General questions
At what restaurants has Mike Norton worked as a chef?
Friendly’s, Bonefish Grill, Pizza Hut, and Chic-fil-A at varying times in his life, mostly right before and right after his time in the military.
Where did Norton learn to cook Asian food?
Mike Norton first learned how to cook Vietnamese food from a friend in the Navy he served with.
He then learned more while traveling nomadically throughout four years of living in China, specifically the Shaanxi province. There were restaurant owners he made friends with, as well as mountain villagers in the Xi'an mountains who taught him much about how to survive throughout the seasons in the wilderness.
He then learned more while traveling nomadically throughout four years of living in China, specifically the Shaanxi province. There were restaurant owners he made friends with, as well as mountain villagers in the Xi'an mountains who taught him much about how to survive throughout the seasons in the wilderness.
How does Norton draw Nordic inspiration for the brand’s food?
Upon leaving Asia, Mike Norton spent over six years in Europe. Throughout the process, he researched his own European ancestry and reconnected with distant relatives.
The last name, “Norton,” is actually Old English for “North Town” or “of the northern towns,” which loosely translates to “of the northern tribes,” in Old Norse (specifically, the Norwegian/Icelandic western dialect, different than the eastern Swedish/Danish dialects of ancient Norse).
So, the name "Michael Norton" actually translates to "Michael of the North" or "Michael of the Northern Tribes."
The name comes from his mother within one generation, and directly traces all the back to Danelaw, England, which was a time of Viking rule (a Norse empire of a specific time period and location depicted in the TV series The Last Kingdom, led by King Sitric Cáech, also known as Sigtryggr).
Reconnecting with his roots on both English and Scandinavian soil, he learned how to cook certain traditional dishes along the way from new friends and distant family but innovated his own versions for his own family.
The last name, “Norton,” is actually Old English for “North Town” or “of the northern towns,” which loosely translates to “of the northern tribes,” in Old Norse (specifically, the Norwegian/Icelandic western dialect, different than the eastern Swedish/Danish dialects of ancient Norse).
So, the name "Michael Norton" actually translates to "Michael of the North" or "Michael of the Northern Tribes."
The name comes from his mother within one generation, and directly traces all the back to Danelaw, England, which was a time of Viking rule (a Norse empire of a specific time period and location depicted in the TV series The Last Kingdom, led by King Sitric Cáech, also known as Sigtryggr).
Reconnecting with his roots on both English and Scandinavian soil, he learned how to cook certain traditional dishes along the way from new friends and distant family but innovated his own versions for his own family.
What are the “Milska” drinks?
The term “Milska” is derived from Old Norse.
It has more than one meaning. One meaning is a kind of “beverage,” “mead,” or “alcohol.”
Another meaning is “to mix,” “mixture,” or “fusion,” depending on the conjugation of the word.
Meanwhile, according to ancient Nordic legend, a bite from a special fruit (specifically, the apple of Iðunn) would nourish, heal, and preserve youth.
Mike Norton took creative inspiration from the legend, as well as what he learned of the ancient Norse language, to “mix” a series of “special fruits” while infusing the mixture with isolated compounds from natural sources engineered to provide the drinker with a boost of almost every basic nutrient their body needs in a highly tasty manner.
It has more than one meaning. One meaning is a kind of “beverage,” “mead,” or “alcohol.”
Another meaning is “to mix,” “mixture,” or “fusion,” depending on the conjugation of the word.
Meanwhile, according to ancient Nordic legend, a bite from a special fruit (specifically, the apple of Iðunn) would nourish, heal, and preserve youth.
Mike Norton took creative inspiration from the legend, as well as what he learned of the ancient Norse language, to “mix” a series of “special fruits” while infusing the mixture with isolated compounds from natural sources engineered to provide the drinker with a boost of almost every basic nutrient their body needs in a highly tasty manner.
Why is almost everything from the Norton’s Gourmet brand some kind of cultural fusion?
Mike Norton draws culinary inspiration from his own diverse ancestry and nomadic world traveling.
