Northern Norway: as fresh as it gets

Text: Mikael Lunde

In Northern Norway, local food is in abundance.

Northern Norway is home to more than just iconic islands and islets, breath-taking fjords and a rugged coastline. Its Arctic waters, kept clear of ice by the Gulf Stream, provide the perfect breeding ground for the fish and seafood that the country has become renowned for.

This part of Northern Norway is scarcely populated apart from traditional Sami reindeer herders, snow scooter adventurers and the occasional mushers’ tents during marathon dog sledding races.

As you travel inland away from the coast, you’ll find reindeer and moose, rivers full of fish and a wide variety of berries, junipers and chives growing wildly – all inspiring the tastes of the local cuisine.

At dozens of ports along the coast of Northern Norway, local suppliers are delivering their catch, prey and produce to the traditional passenger liner Hurtigruten.

“We have more than 200 suppliers of fish, meats, produce and other local ingredients that we meet en route. There is usually something at every port,” says Jimmy Westberg, head chef at MS Midnatsol – one of 13 ships in the fleet.

For well over a hundred years Hurtigruten has transported passengers along Norway’s dramatic coastline from Bergen and all the way to Kirkenes near the Russian border and the Barents Sea. It’s one of the most popular ways to experience the region.

In port in Tromsø, one of the most popular restaurants is called Emma’s Drømmekjøkken, meaning Emma’s Dream Kitchen. “Because she is a dream woman,” says the owner, Anne Brit Andreassen.

Emma is her alter ego. But she is also the idea of someone’s grandma or aunt – someone loving who puts their heart into the food they prepare. Their signature dish was really just intended as lunch for the employees – the house gratin with white fish, macaroni and prawns in béchamel sauce, bacon, raw vegetables and potatoes.

A favourite spot for the Norwegian Queen, this place is elegantly casual.

The latter lies in the Lofoten archipelago, about a day’s sailing south of Tromsø. This is one of the most stunning areas that Hurtigruten passes through, which says a lot. With mountains rising from the sea, Lofoten is a great place for outdoor adventures, wildlife safaris and extreme sports.

And food. In the local kitchens – like Børsen Spiseri, that has been on the same premises since 1828 – the tastes of the sea have been refined through innumerable generations. We are served steamed stockfish filet on a bed of carrot stew, with egg butter and potatoes, topped with Serrano ham.