-Funding for this series has been provided in part by the following.
[ Wind whistling ] Seafood from Norway.
♪♪ -Telemark -- a world of culture and history where nature knows no bounds, with the flavors of local delicacies.
Adventure awaits in Telemark.
[ Jet engine roaring ] -Tucked in between the coast and the mighty mountain plains, the first settlers came here 4,000 years ago to the vast richness from sea and soil.
A fascinating history that includes bold entrepreneurs and even medieval kings who ruled Norway.
Today, this is still a small and prosperous little kingdom of its own.
Welcome to Etne and Vindafjord.
♪♪ Join me on a journey where we will meet people who live, work, and enjoy life right here in the Far North.
I'm Arne Hjeltnes, and I'm looking for exotic places and interesting people.
-I'm Stig Bareksten, and I'm looking for the good drinks and exciting flavors.
-I'm Frida Ronge, and I'm looking for the best local food.
-Welcome to "People of the North."
♪♪ ♪♪ I'm first on the scene and while waiting for my friends, I find a charming local inn.
Hi.
-Hello.
-Elizabeth.
-Oh, so nice to see you.
-And Bjorn Steinar, hi.
-Welcome.
-I have really been looking forward to coming to your fantastic farm.
And I understand, Bjorn Steinar, that this is a farm that's been in your family for quite some time.
-Yeah, I'm the 17th generation and our son has just recently taken over the farm, and now he's number 18.
-So we're talking back to like the 1400s?
-Yes.
-Yeah.
-Wow.
But what you're doing here at the farm today is a bit different than 500 years ago or 600 years ago.
-By all means.
-Now, this is a place for celebration and weddings.
-Yes.
Weddings.
We have lots of weddings.
And actually, you're going to sleep in the wedding suite tonight.
-Wow!
I'm looking forward to that.
A wedding for one person.
-[ Laughs ] -Maybe that's a wedding -- A lot of people would envy me.
-Yeah.
[ Laughter ] ♪♪ -Whoo-hoo!
[ Laughs ] This will be a very special wedding night.
[ Chuckles ] Wedding for one.
-The wedding dinner will be served at 8:00 down in the kitchen.
-I'll be there.
[ Singing in foreign language ] ♪♪ -Frida and Stig are not on a honeymoon but also on their way to this wonderful fjord landscape of Etne and Vindafjord.
The love of nature is a good reason for visiting Etne and Vindafjord.
Here, at the foot of the mighty Folgefonna National Park, the sights and activities really fuels your spirit.
Water from the mountains is the essence and it's everywhere.
♪♪ -Wow!
-Frida is lucky to be sightseeing with expert tour guide John Karsten Hustveit.
♪♪ -What a place!
This is amazing.
Look at this.
-This is Langfoss.
-Langfoss.
-Yes, it's voted one of the 10 most beautiful of CNN Travel.
-Wow.
Really?
-So this is the pride of this fjord, I would say.
-Yeah.
For sure.
-It's 612 meters.
-It's 612 meters high?
-Yes.
-And the color of the water is so green and interesting.
-It's one or two months in the year We get this lovely green color in the spring and early summertime.
-Okay.
-Mm.
-The green water is directly from the glaciers.
It makes us thirsty.
So my plan is to start our adventure with a drink at local painter and jack of all trades, Jan Terje Rafdal.
And this is where he makes his art.
-Wow.
-Hello, Jan Terje.
-Hi.
How are you?
-Maybe we start to feel for a drink.
-It's drink o'clock.
-Drink o'clock.
[ Laughter ] ♪♪ ♪♪ -Yeah, we start with spruce buds that I added to the vermouth.
Crush them and let them extract for a little while.
And it's going to give it nice acidity to this sweet vermouth.
♪♪ Then this local gin, White Dragon.
Now we're going to use a technique that I haven't used in this program before.
It's called roll it.
It's pouring from one shaker with the ice into another.
And it's much better than shaking, that's for sure.
And it's a perfect way of making it chill quickly.
♪♪ ♪♪ Now it's cocktail time.
[ Hums ] -Oh, wow.
-Okay.
-I've done martinis in quite a lot of odd places, but an art studio, it's the first time, that's for sure.
-[ Laughs ] -Lovely.
-So when you drink this now, you have to drink it.
And you can bite the plum...as well, because it will have a nice acidity that will match the kind of sweetest style of martini.
-This is the plum?
-Yeah.
It's not an olive.
-It's like a Nordic olive.
-Yes, exactly.
-Yes.
Yeah.
-It looks like it, for sure.
-Mmm.