He believes that fusing random things together en masse destroys classical beauty and good taste, leading to malevolent mutations that destroy cultures.
Yet, at the same time, fusing select things together with care under the correct conditions with disciplined limits can lead to truly award-winning, benevolent, innovative breakthroughs in advancing traditional cultures while retaining their classical beauty and excellent taste.
Mike’s cooking style is a kind of poetry reflecting this belief.
He believes that fusing random things together en masse destroys classical beauty and good taste, leading to malevolent mutations that destroy cultures.
Yet, at the same time, fusing select things together with care under the correct conditions with disciplined limits can lead to truly award-winning, benevolent, innovative breakthroughs in advancing traditional cultures while retaining their classical beauty and excellent taste.
Mike’s cooking style is a kind of poetry reflecting this belief.
Who actually eats the dishes if there is no physical restaurant yet?
The Norton family, for now.
Mike Norton’s kitchens in either Europe or America are essentially culinary laboratories, while his family are the test subjects.
What is currently for sale is the Milska drinks because they can be shipped long distances.
Over time, if we are able to see in our social media metrics that we have developed a sizable following in a specific geographical location, we will absolutely open a brick-and-mortar restaurant to share our family dishes with the world, beyond merely our drinks.
Mike Norton’s kitchens in either Europe or America are essentially culinary laboratories, while his family are the test subjects.
What is currently for sale is the Milska drinks because they can be shipped long distances.
Over time, if we are able to see in our social media metrics that we have developed a sizable following in a specific geographical location, we will absolutely open a brick-and-mortar restaurant to share our family dishes with the world, beyond merely our drinks.
How are the family dishes invented?
The process of trial and error in the continual pursuit of worldly knowledge.
Mike Norton's approach to cultural experimentation is heavily inspired by the Jeet Kune Do philosophy: "Keep what is useful. Discard what is not. Add what is uniquely your own." --Bruce Lee
Mike encourages his family to ignore his ego in criticizing the dishes as he invents them. He continually tries one thing after another with the scientific method, with some dishes taking months to master. Only after he receives a 100% vote of unanimous approval from his family (for both taste and process) does he preserve the recipe and set it aside as their inheritance to keep the new foods from generation to generation hereafter.
Mike Norton's approach to cultural experimentation is heavily inspired by the Jeet Kune Do philosophy: "Keep what is useful. Discard what is not. Add what is uniquely your own." --Bruce Lee
Mike encourages his family to ignore his ego in criticizing the dishes as he invents them. He continually tries one thing after another with the scientific method, with some dishes taking months to master. Only after he receives a 100% vote of unanimous approval from his family (for both taste and process) does he preserve the recipe and set it aside as their inheritance to keep the new foods from generation to generation hereafter.
Are there any African influences in the food?
It depends on the dish, but yes.
There is not much known or retrievable about Mike Norton's African heritage. However, he directly descends from Barbados and, for certain dishes, has absolutely experimented with a variety of different culinary concepts. There is African-American "soul food," and then there is Barbadian islander food that he has been influenced by; a keen tongue can taste subtleties of the islander influences in the seafood dishes.
There is not much known or retrievable about Mike Norton's African heritage. However, he directly descends from Barbados and, for certain dishes, has absolutely experimented with a variety of different culinary concepts. There is African-American "soul food," and then there is Barbadian islander food that he has been influenced by; a keen tongue can taste subtleties of the islander influences in the seafood dishes.
Who is this website's photographer?
For each dish or drink, Mike Norton is his own photographer; these are the highly professionally produced photos used for social media and sales pages.
When speaking of the storytelling of the brand, however, it depends.
You may notice how those pictures are grainier and lower quality. This is because they were not planned photos but happened whenever a passerby so happened to be willing to use a smartphone.
Or, later in the story, about two years past Mike's total four-year stay in the Chinese mountains, Mike's wife operated a camera of her own to document what she experienced.
When speaking of the storytelling of the brand, however, it depends.
