Life
International Traveller - Norway's Artic Amour
Norway's coast - one of the longest coastlines in the world - allures and enchants, with a host of sublime culinary and cultural experiences you simply won't find anywhere else. Annie Conley travelled with Hurtigruten to learn more.
How did it take me so many years to make it to Norway? What a place - the first thing I did after I left was to book again.
A week travelling northwards along the Norwegian coast was a feast for the senses. From Trondheim to Tromso passing through the Arctic circle through dramatic landscapes that jut up along the edge of deep fjords with jagged coastlines that hark back to the Ice Age, it's captivating beyond imagination.
Trondheim Norway, pretty as a picture. (Credit: Getty Images)
Not to mention the phenomenal light shows, when the sky is draped with green and purple curtains that move across the canvas of the night. The Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) are on most travellers' bucket lists, and for very good reason.
Yet whilst the scenery above ground is undoubtedly eye-catching, it is in the depths of the deep blue fjords where culinary treasures lay. The stuff of Viking tales, wild shellfish, regal Norwegian King Crabs, huge scallops the size of your palm and cold-water prawns aplenty.
Enjoying a little warmth amidst the Arctic cold. - Aurora Spirit Distillery.
An itinerary that, beyond natural beauty, included visiting people sustainably harvesting produce in extreme conditions, like seaweed being hand plucked from the pristine shores of the Lofoten Islands. Or Kvitnes Gård, a farm-stay restaurant focused on provenance, preserving and pickling their way through Arctic winters.
This is how you survive in far-north Norway - that, along with a good sauna with an akvavit in hand! Brewers, distillers and people working the land, sharing their experiences, are the real highlights of such a journey.
ALL ABOARD WITH HURTIGRUTEN, NORWAY'S COASTAL EXPRESS
Nidaros Cathedral, built in the 12th - 14th centuries, is one of scandinavia's finest (Credit: Getty Images)
The inlets and bays of Norway's coast make it the second-longest in the world (Credit: Trym Ivar Bergsmo)
Trondheim is the perfect starting point for the journey north. Founded in the 10th century by Vikings, it remained the capital from the Viking Age until 1217. A culturally significant city easily explored on foot, treading the colourful cobbled streets of the historic Bakklandet area is a must.
Also worth seeking out is 12th-14th century Nidaros Cathedral, which is renowned as one of Scandinavia's finest churches. The city has become a gastronomic hub and restaurants abound, showcasing the area's celebrated produce: shellfish, game, lamb and seafood. It's the ideal place to explore Norwegian cuisine.
A Lofoten Island 'rebutter' (Credit: Mariell Lind Hansen)
A feast for the senses (Credit: Mariell Lind Hansen)
I stayed at The Britannia Hotel, a recently renovated 5-star hotel with an iconic mirrored dining hall dating back to 1918. Chefs at the hotel's 'Palmehaven' restaurant don tall white toques and gloves - imposing perhaps, but rest assured you will feel completely at ease with their handiwork: one of the most delicious breakfasts in Scandinavia, featuring an array of seafood, pickled herring, smoked salmon, kaviar of smoked fish roe and traditional rye bread.
A breakfast at The Britannia Hotel is not to be missed: non-guests of the hotel are welcome too.
The staggering size of the Norwegian king Crab (Credit: Agurtxane Concellon/Hurtigruten)
Leaving Trondheim I boarded a Hurtigruten ship, The MS Richard With named after the Captain who established the original Norwegian Coastal Express. It's a striking tri-colour vessel, white upper decks emblazoned with a red stripe above a black hull.
Hurtigruten's ships sail from port to port along Norway's vast coastline, and as well as being the best way to explore the coast for travellers, they are an invaluable resource for locals for supplies and communication.
It's really the ideal way to explore these waters: the scenery along the coastline is remarkable, landscapes shift constantly, and it's startling to discover that, after Canada, it's the second-longest coastline in the world (if stretched into a straight line it would circle the earth two-and-a-half times).
The food on board celebrates the produce of the sea, as well as traditional cuisine of the indigenous Sami people. A Sami-inspired lunch featuring the national dish 'reindeer soup', followed by Norwegian meatballs with lashings of lingonberry sauce (I thought this was a Swedish dish, but no; the Norwegians have their own unique version too), all washed down with a local 'Apal' cider.
The food on board is thoughtful and sourced from local farms, but for me the Norwegian King Crabs were an absolute highlight - they're huge, sustainably hand harvested from the floor of the Barents Sea and kept in tanks on board. I recommend the simply cooked King Crab legs and a glass of 'Havets Bobler' sparkling wine.
SAVOURING THE SEAWEED OF THE LOFOTEN ISLANDS
Hand harvesting seaweed on the shores of the Lofoten islands in Norway (Credit:Morten Munthee)
Disembarking on the Lofoten islands filled me with anticipation. A breathtaking drive along the serpentine roads took me through bucolic valleys with towering snow-capped peaks: hiring a car is a must here.
A rocky, verdant landscape that reminds me both of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and Wes Anderson, with little fishing villages home to brightly painted red and white houses (named rebutters). However you describe it, it feels surreal.
Cod is the currency here and driving into the small remote village of Napp this is very evident. The ancient wooden fish-drying racks line the pristine shore ready for the winter months ahead when the skrei (cod) migrate from the Barents Sea to Lofoten to spawn.
It's a living history class, but I'm not here for the cod - I'm here to taste Arctic Ocean greens, seaweed hand-harvested. Angelita Eriksen and and Tamara Singer are the two masterminds behind the female-led business of Lofoten Seaweed. The success of this business is inspirational in the midst of the male dominated fishing industry.
These women have found a way of incorporating seaweed onto Michelin star menus around the world, whilst challenging the traditional norms of their island. Visiting while the harvest is taking place and watching the duo wade through the glistening water in their arctic wetsuits, hair tucked away under beanies holding onto floating bright orange baskets, is a sight to behold.
They bring in two-metre-long pieces of kelp, truffle seaweed (a seaweed that tastes of truffle, yum) and other treasures from the sea meadow. Luckily on this day there is a break in the weather which reveals a blue sky and snow capped mountains as far as the eye can see.
After the harvest, chef Richard Cox prepares a dizzyingly delicious six-course seaweed menu using Angelita and Tamara's freshly harvested seaweed. Macro-algae (seaweed) is known for its rich savoury and salty taste, with a flavour profile that is bursting with umami.
A hand-held snack of crispy sugar kelp atop a smoked wakame emulsion garnished with explode-inyour-mouth algae pearls; fresh halibut wrapped in kelp with whey, bacon and a splash of Norwegian cider (one very good surf and turf); and a creamy whipped truffled seaweed butter with homemade sourdough: all had me completely enamoured.
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