Lofoten Vibe English version

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Contents The Most Beautiful Archipelago in the World // 13 HISTORY An Archaeological Sensation Viking discoveries in Lofoten // 19 Viking Women Warriors and housewives // 21 Thousand Years of History The Fish that Built the Country // 22 The Battle of Trollfjord The Drama in March 1890 // 26 This and that about skrei (cod) A Dear Child has Many Names // 29 Life in the Fishermen’s Cabins In Tight Quarters // 30 The Rookie A rather true story about the experiences of a young rookie during the Lofoten fisheries // 36 Squires & Privileged Merchants // 43 Child Labour In Lofoten, many young lads made their first money by cutting cod tongues // 47 Universal Remedy Cod-liver oil has saved the lives of Vikings and other Lofoten people through hundreds of years // 48 FOLK The Codfather // 51 Stockfish Salad à la Jentoft // 53 Spicy Stockfish Soup // 54 Stockfish Royal // 59 Garlic Grilled Stockfish // 63 Coastland

How the inland villages dominated the Norwegian national identity // 64

Four Seasons in One Day // 69 NATURE The Land of the Midnight Sun Magic for Sun Worshippers // 75 FOLK Happy Campers // 78 Cultural Heritage & Code of Conduct in Nature // 81 FOLK The Hoola Hoop Girl // 84 The Maelstrom Jules Verne’s and Herman Melville’s Stories about Moskenesstraumen // 86

Contents Bird Cliffs & Food Supply // 91 Sea Eagle When the tough guys from Værøy caught eagles with their bare hands // 94 FOLK The Women from the Sea // 99 Seaweed Salad // 100 Butare Pesto Buns // 102 Clean Up Lofoten // 106 Baaaa … World Class Lamb // 109 Lamb & Cabbage Gyoza // 110 Lamb Shank // 113 FOLK The Chef // 114 Salmon the Modern Way

A local – and national – food treasure // 116

Shellfish Salad à la Hallstensen // 118 Polar Night The rumours about the polar night in the north are exaggerated // 122 Fiskekrogen’s Seafood Stew // 129 Lofotpizza // 130 Northern lights Facts // 135 Northern lights Superstition // 138 Beacons & Cairns Cultural Heritage at Risk // 143 Christmas Food Lamb Roll // 147 Christmas Food Caramel Pudding // 148 CULTURE The Caviar Factories

And the Founder who Revolutionized the Breakfast Table // 155

KAVI FAC ORY // 156

An ART museum off the beaten track

FOLK The Art Collector // 159 Drama in Open Sea

How a Nobleman from Venice shipwrecked at Røst in Lofoten // 161

FOLK The Prima Donna // 165 From turskr to Stockfish // 166

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Contents Hard Stockfish Facts // 168 Bacalao à la Johansen // 170 The Taste of Lofoten More Than Stockfish and Lamb // 173 Tempting Food for a Packed Lunch Cheese // 177 To be enjoyed Outdoors Vestfjord Salad // 179 What’s up? A Guide to Festivals in Lofoten // 180 ADRENALINE The World Cod Fishing Championships // 185 Fish Cakes from Lofoten // 187 Fish Soup from Nusfjord // 189 FOLK The Fisherman // 190 Sailing Along the Coast // 192 Mountaineering At all times, people have been drawn by an urge to explore the extremes // 199 Stairway to Heaven Climbers from all corners of the world get together in this archipelago // 205 Nature’s Pantry And a Little Superstition // 215 Summer Salmon from Skrovabrygga // 216 The Arctic Triple A test of strength in raw nature // 220 Wonder-full The unspoiled and colourful world under the sea // 229 FOLK The Photographer // 231 A Wet Dream

People flock to the surfing beach at Unstad from Hawaii and Australia // 233

The Wet Element

Seeing Lofoten in a kayak is an adventure second to none // 237 Climbing the Peaks Freedom high up // 241 Photo Credits // 247 References // 248 Acknowledgements // 251 Photos on Demand // 254

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the most beautiful

archipelago in the world An outpost in the periphery and an outskirt in the outskirts Outer side and inner side // Past and present Vikings and rune stones // Stockfish and cod-liver oil Blue-black mountains and beaches white as chalk Desperate poverty and inconceivable riches Seagulls and cormorants, puffins and sea eagles Relocating and rebuilding // Fishing boats and sailing ships // Rookies and sea dogs Fish waste and sweat // Desire to travel and longing for home Piety and fear // Midnight sun and northern lights Dreams and iron will // Pioneers and stewards Explorers and investors Surfers and road-racers // Decay and renewal Chef’s table and fish cakes on the go Visitors from afar and local residents // Past and future

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Up to 30 000 visiting fishermen and thousands of casual workers created teeming crowds during the Lofoten fisheries in the past. During the hectic ­winter months, life in the small fishing villages could be ­compared to the carnivals in countries further south.