You may notice how those pictures are grainier and lower quality. This is because they were not planned photos but happened whenever a passerby so happened to be willing to use a smartphone.
Or, later in the story, about two years past Mike's total four-year stay in the Chinese mountains, Mike's wife operated a camera of her own to document what she experienced.
Food
Are your ingredients all-natural?
Overall, the answer is "yes." However, it depends on how you define "natural."
We use preservatives like Rosemary extract and sodium benzoate at a ~0.5% mixture to ship our fruit drinks.
This is in accordance with FDA regulations.
Sodium benzoate is produced in laboratories, but its core ingredient (such as benzoic acid) can be found in many places throughout nature. Remembering that Mike Norton is a physicist who cooks as a hobby, he leverages either of his two at-home laboratories to fuse natural ingredients together to yield varying, useful results.
Some people may not consider that natural. We do because we don't outsource the production of our food to GMOs and perform the experiments ourselves.
All ingredients we use can be found in nature. We follow a philosophy: "If the average Western person cannot pronounce it, don't use it." And we also follow the philosophy of "If we wouldn't be willing to eat or drink it ourselves, don't sell it."
We use preservatives like Rosemary extract and sodium benzoate at a ~0.5% mixture to ship our fruit drinks.
This is in accordance with FDA regulations.
Sodium benzoate is produced in laboratories, but its core ingredient (such as benzoic acid) can be found in many places throughout nature. Remembering that Mike Norton is a physicist who cooks as a hobby, he leverages either of his two at-home laboratories to fuse natural ingredients together to yield varying, useful results.
Some people may not consider that natural. We do because we don't outsource the production of our food to GMOs and perform the experiments ourselves.
All ingredients we use can be found in nature. We follow a philosophy: "If the average Western person cannot pronounce it, don't use it." And we also follow the philosophy of "If we wouldn't be willing to eat or drink it ourselves, don't sell it."
Are the Milska drinks alcoholic?
Absolutely not.
They are merely a blend of fruit juices infused with a variety of extracts to boost their nutritional value while forming a unique, brand-specific taste.
We also boil filtered spring water for its liquidity to ensure the eradication of bacteria.
They are merely a blend of fruit juices infused with a variety of extracts to boost their nutritional value while forming a unique, brand-specific taste.
We also boil filtered spring water for its liquidity to ensure the eradication of bacteria.
Is your food FDA approved?
Officially no, but we ran our processes for each dish and drink by them via e-mail.
They responded, informing us that we are not legally obligated to perform full FDA testing for our foods at our small business level of operation, but gave us clear regulations to follow. They saw nothing initially wrong with our process that we did report to them.
They responded, informing us that we are not legally obligated to perform full FDA testing for our foods at our small business level of operation, but gave us clear regulations to follow. They saw nothing initially wrong with our process that we did report to them.
Does your brand cater to vegans?
Oh, absolutely.
We care about vegans so much that we have been so courteous as to provide a vegan "safe space" page, just for them! 👍
Click here to view it. 👌
We care about vegans so much that we have been so courteous as to provide a vegan "safe space" page, just for them! 👍
Click here to view it. 👌
How are your drinks prepared for shipping?
All drinks are made fresh-to-order. No exceptions.
We do keep a long-term stock of some core ingredients.
However, when we receive an order for a certain kind of drink, we use those ingredients to create the drinks and then ship them, typically within 72 hours.
We do keep a long-term stock of some core ingredients.
However, when we receive an order for a certain kind of drink, we use those ingredients to create the drinks and then ship them, typically within 72 hours.
Where are your at-home laboratories located?
The primary lab is in Alaska. The other is in Western Europe.
We use PO Boxes for mailing addresses so as not to give away our home location.
We use PO Boxes for mailing addresses so as not to give away our home location.
- 801 Northway Dr. #140504
- Anchorage, AK 99514 USA
- support@nortonsgourmet.com
- Tues- Sun: 11:00am - 3pm | 8:00pm - 11pm - Closed on Monday