>> Funding for this series has been provided in part by the following... >> Up Norway, curates Norwegian travel experiences in the footsteps of "New Scandinavian Cooking."

>> ♪ No, take me home ♪ Take me home where I belong >> Vgan, the full taste of chocolate.

>> Grieg Suites.

Chocolate with apples from Norway.

♪♪ Havila Voyages.

Pure Northern.

>> Ekstedt: Welcome to "New Scandinavian Cooking."

I am Niklas Ekstedt, and today, I'm on the very top of Norway in this beautiful fishing community called Kjollefjord.

To the east, we have Russia.

This used to be the only land border between NATO and the Soviet Union.

To the north, we have the cold Arctic Sea.

It's late summer, and it's the season for haddock and king crab.

♪♪ ♪♪ Kjollefjord is part of the vast region of northern Norway called Finnmark.

Though far removed from Central Europe, all coastal cities here were occupied by Germany during World War II.

When the Germans were finally pushed out by the Russian forces, they emptied the cities and burnt them down to the ground.

Naturally, most people around here had a very positive view of their big neighbor to the east despite Norway being an important member of NATO.

In this program, I will cook fish from this wonderful region.

I will be doing a Nordic ceviche, some crispy haddock, and then grill some king crab, and then finish off with a Norwegian dessert, cloudberries and waffles.

I will now meet the family where three generations are fishermen or hope to become a fisherman.

>> Hello.

>> Ekstedt: Niklas.

>> Leif.

>> Ekstedt: Leif.

>> Jacob.

>> Ekstedt: Jacob.

>> Daniel.

>> Ekstedt: Daniel.

And these are three generation of fishermen?

>> Yes.

>> Ekstedt: Nice.

What's the catch today?

>> Most haddock.

>> Ekstedt: Nice.

Can't wait.

So we're getting on this boat?

>> Yes.

>> Ekstedt: Okay.

Jacob, you show me the way?

>> Yes.

>> Ekstedt: Thank you.

Let's go.

Let's go fishing.

♪♪ The fishermen here fish year-round.

In the winter, they leave in complete darkness, when only lamps on the boats, the moon and the stars provide light as the sun doesn't rise for months.

Many fishermen in the past have fallen into the cold black water and never seen again.

The water is cold, but because of the deep ocean and the gulf stream, the water doesn't freeze.

The line is 2,000 meters... >> Yeah, straight out.

>> Ekstedt: ...straight out like that, and then there's a hook on each... >> Every second meter, it's one hook.

>> Ekstedt: So this is the anchor that keeps the line on the bottom of the sea.

So now hopefully we'll get some haddock.

>> Over here, there are a lot.

>> Ekstedt: [ Laughs ] A lot of haddock, I hope.

Here we go.

Let's see if we have some catch.

Line fishing is a more sustainable fishing technique, and it produces a better product, free from the injuries that fish can get from nets.

Fish has always been very important in Norway, both culturally and economically.

Whoa!

[ Laughs ] So this is a very sustainable way to fish... >> Yeah.

>> Ekstedt: ...both haddock and cod, on line?

>> On line.

>> Ekstedt: Yeah.

>> Very, very good quality on the fish also.

>> Ekstedt: Yeah.

Today Norway's fishing zone covers a huge area, and the Norwegian state has taken a very important role in protecting the sea from overfishing.

That's why the Coast Guard patrols this area, and that is also why the Institute of Marine Research is constantly mapping the sea, checking the health of the ocean and all its habitants.

In addition to haddock, which we caught today, there are several other species of fish in these waters, as well as king crab.

[ Conversing in foreign language ] Woo-hoo!

Look at that.

>> Jacob can throw back the smaller ones.

>> Ekstedt: So they came from the Russian part of the Arctic.

>> Yeah, they came from the fjord outside Murmansk.

>> Ekstedt: Okay.

>> They were put in the ocean in the '60s, and they've been... >> Ekstedt: Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!

Look at that, Jacob.

>> ...crawling ever since.

>> Ekstedt: Watch out!

So when you were a kid, Daniel, you couldn't catch like this?

>> No.

>> Ekstedt: And now they're just crawling around.

>> Now it's everywhere.

They can survive almost everything.

>> Ekstedt: Yeah.

>> Commercial fishing is from 1.6.

>> Ekstedt: Okay.

>> And our best price is from 2.2 kilos.

>> Ekstedt: 2.2 and above.

>> Three kilos.

>> Ekstedt: Three kilos.

So that's a good size.

>> Very good size.

>> Ekstedt: Look at this animal.

Oh, it's extraordinary.

