How taco Friday became Norway's soul food — and why Erling Haaland approves

Tacos — a defining food of Mexico and a staple of American food trucks — have unexpectedly become Norway's soul food. The BBC analyzed how tacos came to symbolize family bonding and emotional comfort in Norway, attributing the trend to the start of the oil industry, supermarket marketing targeting Texan foreign workers, and Norwegians' tendency to localize foods from around the world.

In Norway, families gather every Friday evening for a taco dinner — a tradition known as 'tacofredag', or "taco Friday" in English. According to the BBC, millions of Norwegians observe tacofredag every week. For Norwegians, a meal shared with family every Friday is a comfort food — something that soothes the soul.

Norwegian food writer Helle Øder Valebrokk said tacos are "a state of mind in Norway — the Norwegian Happy Meal," adding that "everyone gets what they want" at tacofredag because each person assembles their own taco from meat, vegetables and salsa.

Tacos have embedded themselves so deeply in Norwegian food culture that the national statistics agency created a "Taco Index" to track the price of typical taco ingredients. Tacos are now an officially monitored item in the country's consumer price basket. Erling Haaland, who emerged as a star at this year's North and Central America World Cup, called tacos "one of my favorite things" in a vlog.

Tacos arrived in Norway — 9,250 kilometers from Mexico City and a 16-hour flight away — in the late 1960s, when oil drilling began in the North Sea. After discovering oil, Norway needed the expertise of experienced foreign specialists to extract it. Oil workers and consultants from Texas were brought in to begin drilling, and Tex-Mex cuisine — a blend of Texan and Mexican cooking traditions from the American Southwest — came with them.

Seeing the foreign workers seek out Tex-Mex foods such as tacos, nachos and burritos, Norwegian grocery stores began importing the relevant ingredients to attract new customers. Today, taco shells, seasoning mixes and salsa line supermarket shelves across the country. From the early days of stocking taco ingredients, Norwegian grocers accelerated market growth by packaging everything into ready-to-use taco kits that made the dish easy to prepare.

Also contributing to the spread of tacos was Norwegians' knack for localizing foreign staples by combining them with domestic ingredients. Valebrokk described the Norwegian taco as "not Mexican, not entirely Texan, but a food tradition that Norway has unmistakably made its own."

Norwegian tacos bear little resemblance to their traditional Mexican counterparts. The typical version features a crispy, hard-fried taco shell filled with ground beef, sour cream, lettuce, onion and salsa for a spicy kick. In northern Norway, where hunting remains common, reindeer meat replaces beef. Along the coast, fillings include shrimp, smoked salmon — a Norwegian icon — or dried cod.

Experts say Norwegians will call almost anything a taco as long as taco seasoning is involved. But Valebrokk argued that Norwegian tacos have not failed to preserve authenticity — rather, they represent a cuisine that has been absorbed, adapted and made local.