The mottled surface of the Lofoten Islands It’s a huge collection of tide pools. As if the sea had just left, there are a lot of rocks covered in seaweed and a few puddles. In the ocean I can see two figures, their skin shimmering with petrol black. They are dressed in bright beanies and look like seals. When they stand, they raise tresses saw-toothed and pink sea urchins, along with the kelp. We take turns holding it, as carefully as one would a Fabergé egg.
Angelita Eriksen is the pair, and Tamara Singer runs together with her. Lofoten Seaweed. They sell their harvest in top restaurants as well to make seasonings, pastas, chocolates and skin lotions. In their small store, in the village Napp, they serve us a meal of kelp sugar tempura that is crisp like popadams with pearls embedded in it. They also offer pickled dulse cured trout and halibut encased in kelp. The butter is whipped up with truffle seaweed – a red alga with a flavor similar to that of its namesake.
My host is the Norwegian cruise line Hurtigruten takes me behind the scenes to Norway’s Coastal Kitchen. It is a long-running program highlighting local farmers. In the past few years the company has developed a network of around 70 farms and artisanal producers that provide its ships with up to 80 percent of their ingredients—from king crab, arctic char, and cured wild game to sauerkraut, berries, herbs, and, of course, seaweed. Hurtigruten has a number of itineraries that visit 34 Norwegian ports, so this approach makes sense. cruise ships Guests on board ships such as the Queen Mary 2 can pick up fresh ingredients and create dishes that reflect their destinations. On board ships like the MS Richard With—which takes us part of the way along its northern route—can dine on dishes like barley risotto with baked celery and blackcurrant mousse with brown-cheese ice cream.
But on this journey Hurtigruten’s F&B directors are exploring ways for guests to get their boots muddy and experience ingredients at their source. “With more and more foodie travelers discovering Norway and with our ongoing relationship with these farmers and producers,” says Øistein Nilsen, Hurtigruten’s culinary director, “it felt like a natural evolution of the Coastal Kitchen concept.” One of these producers is Gisle Melhus, a screenwriter who once wrote a rom-com set aboard a Hurtigruten ship but flipped his own script to move to Myklevik Gård, his small farm in Lofoten. There he raises pigs and ducks with his partner, Åshild, and grows crops using compost made from the cruise line’s leftover food. Melhus’s farm ingredients appear in a baked vegetable salad, a green sauce for meat dishes and a baked carrot salad.
When we arrive at our farm, it’s already dark. Candles light the way into a cozy room where pickled vegetables, foraged morels and crispy-skinned grilled pork are served. Melhus is a man with a strong sense for the mythic. He talks about the Viking women who worked the land and the abundance of skrei that once inhabited the area. “We do not just live close to nature. We live in nature,” says Melhus. “When May arrives, we forget the seven dark, cold and windy months we collectively cursed, and we agree that we live in one of the most beautiful places on earth.
It’s a view shared 110 miles north by chef Halvar Ellingsen, who moved back to the islands from Oslo to open a restaurant with rooms at his great-great-grandfather’s farm, Kvitnes Gård. Only using ingredients from the islands, Halvar Ellingsen opened a restaurant with rooms at his great-great-grandfather’s farm. Arctic Circle His team creates a 20 course tasting menu (minus flour, seasoning and oil) that includes halibut, a leg lamb with blueberries, and blood pancake. He also develops seasonal menus for Hurtigruten as their culinary ambassador. For example, cured halibut served with smoked potatoes and dill, or a leg of lamb served with blueberries. “The limited supply and the season forces us to be inventive,” he says. “Phrases like ‘local’ and ‘sustainable’ are so overused. “I wanted to see how far I could push them.” He leads us by turf-roofed sheds to a stone cellar, where vegetables are fermented in jars. Boxes with potatoes, carrots and salsify are also stored there. A herd of young goats surrounds us on the way back. As I bend down to photograph one, another jumps on my shoulders and stands there, crowning me with hooves and horns for a short moment—a fitting symbol of my experience in this wild Nordic landscape.
Lofoten Islands, one of the most beautiful islands in our region. Best Places to Eat in 2025. To see the entire list, click here here.
This article was originally published in July/August 2025. Condé Nast Traveler. Subscribe to the Magazine here.