It looks like an alien.

A warrior alien.

In the harbor of Kjollefjord, fishermen deliver their daily catch.

On a good day, and when the weather permits, Daniel can deliver up to 2 tons of haddock and cod.

Every new catch is quality-approved at the fish-processing facility.

The highest rating is marked with a little smiley.

This modern facility also handles king crab, and annually receives about 3,000 tons of fish from over 100 different boats.

That's a lot of dinners.

A great day at sea.

We have some wonderful haddock and redfish on the boat, and I'm going to make a simple recipe, a type of ceviche.

Let's say a Nordic ceviche.

I'm just going to marinate the fish, with the crab as well, and tomatoes and onions, a little bit of salt to that.

It's going to be a great little recipe.

To help me out, to fillet the fish, I have Jacob and Daniel here onboard the boat.

So let's get to it.

Start with the haddock right there.

♪♪ ♪♪ Look at that!

Perfect cut.

As a chef, to see someone fillet a fish like that is just amazing.

See, it's just perfectly cut all the way down through that.

So I'm just going to take the skin off, and then we will dice it down in cubes.

Could you fillet down the redfish as well for me?

>> Yes.

>> Ekstedt: Yeah.

This is a nice size.

When you make a ceviche like this, you want it cooked or, like, marinated on the outside but raw in the middle, so quite big chunks of fish like that.

And then, in the bowl, we're going to add some lemon juice.

Jacob, you want to help me out here?

>> One perfect and one almost perfect.

>> Ekstedt: [ Laughs ] Nice.

Could you squeeze this into that bowl?

How's it going, Jacob?

>> Good.

>> Ekstedt: You can add a pinch of salt as well into that.

>> Salt.

>> Ekstedt: That's nice.

That's perfect.

Two spoons of onions into that.

That's good.

Let's put some more lemon juice.

And then we can open the crab, as well.

Just put a little bit of crab in there.

Chop the garlic.

These are pickled green tomatoes with cinnamon, chili, and fresh dill seeds.

So we're going to put some of that pickling juice into this liquid.

And you can use any pickle juice here, and it's fine with pickled cucumber or pickled vegetables.

It's just important that there's some chili in there as well, because you want this recipe to be a little spicy.

Okay.

How do you eat your crab usually?

Just like this?

Just cooked?

>> Yeah, mostly.

>> Ekstedt: Cooking on a boat.

[ Chuckles ] It's like...

It's a little tipsy, right?

It's like you're a little drunk.

>> [ Laughs ] >> Ekstedt: So we're going to chop this down.

Fish down in this.

The tomatoes.

So now this needs to cure for 5 to 10 minutes.

Then we're going to add the crab.

You can find all our recipes on our website...

Okay.

So we're going to finish this dish off now.

So let's just put the marinated fish in this bowl, and then we're going to top it off with this beautiful, cooked crab.

A bit of dill flower to garnish.

Okay, Jacob.

Next-generation king-crab fisher is now going to taste my dish.

♪♪ He's going for a second bite.

You like it?

>> Yes.

>> Ekstedt: You sure?

>> Yes.

>> Ekstedt: Give me a hug.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

It's been an amazing day.

It's just extraordinary to see the crabs and the fish and...

I just love it here.

Kjollefjord really offers some spectacular seafood.

The haddock and the king crab I've tasted have been incredible.

But the scenery of this place is also majestic.

It is something special about being at the edge of continental Europe.

The northernmost forest in Europe is here, old mountains that crash into the cold Arctic Sea, the midnight sun and the Northern Lights, and a sea filled with fish and crab.

This strange-looking stone formation is called Finnkirka, or Finn Church, where Finn means Sami in Old Norwegian.

The Sami people saw this region as sacred.

When you come here, you must sacrifice something to the gods or spirits.

Today the church is lit up by night and serves both as a historical monument and an important landmark.

I'm going to cook this wonderful fish, haddock, with the gold from the sea here, king crab, garlic, lemon and some pointed cabbage, so let's get to it.

I'm going to start off with pointed cabbage.

It's a wonderful vegetable, and really easy to cook in an open fire.

Just put the whole thing into the fire like that, and it doesn't matter.

It's going to get burnt.

That's the whole point of it and then pan and some butter, because we're going to fry the fish with some garlic, straight into the pan like that, and thyme.

And then this beautiful fish, haddock.

We don't use that much here in Scandinavia, and I don't know why because it's a wonderful, great fish.

And I usually fry fish straight into a cast-iron pan on the skin side.

