Fjords, Farming and a few bites..

So here I am, plunked down in a little village in Norway called Åndalsnes. I'm here to spend the month with my wonderful man before heading on to Copenhagen to perform in the Songwriter Festival - more good people and music ahead - YAY! In the mean time, I'm enjoying the iconic fjord landscape while scouting out local eats and naturally grown fruits and veggies.

Where, in the HECK, you might ask, is Åndalsnes? I'm sure most of you have heard of the Norwegian Fjords - spectacular mountain walls that tower over waterways running for miles from sea to the valley mainland…. Right? If you haven't, here's a picture to give you an idea of what this looks like - we went to nearby fjords (Geirangerfjorden for one) just the other day to soak some of this in.

Geirangerfjorden 

Åndalsnes is one of the administrative capitals in the Northwestern region of Norway (specifically, the Rauma valley).  It's like Lord of the Rings all over again, here. The sheer size of the walls on these mountains is sublime - there's just no other word for the reaction they produce. It's been almost always chilly since I've arrived - somewhere between 50 and 70 degrees - on really warm days, it may reach 75 Fahrenheit, and this is the summer time.. During the winter it is colder and there is plenty of snow.

Let's get back to food - that's why I am writing, n'est pas? While I was on the boat traveling through one of these fjords, the loudspeaker caught my attention - there were small FARMS on these incredibly steep mountain walls. See picture below - that tiny white house is a FARM on the mountain - you can also see the slight field below the house. I got dizzy just looking at the way the houses were resting on a slant.. One story told of a farmer that grew apricots and apples, others had sheep, goats and some cattle for dairy. I'm still in disbelief. Most farms were abandoned in the late 1950s. Living circumstances could not have been easy and were most definitely isolated.

Family Farm on Fjord Wall

Interestingly enough, these mountains are warm enough to grow fruit and not so cold that you can't farm a bit. Cascading fresh glacier water abundantly falls from the mountain walls and flows down the hillsides into the valleys. While contemplating steep hill farms and family clashes within them, I had lunch, which consisted of sheep + goat sausage, accompanied by potato salad and mustard. The sausage was quite strong - earthy in flavor, but balanced out by the sides and mustard (which was slightly sweet). I will try it again before leaving the country :)..

Sheep and Goat Sausage with potato salad

More abundantly grown (and farmed) in the Rauma valley these days (closer to Andalsnes) are potatoes, strawberries (we found some wild ones growing right by the road - see pic below), blueberries (which also grow wild in the forest mountains we went biking through), rhubarb, and most likely others that I haven't come across. Right now I'm just reporting on what I see around me.

Wild Strawberries growing on the mountain trail to Trollstigen

Also well known is the abundance of fresh salmon - which they do also farm in this region (I witnessed one on the way to a nearby village yesterday) and catch wild here as well. The salmon supply has been somewhat depleted in the last two decades due to a virus infecting the fish - which they are trying to fight and restore to the area. Sea Trout have increased in numbers during this time, so there is plenty of that here for consumption.  The salmon here is incredible. I've been buying large quantities of it lightly smoked (lox) from the grocery store and devouring regularly. In the frozen food section you see whole fish vacuum-sealed - pollack, salmon, trout, etc. I will often make lunch with smoked mackerel and tomato on top of fresh bread - sooooo good. 

For now I'll leave you with a common Norwegian dessert/snack they have here, which I tried for the first time on the boat. Don't mind the spoon from my coffee in the background.. :) A slice or two of 'Brunost' - what some would call Norwegian Brown Cheese is stuffed within a folded-over pancake - the type we Americans eat for breakfast. 'Brunost' is basically caramelized goat cheese, which tastes slightly salty and very rich in flavor. A slice alone would be too much, but stuffed in a pancake it is DELICIOUS. 

Svele M  Brunost - Norwegian dessert

And heck, here's a picture of me - happy as a clam on the chilly boat through the fjords. More Norwegian food discoveries and cooking to come!