Scan Magazine | Special Theme | A Taste of Norway
Where customers, animals and guests are all VIPs Bakken Øvre, a farm located at Løten in Norway, is famous for making ‘pultost’ and other traditional farm products such as pork, beef, milk and eggs. At this farm, however, a strong entrepreneurial spirit has led to brand new ways of making a living. Excess cream has become a prize-winning ice cream flavoured with aquavit. Locally sourced delicacies are part of a flexible catering service. The farm’s freerange pigs have their own hotel – and if that was not enough, human guests can now spend the night to connect with the animals and the surrounding nature. By Eirik Elvevold | Photos: Bakken Øvre Gårdsmat
Ever since Ole Martin Kildahl’s ancestors bought Bakken Øvre in 1847, the farm has stayed in the family. Back then, it was called Dunderbakken Øvre, named after a nearby creek that made loud noises when the snow melted every spring. “Much has happened since those days. First of all, the farm has grown in size, little by little. Today, it measures 64 | Issue 97 | February 2017
550 decares. 200 of those decares are open pasture, with 60 dedicated solely to free-range pigs,” says Kildahl. He now runs the farm, which is full of animals of all shapes and sizes, with his wife Anita, his son Ole Kristian – who became Norway’s youngest cattle farmer a few years back – his three daughters and a hired staff.
“Together, we produce dairy products, all types of meat, eggs, run a catering business and a whole lot more. The core of our business is hard work, but we’re lucky to be living in such a great community of local producers, where people are not afraid of working together and helping each other out,” says Kildahl.
Traditional ‘pultost’ and awardwinning ice cream In 1980, the family started producing ‘pultost’ – a traditional, soft, matured Norwegian sour milk cheese spiced with caraway seeds – which is best served on freshly baked bread or flatbread. “We separate the skimmed milk from the cream and put it to acidification. The next step is to heat it up to about 60 degrees,