-We often do a good drink here in our studio with friends.
But this is the first time for a spruce bud martini.
[ Laughter ] For sure, yeah, yeah.
That's going to be my signature here now.
-Fantastic.
-I'm stealing it.
-Cheers.
-Cheers.
-Maybe it's the breathtaking nature that fuels their creativity.
Jan Terje takes me on to the mighty Harlandsnepane, their version of Mount Rushmore, carved out by trolls, they claim.
♪♪ [ Both cheer ] -It's amazing.
-What nature can build.
♪♪ For more inspiration, visit our website, peopleofthenorth.net.
Not only nature can build amazing things.
People can too.
Hello.
-Hello.
-Hi.
Arne.
And I was walking around here, and I was looking at these.
What are they?
-These are floating docks.
-Floating docks.
And you have many, many of these.
And I have a Swedish chef with me.
And since this fjord is so beautiful, I was thinking of giving her a bit of a surprise for her cooking.
Is it any chance we can borrow one?
-No problem.
-No problem?
-It's okay.
-Yeah.
So I can borrow, like, one of the big ones?
-Yes.
-[ Laughs ] I'll be back tomorrow.
-It's okay.
Thank you so much.
This is going to be a surprise for Frida, I tell you.
♪♪ These fjords in the midst of western Norway has always been a power center for chiefs and kings.
Traces and findings of early greatness can be found many places.
You are very interested in this, and you are searching this area and you walk around with a metal detector?
-Yeah, I'm a metal detectorist.
Yeah.
-Do you find things?
-Yeah.
What a place to be a detectorist, right?
Actually, I can show you something... -Ooh!
-...I found very, very close to here.
So these are not the real finds because they have been handed over to the museum in Bergen.
-But then you have made a copy of it, of course.
-Yeah.
-I'm not going to ask you to tell where did you find this gold ring, but it's gold.
-It's gold, yeah.
Six grams of gold when I found it.
This is probably around year 500, like... -Okay.
-Yeah.
And another find.
I brought a few.
These are 3-D-printed.
-And what are they?
-Historians believe that they were weights used for trade.
And if one leg was missing, people knew that someone had been... -Tampering.
-...tampering with it, yeah.
That was the -- probably the idea behind the design.
And that dates back to around 1299.
-Yeah.
So it's almost a thousand years old.
-Yeah, exactly.
Whereas this one... -The little one.
-Yeah.
Could this be earlier?
Could it be a toy rather than a... -Yeah.
It looks more -- It has a little hole in it.
It looks more playful in a way.
-That could be like a suspension loop here.
-Yeah.
-Yeah, it could have been worn like a charm.
Or it could be a small toy for maybe a young Magnus Erlingsson.
-Yeah, because they lived here.
-Very close.
-The king's mansion was on this field.
-I don't think it's a too farfetched idea, but I can't prove it, but... -It's a nice thought.
-Yeah, you have to use your imagination a little bit.
-Yeah.
-I think we'll let the archaeologists decide whether I'm right or wrong.
-I like the thought of a small young king playing around with his little horse in this very field.
♪♪ But even today, chiefs and bold entrepreneurs build their kingdoms in the secluded fjords.
I'm meeting up with Anders Hundseid, who is both a farmer and a successful C.E.O.
Anders, what is it with the people here?
How have you become so innovative and created all this business?
-I think you get it when you are young.
When we grow up, we get work.
We get responsibility.
Here in this community, you have people that have been working down on the floor from the beginning.
They have families they have been learning from.
That's why there's a willingness to do something better and to solve problems.
In Fatland, we produce good meat, real proteins coming from the farmers.
-And the meat you get from the farmers, that's from animals that are roaming these hills.
-Yes, of course.
It's sheep.
It's cattle.
We have also pork.
In terms of sustainable way of making food in Norway, we have incredible opportunities.
-But what is it with the business life here in Olen, Etne, Vindafjord?
-I think it's extraordinary.
We don't have Silicon Valley, but we have the Golden Mile, as you mentioned.
-That's over there.
-It's over there.
And we have revenues for $2.5 billion every year from this region.
-What kind of companies do you have on the Golden Mile?
-We have companies as Granberg that's doing leather.
We have Arriva Shipping.
We have Westcon with oil, gas.
We have Olen Betong that's doing concrete.
And we have such as AutoStore that do robotics technology.
So it's pretty incredible.
♪♪ -It's incredible what they create in these small towns.
Why not be world leading in storage robotics?
Oystein, you have to explain to me what is AutoStore?
-Yeah, in a nutshell, AutoStore is a cube with plastic bins used for storage.