The garlic and thyme and butter will give that fish great taste, and when it's almost done, we just flip it around and continue cooking it on the non-skin side, and it's a pretty quick way to cook fish as well.

Pretty nice kitchen, huh?

Way up north, and the fjords coming in here.

Stunning.

Then the gold from the sea, the king crab.

I've boiled these for 2 minutes, and then put some cold water on them to stop the cooking, and then now I'm going to give them some color and some heat in the pan, and the butter is also going to give a little bit of flavor to them.

And as you can see now, the fish is coming along quite well and starting to turn white on the sides, and this is a good sign to flip the fish.

The wind is picking up and turning this birch fire into a Norwegian induction stove, so it's really quick here.

So then flip the fish on the non-skin side.

Look at that.

Look how beautiful that fish is.

And then give this crab some heat.

And then now I'm just going to try to catch the pointed cabbage out of the fire and then put that into this pan.

Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!

Hot, hot, hot, hot.

And then as you can see, this side is burnt, so we just take that off.

Put that in here with the crab and some more butter.

Some lemon on there and some parsley.

There you have a pan filled with Scandinavian deliciousness.

There's king crab, pointed cabbage, haddock and parsley.

Just some cooked potatoes with this and dinner is served.

The mountains here are sedimentary and crash into the sea.

It is like a time machine to a forgotten time when Earth was formed.

The spectacular scenery sometimes feels like a foreign planet.

♪♪ Hello.

>> Hey.

>> Ekstedt: Hey.

Ms. Liv?

>> Yes.

>> Ekstedt: I'm Niklas.

>> Welcome.

>> Ekstedt: Thank you.

Wonderful to be here.

And this is, what, an old... >> It's a fish factory.

>> Ekstedt: Fish factory.

>> Yeah.

>> Ekstedt: So this is where the fish came in back in the days?

>> Yeah.

It came in here for production for stock fish or salted fish.

>> Ekstedt: Okay.

Nice.

>> So this is the original production line from the '50s.

Fish came in here to be gutted and cleaned.

>> Ekstedt: Okay.

Okay.

Now, what type of fish?

>> I would say cod, pollock, haddock.

>> Ekstedt: Okay.

Nice.

Some big fish.

>> Big fish.

>> Ekstedt: Yeah.

>> And then in the production line, it would be weight.

And the weighing was very important... >> Ekstedt: Of course.

Yeah.

>> ...because both the fishermen and the people working here were paid by the kilo.

>> Ekstedt: Okay.

Both of them were paid by the kilo.

>> So there would be one man -- >> Ekstedt: Did they ever cheat?

Did they ever put, like, stones in the... >> Well, I wonder.

[ Both laugh ] >> Ekstedt: Maybe sometimes.

>> There was one man in charge of the weighing.

>> Ekstedt: Okay.

>> Yeah.

>> Ekstedt: Yeah.

This is the washing machine?

>> Yeah, for cleaning.

>> Ekstedt: Yeah.

Cleaning.

>> They filled it into this, and then onto the wheelbarrow.

>> Ekstedt: Okay.

>> And then it was cut to the different kinds of production.

>> Ekstedt: So this was an important handcraft.

>> Yeah.

>> Ekstedt: I mean, the people that did this, they really knew what they were doing.

>> They had a lot of knowledge about fish.

>> Ekstedt: Yeah, because if they didn't do it the right way, the quality wasn't good enough.

>> Yeah.

If you cut the head off in the wrong way, if you got too much head or too less head, they would be a lower quality.

>> Ekstedt: So these are the heads.

>> Yeah.

>> Ekstedt: Yeah.

They kept them as well?

>> They were dried also.

>> Ekstedt: Yeah.

>> And the market for the heads were mainly Africa.

>> Ekstedt: And the rest of the fish was sent to southern Europe, like Italy and Spain and...?

>> Mostly Europe, yeah, but also ports in Norway.

>> Ekstedt: Yeah.

Okay.

>> And then here you see, in this picture, they are standing outside, working.

>> Ekstedt: Yeah.

>> And they would do this until the late '50s.

>> Ekstedt: Minus 10 Celsius, working outdoors with fish.

>> Yeah.

Yeah.

>> Ekstedt: They were hard men back then.

>> Hard men.

A different kind.

Made of something else.

>> Ekstedt: [ Laughs ] Yeah.

I'm now on this dock in this amazing fjord called Kjollefjord, beautiful place where I'll show you how to cook haddock.

So I'm going to deep-fry haddock, so a type of fish and chips without the chips.

Instead of the chips, I'll make a salad of fennel, carrot, lemon and some mint.

Okay.

Let's go.

