A series of islets connected to each other by bridges with extreme curves that offer an almost bucolic landscape of mountains, fjords and unusual white sand beaches. They are the Lofoten, the Caribbean of the Great North, where nature is spectacular. In spite of its position, the archipelago enjoys a temperate climate thanks to the passage of the Gulf Stream. Sometimes, the wind blows, but the light is beautiful and almost unreal.
Not only a magical place, characterized by intense and romantic views, but also the center of cod fishing in Norway. Here the smell of cod is intense, a faithful travel companion from the moment you arrive, whatever the season. Everything revolves around cod: cod is caught, cod is eaten, you live and participate in social life also thanks to cod.
It has always been like this, so much so that cod fishing is the source of maximum income for the inhabitants of the Lofoten, who dry them in the air and transform them into "stalks" as hard as sticks (stockfish) in their wooden cathedrals, gigantic racks where the fish has been hanging from its tails since February for several months, depending on the temperature and the strength of the wind. They are an integral part of the landscape. A scenography enriched by the rorbuer (from ror, to row, and bu, to live), the fishermen's houses now rented to tourists, commissioned by King Øystein Magnusson in the XNUMXth century, so that the fishermen could have a place to stay. Before that, they used to sleep under their boats, regardless of the weather conditions. As per Viking tradition, most of the houses are red: the ancient Nordic navigators dyed the external walls with the blood of horses, sacrificed to the god of luck to invoke salvation at sea.
In 1431 the Venetian merchant Pietro Querini, seeking commercial fortunes outside the Mediterranean, embarked on a journey to Flanders, passed Gibraltar heading north and then east, but gradually saw his dream vanish due to a tragic shipwreck. He managed to reach a deserted islet and was saved by the inhabitants of Røst, the southernmost island of Lofoten, where, with the few surviving crew, he was fed and cared for by the natives. He thus discovered that cod was preserved 100 km north of the Polar Circle. Peeled and air-dried for months, the fish became hard as a stick. Querini drew up a memoir of that trip, now preserved in the Vatican Apostolic Library where, in addition to recounting the tragic adventure, he accurately describes the life of Norwegian fishermen, including fishing techniques and cod conservation. They are fish with “little greasy moisture”, he wrote and thanks to the dry air of the Lofoten “they become hard as wood”. Once back, he convinced Venice to undertake an exchange of stockfish with salt, which cannot be found in those parts, starting a thriving trade that continues today. This is the reason why the inhabitants call the characteristic "smell" of stockfish "the smell of money".
Crossing the tiny and charming villages of Lofoten, you understand how everything revolves around fishing: hundreds of fishing boats moor in the canals that in winter unload tons of skrei, the most prized variety of cod from which stockfish and cod are obtained in the processing plants. .
From Å, the village with the shortest name in the world, with the oldest cod liver oil factory in Europe, passing through Moskenesøy, perhaps the most spectacular island of the archipelago, with its peaks of lava rock, overlooking on a very blue sea, the heart of the Lofoten wall with the village of Reine, particularly beautiful for its position just below the summit of Reinerbringen, up to Henningsvær, a village made up of several islands divided by canals. Or Nusfjord with less than 100 inhabitants, on the island Vestvagøya, a small fishing village, resting in a cove, with red, yellow and green houses connected to each other by wooden piers, a Unesco heritage with its buildings in original XNUMXth century wood, a real open-air museum.
Between the end of May and mid-July at this latitude you can admire the midnight sun, but it is at the beginning of winter, when the Arctic night reigns, that the season for skrei fishing begins, destined to last until April. When it reaches maturity, at about 5 years of age, cod spends the winter months migrating to the northern coast of Norway to reproduce and upon its arrival near the coast it takes the name of skrei, which derives from the Old Norse word "skrida" and it means to migrate or wander.
Every year something extraordinary happens: millions of cod make their journey from the Barents Sea to return to the northern part of the coast, where they lay their eggs, thus earning the epithet of "fish of love" and also being known as fish of love. Valentine's day. However, not all cod become skrei, only 10.000 tons out of 2 million. A skrei can weigh up to 55 kilos and measure up to 180 centimeters.
Its goodness lies in the particular temperature of the air, neither too cold nor too hot, created by the south-west winds and the Gulf Stream that runs along these islands: a temperature that allows the fish to dry without freezing or rotting.
It is a low-fat fish with a solid texture, perfectly suited for drying. During the same day the cod is caught, cleaned and without the head. Even children are already very young to become familiar with this tradition: from 7 years old, after school, they go to practice in one of the many fishing factories on the islands, specializing in cutting cod tongues, which are eaten on the islands. breaded and fried in butter. The work is well paid, and many young people, to put aside some savings, continue until it is time to go to university to study elsewhere.
Every single part of the fish is used differently for different markets. Stockfish and cod are made from the body, the liver and eggs are sold separately and the heads, completely stripped and deprived of cheeks and tongue, are exported, dry, to Nigeria, where flavor supplements are appreciated for local foods.
Once dried, cod has no expiration date! The Vikings used it as food on their travels around the world, from which they brought exotic spices, textiles and other goods back to Norway. It was food, but also a bargaining chip.
To obtain the right flavor, the stockfish ages in the warehouse for several months and is evaluated on the basis of quality, weight, length, color, smell and appearance by experts, the "Vrakeren", who classify the stockfish in 20 different qualitative groups from which the market for which the fish is destined will depend.
Beyond the great flavor of its lean white meat, cod also contains many important nutrients, with the vitamins and omega 3s that are extracted to make cod liver oil. The eggs of the skrei can be transformed into a delicious caviar, but above all they are used to prepare mølje, a traditional cod broth that is obtained by cooking all parts of the fish, including the entrails. It is then accompanied with bread and onions. A veritable vitamin D bomb to keep Norwegians healthy during their cold and dark winters. On summer evenings, instead, in front of a wonderful sunset and admiring the midnight sun over the Arctic Ocean, in the small bistros that meet in the villages, you can enjoy thin dried fish chips and simple dishes based on the fresh catch of the day, such as shrimp soup. Always accompanied by the chirping of the seagulls, you can then continue north to the Vesterålen islands in the Bleiksøya nature reserve which, in the summer, is populated by puffins and golden eagles. With a little luck, you can spot a large number of sperm whales attracted by the high concentration of squid that is present, from May to September, in the deep waters off Andenes. Here the smell changes and the horizon is interrupted only by the almost conical shape of Bleiksøya, beyond which the open sea stretches to Greenland. Another magical place.