And we have these robots on top of the grid, running left and right, fetching the bins and moving them to the picking stations where the goods can be retrieved from the bins.
It's compressing the storage and making the robots do the work.
-This is a demo, right?
-This is a demo.
So this is extremely small compared to what you see out in the world.
-And how many of these robots have you sent out in the world from this little place called Amsosen?
-To date, we have sent out approximately 55,000 robots to all of the world.
-So you have built storage facilities all over the world?
-Yes, I believe it's 49 countries to date.
♪♪ -There are so many charming villages in this area.
Skanevik is definitely one.
We are meeting local entrepreneur Lars Hovda.
-Lars, we are sitting in your garden in the small seaside village called Skanevik.
The nature here is so exotic.
It's white beaches.
The forest is almost down to the water.
The water is green.
What type of place is this?
-Well, I believe it's one of the most beautiful places in this region.
And it's also called the pearl of Sunnhordland.
-I can understand that.
-The coastal village of Skanevik looks like a sleepy and cozy picture of what life was here in the heyday.
But looks will fool you.
Even here do they thrive in modern industry.
♪♪ -Lars, please tell me, how is it possible for you guys here in little Skanevik to produce these amazing machines?
And how long have you been doing this?
-We have been doing this for 65 years.
The company was established in 1958.
This area has a quite large industrial cluster with a lot of smelters, and that is our main business.
So we have been developing a lot of special-purpose machinery for the smelting industry.
-Yeah.
So this particular machine, what is this used for?
-This machine is tailor-made for the smelting industry for one of the hydro plants.
As you can see, you have a crane, you have a screwdriver, and a grab.
You use all these tools to change anodes and replace it with new ones.
-And for you guys, an anode is what you use to melt aluminum, and it's super hot.
It's almost 1,800 Fahrenheit.
Is this a family company?
-This is a family company, yes.
I'm the third generation.
And the guy inside the cabin is the fourth generation.
-What is it with the people in this area that makes them so innovative?
-We have a lot of good mechanics and really skilled people, and also they are very keen to contribute to the society.
♪♪ -Frida wants to shop for her very local meal, and Stig and I tag along because the shop is not just a shop, which is not surprising in this area, really.
Welcome to Imsland.
It's a charming village by the fjord, and they are famous for a general store that has everything and its own pub.
-Fantastic combination.
-Yeah, given the weather, I think in here every store should have a pub.
-Definitely.
And I'm going to go for some shopping.
Maybe for a nice Norwegian dinner.
-Well, well, well.
And you, Stig, anything you need?
-I think I have a beer.
-Yeah, I think I'll have a beer, too.
♪♪ -Hi.
-Hey, hey!
-For more inspiration, visit our website, peopleofthenorth.net.
♪♪ -Hello.
-Hello.
-Oh, my God, it's so beautiful.
Strawberries.
The season now, it's perfect.
It smells strawberries in your -- in the whole store here.
-Yes.
[ Beeping ] -Goodbye.
-Bye-bye.
Come again.
-For sure.
-Handcrafted local food has long traditions in these fjords.
Frida is visiting Johs Lundal, where Siri is in charge of the old family business.
-Okay, Siri, we are in your production hall right now.
What type of products are you doing here?
-We're making dry sausages.
We're making the fresh ones.
And we're making meatballs, bacon.
-And this is your family business, right?
-Yes.
-Many years ago.
-Yes.
It started back in 1870.
So I'm the fifth generation.
-Oh, wow.
-Along with my brother and sister.
I have prepared some of our products for you, so I hope you could make something very good.
-Oh, nice.
-This is sausages.
-Yes.
-Smoked bacon.
-Yes.
-And some good meat from lamb.
-Oh, fantastic.
-I hope you can make something.
-Oh, for sure.
I'm gonna try to do some typical Norwegian food, but maybe with a modern touch.
-Yeah, we're looking forward to see it.
-Thank you so much.
♪♪ -My friend Erik Gravelsaeter from Etne Betong has really taken up my challenge to give Frida a proper place to cook with modern materials and old Viking spirit.
♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Hi, Frida.
I got a ride with the locals.
-[ Laughs ] -This is the Etne taxi boat a thousand years ago.
-[ Laughing ] Welcome, Arne.
-Thank you.
This is my crew.
-[ Laughing ] This is your crew?
-We were actually heading to England.
But I understand that we can have a lunch stop here.
-Exactly.
We're gonna cook some really cool things together.
-Thank you for the ride.
You head off to England, make sure you bring some nice stuff with you back.
And I will serve Frida the Viking smoked salmon.