Thousand years of history It has been estimated that the Lofoten fisheries could be at least 1000 years old and historians believe that it was the Vikings who first started to dry the fish on racks and then transport it to Europe. In the 1100s, King Øystein started to build fishermen’s cabins (rorbuer) in order to be able to catch more fish. Already then, the Lofoten fisheries were very important for Norway’s economy.

The stockfish trade was the most important source of income for the Archbishop.

It was, however, in the 1800s that the Lofoten fisheries had its real heyday and 1895 was the year of the big records. 37 200 fishermen rowed in the Lofoten fisheries that winter, spread over 7700 boats. In addition, there were several thousand workers in the receiving end on land in the fishing villages. All in all, they caught a total of 123 520 tons of fish!

The population in the small villages in Lofoten multiplied from the middle of January to the middle of April every year. In addition to thousands of visiting fishermen, there were just as many casual workers, peddlers, cooks and eatery hosts, merchants from Christiania and ­Berlin ­­dressed in the correct attire, fish buyers from Bergen and the Møre-towns on Norway’s west coast, as well as ­liver and roe buyers. In the lively villages you could also find photographers, watch­makers, ­musicians, theatre troupes, acrobats, prostitutes and craftsmen who wanted to make ­money on affluent fishermen. Extra reinforcements of police, medical doctors, clergy and judges also ­became necessary. This was required in order to arrest “so-called maids and idle hands, drunks and d ­ isorderly folk” who caused disruptions in the small fishing villages.

Before the Lofoten fisheries started, it was important for the fi­ shermen to have what they called “godt haill”. This meant that the husband ­enjoyed himself a bit extra with his wife the evening before he went fishing. This would bring good luck in the fisheries, they believed.

Also today’s fishermen are said to hold on to this tradition.

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In 2007, Lofoten Masters was organized for the first time by local enthusiasts and surfers at Unstad. This is the world’s northernmost surfing competition and every autumn, several international competitors arrive at this small spot on the world map. During the finals some years ago, the surfers had an ­unexpected visit from a herd of orcas!

a wet dream

Unstad is a small village in a ­partly isolated location at ­Vestvågøy in Lofoten. The bay is surrounded by several hundred metres tall mountains that slope down to a large, white sandy beach and turquoise, clear water.

This outpost has managed to ­become the surfing paradise of the north. The combination of the bottom conditions in the bay and the location by the big, open sea is perfect for world class waves. Surfers from all over the world flock to this place, even from Hawaii! But Lofoten has an Arctic climate, so the ­Hawaiian shorts can safely be left at home.

Whether you surf in the magic midnight sun or under the dancing northern lights, you will always need a 6 mm wetsuit.

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°C

Lofoten is situated off the west coast north of the Arctic ­Circle

at the 67th and 68th latitude. This is as far north as Alaska, ­­Greenland and Siberia. While the temperature a winter night in Ojmjakon in Siberia may reach minus 50 °C / minus 58 °F (­the lowest temperature that has been measured is minus 71,2 °C / minus 96 °F), and the thermometer at Nuuk on Greenland may show more than 25 blue ones (-13 °F) in February, the climate in Lofoten is much milder. During winter, the average temperature is around 0 °C / 32 °F. We can thank the Gulf Stream for that.

Because of the Gulf Stream, the ocean surrounding L ­ ofoten is about four–six degrees warmer than the Barents Sea. This is a perfect temperature for spawning, and it is the reason why the skrei (cod) comes back here year after year. From the middle of February to the beginning of April, the temperature is optimal for the drying of fish. This is when the drying racks in the ­fishing ­villages are full of skrei, coalfish and cusk. It should not be too cold, because then the fish will freeze, nor too warm, because then the fish will go sour. Nor too wet. After a long period of rain, a l­ocal humorist said it had been so wet that “the stockfish ­revived and jumped down from the racks”.

