Cowberry chocolate from Finland

On a visit to a tax free store on a recent trip I discovered that Fazer, the Finnish confectionery company, has sweets based on lingonberry, or cowberry as you and I like to call these jevels from the forrest. I had to buy and taste.

As you may suspect - I have tried to make something similar myself. Last year I was inspired by a TV program showing the process, and I ended up trying myself. Compared to the ones made by Fazer I prefer my own. But I am not very good at industrializing this type of production, so I guess my price per piece is much higher than Fazer's alternative.

Well, the ones I made last year ended up as Christmas presents. And I plan to to the same this year. So stay tuned for more!!!!!

How fresh is the fish? - revisited

I gave a talk called How fresh is the fish? once. It didn't actually answer the question.

However, things have moved forward. Of course, an experienced fish buyer can judge the freshness of a fish by looking at it, feeling it and so on. But there are other sources of relevant information. For example, the Matis research institute in Iceland has made findings of "undesirable substances" available online. Another, similar resource is Mareano, run by the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research.

Of course, fish moves around in the oceans, but if the fish we buy carried information about where it was caught, we consumers could look up what to expect in terms of harmful chemicals etc. But that wouldn't keep industry from polluting, would it?

Red fish - red fish - red fish

In 2010 Greenpeace added Rose fish to its seafood red list because it is being sourced from unsustainable fisheries. Well, in the middle of August I did some project work in Iceland where they obviously process this fish. I think the ones on this picture were sorted away from production together with some friends.

But I don't think I have ever seen so much fish at the same time. I wouldn't be surprised if the Icelanders could keep us all with fish if they were given the chance, provided of course it was sustainable!

Anyway, given that my hosts keep the project going I expect other Rose fish to end up as EPCs in a EPCIS system before the end of the year.

By the way, in Norwegian Rose fish is called uer.

Whale in Midsund

Eating whale meat is a matter of controversy. But when I grew up it was a frequent type of meal, it was cheap, nutritious and tasty.

So when on vacation this summer we stumbled across whale meat being served in Midsund, as we were driving from Molde to Ålesund.
My youngest and I tried it, and it was delicious. He liked it and I had flash back from my childhood days.

A can of DDT

I found this can of DDT - and it is full of a clear, water-like liquid. If it is the real stuff, I wonder why it was not used. Maybe the warning "feilaktig bruk av dette preparat kan medføre alvorlige forgiftninger og dødsfall" (wrong use can lead to serious poisoning and death) kept the owner from using it.

Discussing my find with other people I discovered that some younger people do not know DDT and its reputation. To find out more I suggest Wikipedia as a starting point.
As I do not want to remain responsible for this pesticide, I have contacted the proper authorities to find out how to dispose of it. One resource I found while googling suggested burying the stuff, but that was an outdated American approach.

I would like to keep the bottle though - it would look nice in a kitchen!

What happened in Simrishamn?

A couple of entries ago I reported the knitted cover on lampposts in Simrishamn, Sweden.

So why was I there? Well, this was one of multiple visits to this fascinating town were I was participating in a EPCIS based traceability project on behalf of TraceTracker. That link just there covers the project highlights (and I'm the one facing the camera in the picture).

Another memorable thing was that I for the first time since I was in my teens had the pleasure of tasting
bøkling. Now I keep asking for it in Norwegian shops, but so far I have not succeeded.