We start with the batter.

This is it.

This is the consistency you're looking for, like lightly whipped cream.

Perfect.

So let that rest for a couple of minutes.

So haddock is amazing white fish with great meat, and perfect for deep-fried fish.

This is a good size for the fish and chip because you want the batter around to be cooked crispy, and then the middle just slightly cooked, almost raw, about.

You want to lightly powder these fish pieces with a little bit of flour like that and then straight into the batter.

Make sure it's evenly spread out onto the fish.

So just let the fish cook in the hot oil, 410 Fahrenheit or 210 Celsius, for 3 to 4 minutes.

All right.

Fish is done.

Golden-brown.

Look at that.

They're beautiful, crispy, nice.

That is perfect cooked haddock.

So with this, I'm going to do some sides.

So usually you do chips or fries, and I think that's a little too much, so I'll do a salad instead and, with that, mashed peas of course.

So I'm going to chop a shallot... and some peas.

Fry these a little bit.

So those 2 minutes in the fire is going to give these peas a completely different flavor.

Okay.

Just a quick blend.

And not too much.

You don't want to puree.

You want whole peas in this so just like that.

That's done.

That's how quick that is and these just back into the pan.

So just these few seconds the peas are in the pan, and the fire is just going to give them so much flavor.

All right.

And then we're going to get to the salad.

So fennel.

So the fennel is a great vegetable.

It has this kind of thick root in here, so we need to take that away, and I'm just going to, like, cut it thin.

It's a really good vegetable, and it gives such a wonderful smell, as well.

Smells of licorice.

Okay.

Some carrots.

Going to slice these thin on the mandolin.

Mint and dill.

I like my salads with a lot of herbs.

Carrots in this, lot of herbs and then dress it with some oil and some lemon juice.

So fresh vegetables, that's really all they need, some oil, lemon juice and salt, then mashed peas, salad with dill, mint.

You can hear the crunchiness when you're picking them out of the plate.

[ Fish crunches ] [ Laughs ] That's great fish.

Now this is a great plate of haddock.

This salad that's freshly cut, with some lemon on it, and the mashed peas.

And then of course the crispy fish.

Remember, you can find all our recipes on our website...

Honestly, this is so good.

I can't wait to get the locals in here to taste this.

[ Laughter ] What do you think about the food?

You like it?

>> Delicious.

>> Ekstedt: Yeah?

>> Very good.

>> Ekstedt: Good fried haddock?

>> With these mint leaves, it's a very special taste.

>> Ekstedt: Yeah.

Well, that was my fried haddock.

Now my journey continues.

♪♪ Despite the fact that we're 71 degrees north, there's still blueberries, beautiful blueberries, and I'll pick these for my Norwegian waffle.

So if the king crab is the gold of the sea, this is the gold of the mountain, the delicious cloudberry.

♪♪ ♪♪ Look at these stone formations.

They're so beautiful.

Thousands of years have just formed this into this beautiful sculpture.

So now I'm going to make these crispy waffles.

It's a very traditional dessert up here in northern Norway.

Two eggs, and then sugar... [ Whistles ] ...and then regular flour.

Here we go.

And then a pinch of cardamom, a little bit of salt, and then we're going to add some melted butter.

Looks nice.

Good spoon of the batter into the iron.

Maybe I was a little generous with the batter.

Scrape that off.

Okay, ladies and gentlemen.

Let's see.

That's going to make my mom proud.

And now these beautiful cloudberries.

They taste like a mix between raspberries and passion fruit.

Pinch of sugar, then some blueberries as well.

And then I'm going to add this Roros cream, which is a little bit like double cream.

Good spoon of that.

And just slowly blend this together.

So I'm going to put these beautiful berries in middle of the plate, and then on top of this, we're just going to put the crispy waffle like that.

Amazing dessert.

Now listen to this, the sea coming in and then... [ Waffle crunches ] Ckkk!

For exact details on our recipes, just go to our website... Mmm, mmm, mmm!

So good.

Well, I think this is a great way to finish off this program -- the beautiful sound from the fjords and a crispy waffle.

Bye-bye.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ >> For more of the "New Scandinavian Cooking" experience, visit our website or Facebook page.

♪♪ >> Funding for this series has been provided in part by the following... >> Up Norway, curates Norwegian travel experiences in the footsteps of "New Scandinavian Cooking."

>> ♪ No, take me home ♪ Take me home where I belong >> Vgan, the full taste of chocolate.

>> Grieg Suites.

Chocolate with apples from Norway.

♪♪ Havila Voyages.

Pure Northern.

♪♪