Behind Team Norway’s World Cup campaign is a culinary team dedicated to keeping players fueled, focused, and connected to home. Led by Aron Espeland alongside Eirik Tufte and Christian Karlsson, the chefs brought Norway’s finest ingredients and food traditions to the global stage, proving that great performance starts long before kickoff. Be sure to follow their journey!
Preparing meals for a national team on the world stage comes with enormous responsibility. How do you approach feeding athletes whose performance depends on every detail of their nutrition?
It starts with understanding that food is part of performance. The players train, recover, and compete at the highest level, and every meal needs to support that process. At the same time, it is about more than nutrients and numbers. The food must be safe, enjoyable, and provide the energy they need. A perfectly balanced nutritional profile means very little if the players are not excited about eating the food.
You traveled thousands of miles and brought ingredients from Norway to North Carolina. Why was it so important to recreate the flavors of home for the players during the tournament?
When you are away from home for several weeks, the small things become important. Familiar flavors and aromas bring back memories and create a sense of comfort. We wanted the players to recognize a piece of Norway at the dining table, whether through salmon, trout, brown cheese, or other Norwegian ingredients. It is not only about nostalgia, it is about identity. When you are representing Norway on the biggest stage in football, we believe the food should also tell the story of where we come from.
Food often plays an emotional role beyond nutrition. How do familiar meals help athletes stay grounded and connected to home while competing abroad?
Meals are often one of the key gathering points of the day. It is where players come together, relax, and take a break from the pressure of competition. Serving food they know and enjoy creates a sense of normality in an otherwise extraordinary environment. Food can be an anchor that reminds you of family, home, and everyday life, even when you are on the other side of the Atlantic.
Norwegian cuisine is deeply connected to nature and seasonality. Which ingredients best represent Norway, and why were they essential to the team’s menu?
Seafood is perhaps the strongest symbol of Norway. We have access to some of the world’s finest salmon, trout, and wild fish, and we wanted to showcase that. Norwegian cuisine is also about simplicity and clean flavors, allowing great ingredients to take center stage. By serving Norwegian seafood in the United States, we were not only presenting a product, but also sharing a culture built around the sea, nature, and the sustainable management of our resources.
When cooking for more than 60 players and staff every day, how do you balance consistency, efficiency, and culinary excellence?
Planning is everything. An enormous amount of work goes into every meal long before we start cooking. Even when producing food on a large scale, the details matter. The players need to trust that the quality will be consistent every single day. I am fortunate to work alongside an incredible team that shares the same values. When everyone is aligned around the same goal, it becomes possible to combine efficient logistics with high culinary standards.
What has this experience taught you about the evolving relationship between gastronomy, nutrition, and athletic performance?
This experience reinforced how closely connected these disciplines have become. In the past, nutrition and gastronomy were often treated as separate fields, but at this level they must work together. The best meals for elite athletes are those that are nutritious, visually appealing, and genuinely enjoyable to eat. For us, sports nutrition is not about choosing between health and flavor, it is about delivering both at the highest level.
As ambassadors of Norwegian food culture, what aspects of your culinary heritage were you most excited to share during the World Cup?
We were excited to showcase the quality of Norwegian ingredients and the values that define our culinary culture. Norway may be a small country, but we produce world-class seafood and exceptional products that reflect our connection to nature. We wanted to highlight a philosophy centered on simplicity, sustainability, and allowing great ingredients to speak for themselves. Sharing a taste of Norway with players, coaches, and staff was something we were all proud to do.
Looking back on the tournament, what moments from the kitchen stand out most, and what do you hope the players remember about the meals you prepared for them?
The moments that stand out most are the ones around the table. Seeing players come in after training, sit down together, and enjoy a meal reminded us that food is about more than fueling performance, it is also about community and comfort. We hope the players remember the meals as a source of energy, consistency, and a small piece of home during an intense and unforgettable experience. If the food helped create positive memories while supporting their performance, then we achieved our goal.
If you could create one signature dish inspired by this World Cup journey, what would be on the plate, and what story would it tell?
We would create a dish centered around Norwegian salmon, paired with seasonal ingredients from both Norway and the United States. It would combine Norwegian flavors with techniques and influences inspired by our time abroad. The dish would represent the journey from the Norwegian fjords to football’s biggest stage, celebrating the way food can bring cultures together and create connections through a shared experience.
Aron Espeland, Eirik Tufte og Christian Karlsson.
Foto: Mette Møller
