Seasonal produce

Spring

The little spring we have in Finnmark is longed for. The days grow longer by the day. Fish are taken through the ice: trout, Arctic char, pike and burbot. We tap birch sap in May, which we use in bread and cooking. We use up the last of the dried forest mushrooms gathered from the woods around us. Asparagus from Hvasser in the south is a Norwegian delicacy. Rhubarb is the first of the greens we can use — the first source of vitamin C nature gives us after a long winter.

The best ingredients arrive when nature itself is ready to share them.

Summer

When summer finally arrives, it is truly welcome. The midnight sun gives us daylight 24 hours a day, which produces plants and berries with incredible flavours. In our garden we grow herbs, sugar snap peas and lettuces that we use in the restaurant. Wild salmon season is in full swing; we buy salmon to use fresh and to smoke for later. Saithe (coalfish) is the summer fish of choice — this grey fish with its chalk‑white liver is a delicacy. In summer we use a lot of kid (young goat) meat from Lofoten and Troms. We pick wild greens such as chives, angelica (kvann), sorrel and nettle. Local divers bring us razor clams, sea urchins and oysters.

Autumn

Autumn is definitely the season when we harvest from our rich natural bounty. Lamb from Lyngen, wild lamb from Alta, reindeer from Kautokeino, moose from Karasjok, ptarmigan from the surrounding mountains. Wild greylag goose from Magerøya, hares from Rolvsøya. We pick forest mushrooms in secret spots around Alta. All the potatoes we use — varieties such as Mandel, Troll and Gulløye — come from our neighbours at Tangen farm. Beets and kale from Tana. The berry season is long: we start with cloudberries, then raspberries and blackcurrants, blueberries and finally lingonberries. The sun disappears at the end of November.