In the summer, the thermometer can rise to 30 °C / 86 °F on a very good day, but it is not unusual to see it come down to a couple of degrees (35 °F), even in June.

In Lofoten, you may experience all four seasons in one day, the locals say. Horrible weather and rain, grey and fog, gale and snow, sun and wind; all during half an hour.

The sea temperature for surfers and swimming enthusiasts rarely reaches higher than 13–14 °C / 55–57 °F. In the winter, the sea temperature can come down to 3–4 °C / 37–39 °F. The sea is at its coldest in the beginning of April.

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To see Lofoten only from the mainland is like eating sweets with the wrapping paper on.

PE OP LE

People find each other in the most whimsical ways. Two young island women, each from a ­different outskirt of the globe, met when studying physiotherapy in Australia. Angelita

Eriksen

was born and raised in a remote village in Lofoten and had seawater in her veins. As a child – like so many other children in the area – she was cutting cod tongues for the family’s fishing industry.

On the other side of the world, in New Zealand,

Tamara Singer

also grew up by the

sea. Her love of seaweed started early, thanks to her Japanese mother, who added some of this ­superfood from the ocean to almost all the family meals.

After ten years of friendship, they both gave up their big city lives and moved north. Angelita was homesick. Tamara moved because of love. (Angelita had introduced her to a handsome man from Lofoten.)

Seaweed grows in abundance throughout the Lofoten islands. But, unlike on Iceland for instance, nobody had yet fully realized the potential. This was now about to change quickly. The two girls were inspired by the natural resources around them and a short time after they arrived, Lofoten Seaweed was a fact. Tamara and Angelita went to Ireland to learn about the harvesting and drying of sugar kelp, dulse, nori and butare (kelp). Soon, the feather-like butare and the nourishing dulse (The Vikings used to eat this as a snack with a drink of mead a thousand years earlier, and this prevented them from getting scurvy.) were harvested at the rocky shores by the open seaside and transformed to a tasty salt. Sugar kelp adds the popular umami taste to the seafood, which local and international chefs so appreciate. And this is only the beginning.

Tamara and Angelita talk passionately about the qualities of seaweed as a superfood and their plans ahead. This is the food of the future, packed with vitamins and useful nutrients.

In contrast to the big city lives they lived before, now every day starts with a quick RIB tour towards the open sea. Dressed in wetsuits, the girls and their helpers handpick the wild seaweed.

Back on land, they rinse it and then it is dried for at least 24 hours, before it ends up in a soup or on a delicate piece of fish. Or in a seaweed salad tasting heavenly, based on one of Tamara’s family recipes.

seaweed Salad // Serves 2 15 gr / 0.5 oz dried butare seaweed 30 gr / 1 oz glass noodles ½ cucumber 2–3 teaspoons salt 24 prawns, peeled

Dressing 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar 2.5 teaspoons mirin (rice wine), (can be replaced with 1 tablespoon dry sherry, vermouth or white wine mixed with a little sugar) 2.5 teaspoons sugar ¼ teaspoon salt 4–5 drops Japanese soya 3 drops sesame oil (optional) ½ teaspoon ichimi togarashi (Japanese dried pepper) alternatively ½ small red chilli finely chopped thin slices of red chilli for decoration

Cut the cucumber into thin slices, put them on a plate and sprinkle evenly with salt.

Leave it for 5–10 minutes. Put the cucumber slices in a colander and rinse off the salt.

Use your hands to squeeze out the water from the cucumber slices and leave them to drain.

Boil the seaweed in water for 12 minutes.

Rinse off the water through a colander and rinse with cold water.

Boil the glass noodles, following the instructions on the packet.

Mix the ingredients for the dressing. Adjust the taste with salt, pepper and a little lemon juice, if you prefer.

Mix together seaweed, noodles, cucumber and prawns in single bowls or on a serving dish. Pour over the dressing and decorate with chilli.

“In my childhood, my Japanese mother served me this dish in beautiful porcelain bowls.”

Tamara Singer, seaweed enthusiast

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If Bach is in heaven, it is he who composes the northern lights.

Lars Saabye Christensen