COD FISHING

We have eaten a LOT of very good meals whilst we've been away... most of them involving fish!  If there has been a specialty in an area, we've tried to sample it.

Last night we tried 'stockfish'; a traditional fish meal made from the main income provider of this region.

 As we made our way south in the Lofoten, we'd noticed more & more fish drying racks, often on hills or rocks, where they could get a good air flow.
Some had been empty....

 ...and some had been in use! Regardless of whether they were in use or not, there has been a rather distinctive smell in the region as well!

 Therefore, the natural thing for us to do today was to go to a former fish  processing warehouse, which now houses the Lofoten Stockfish Museum!!
It was located in the pretty fishing village of  Ao, which we enjoyed having a stroll around before the museum opened.

 Inside we had a bit of a treasure hunt style of museum experience.  We were given a very informative pamphlet that described what exhibits were in numbered paragraphs.  We just had to find the numbers on the exhibits to match the paragraphs.  Not always easy as they weren't in any recognisable order, but it did make us more observant!
We had a few burning questions; what was the difference between clipfish , saltfish & stockfish? And what were the fish heads we'd seen drying on racks used for?

When fish, mainly Cod, are caught they go through the same initial process.  Things change when they get sorted! The biggest fish spend 3 weeks being cured by salt, before being exported as 'saltfish'. Some of those saltfish, however, then get the air-drying treatment, are hung on racks & are then referred to as Clipfish! (Portugal REALLY likes these!!

 For the cod that are not as large, they are strung together in pairs & hung outside on drying racks for 3-4 months before being bundled & exported.

 Countries like Italy, France, Spain & Portugal are big importers of the fish in those 3 categories, but the fish heads really surprised us.  They get dried & sent to Nigeria where they are boiled up with ground fruits and vegetables for a high protein meal!

We were astounded to hear that the nutrient value in a dried fish is 5 times greater than in it's fresh counterpart.  These fish are from deep, cold & clean waters so are very healthy to eat.  They are also valued for their flavour & texture.
I'm not sure why. 
In my opinion the texture wasn't very pleasant & the flavour was bland.  I was very grateful that our taste of stockfish had the addition of a white wine sauce, lots of different veges & bacon bits on top!!

 We were very impressed with this little museum, which managed to keep us interested whilst imparting a lot of information.
One of the things I became aware of too, was how much this industry relies on string, or jute!  It is used for various weights of nets, it is twisted into bracing yarn to keep pairs of fish together for drying, it is used in the jute sacking that wrap  around the bundles of dried fish & keeps them together whilst they travel to foreign lands.  It reminded me of another very good museum we went to in Dundee, Scotland several years ago about the production of jute! We do find ourselves in some unusual museums when we travel!!

 The last exhibit was also fascinating.  Back in the olden days (& there was no indication as to how far back these olden days went) the King Cod was recognised as the one with the highest forehead.  He was not sent away, but used as a weather forecaster.  The dried King Cod was hung up in the Rorbus (fishing hut) on a woollen thread.  Humidity affected the thread, making it point the fish in different directions & thus from observations & experience, the fishermen could predict what the weather was going to be like.

 I had a new question I wanted to ask, but the custodian was very engaged with a group, so I didn't feel I could interrupt.  My question was, how did they keep the seagulls off the drying fish, as there were a lot of seagulls around!  In this fishing village they were even nesting in window sills! 
Our own supposition is that the temperature kept them at bay.  These fish were caught in the winter months & put out to dry in the winter months too.  I struggle to comprehend how they could dry in such freezing winters of snow & ice, but as they stay out into Spring & the beginning of summer, maybe that's enough??????

After being immersed in that fishy smell for a while, it was time to get out in the fresh air & go for a walk!  Along the way we came across some young entrepreneurs who sold us the best value meal we'd had yet! Waffles with jam & sour cream for only 10 kroner! How could we refuse! 
We were also side-tracked by the word 'Gallery' on a building. (I'm sorry.... slight exaggeration there... I was side-tracked, Jeff was tolerant!) Inside we had the very pleasant experience of seeing a slide show of photos by Frank A Jenssen, who has taken the most amazing photographs of bird life on Lofoten, as well as whales & Lofoten life in general. Set to music, we got to see local treasures we hadn't managed to yet.  Although we have spotted 2 sea eagles, our camera hasn't been compliant enough to capture the moment, so seeing his images of these magnificent birds was very special.

The rest of the day was spent doing something we haven't done much of lately... we just chilled!!