Bye-bye.
-Bye-bye!
Wow.
I'm looking so much forward.
Welcome to my kitchen.
-Frida, you're going to do a dish that you just recently got to know.
It's very traditional.
It's probably from the Viking Age.
It's salted meat and it's sausage.
And then it's a potato -- I don't know what you would call it.
-Dumpling-ish.
-A big, big potato dumpling.
-Very big.
-And this is served very, very simple.
-Yeah.
-And you get it anywhere.
And I thought maybe that was a bit boring for your style.
-I mean, it's a little bit gray and heavy food for me, but, you know, Arne, I love the traditions, but maybe presented with new flavors and new techniques.
So my idea is to do it a little bit more fresh.
So I hope the Norwegian people still -- -Will forgive you, but maybe that's exactly what they need, a new sort of creative version of the food that people have been eating for 25 generations.
-Exactly.
So let's start to cook.
-Let's start to cook.
There's the incredibly hot smoked local Viking bacon.
-Yes.
Some carrots.
-And you have some porcini.
-Exactly.
This is the smoked lamb.
And this is the sous vide cooked lamb with no salt or anything.
It's just cooked meat.
-So this is a hoisin sauce.
-This is actually okonomiyaki sauce.
But it's like an hoisin sauce with sugar, soy sauce, Worcestershire.
-It's what you have on a Peking duck.
-This sausage called Hardanger polse.
-Very traditional.
-So I'm adding butter and oil.
And then the dumplings into the pan.
-Yep.
-And this is ramson.
-It's wild garlic, the ramson.
It's not something komle is familiar with.
Sesame oil.
-Sesame oil.
-Chili, soy sauce, everything that the Vikings didn't have.
[ Laughs ] It will be very interesting to see what our local Viking chieftain, Jan Terje, thinks about this way to serve traditional Viking food.
-I cross my fingers.
♪♪ -Well, um...
They say there's nothing like your mother's komle.
-Mm-hmm.
-Mm.
-But this is a very nice new take on it, and I think I would welcome this any day.
-Oh, I'm so, so happy for that.
-I think you can take it in so many directions.
-You can just let your inspiration flow and then you can make new dishes of traditional food.
-Versatile food.
-Yep.
Food has to have an evolution too.
-Absolutely.
-Frida, you have to try the smoked trout from...a local chef here, and I think it's more or less Viking style, this too.
-Oh, my God.
-They love a lot of smoke in here.
-Mm.
Mmm!
-Perfect.
It's so fresh and perfect balance.
Very elegant.
-For more inspiration, visit our website, peopleofthenorth.net.
♪♪ It gives meaning to end our adventure with owner of Fatland, Svein, showing us the humble start of what today is a $600 million food industry.
His great, great-grandparents bought nothing but an empty piece of land and started building with hard work, today, wonderfully restored and a great place for a barbecue party.
-We are in the middle of a paradise here with lamb walking around us.
And you have a beautiful table here with some different meat products.
-Yes, we have changed our way of serving food for the people or helping people to make sous vide food.
-Okay.
-So it's pre-cooked and you take it home, you finalize it in minutes, and you have a perfect dinner.
Maybe better than you could do yourself.
-Wow, this looks so nice.
-Yep.
And I need your help because I heard you are the best chef... -In the world.
[ Laughs ] -In Sweden.
-Oh, in Sweden.
-So if you can cut the meat.
-Okay.
Yeah.
No problem.
Wow, it's so tender.
-Looks very juicy.
-Yeah.
-Fantastic.
-Look at this, Arne.
♪♪ -Perfect.
Perfectly barbecued.
I would like to propose a toast to our chefs, of course, for a job well done.
[ Glasses clinking ] And I think we should also propose a toast to your great-grandmother and great-grandfather Svein for making this possible.
-Yes.
We should.
-And to everyone.
Skal!
-Skal!
-And then, of course, the barbecue party will go on here until it gets -- it doesn't get dark, actually, but until the early hours.
♪♪ Etne and Vindafjord is not among Norway's most visited area, but certainly a hidden gem with lots of exciting history, nature, and very inspiring modern-day Vikings who conquer the world more peacefully than their ancestors.
♪♪ ♪♪ -Tellus Works.
-For more inspiration, visit our website, peopleofthenorth.net.
-Funding for this series has been provided in part by the following.
[ Wind whistling ] Seafood from Norway.
♪♪ -Telemark -- a world of culture and history where nature knows no bounds, with the flavors of local delicacies.
Adventure awaits in Telemark.
[ Jet engine roaring ] ♪♪