North Sweden The Hairy Bikers' Northern Exposure

'The Hairy Bikers are back on the road

'doing what we love most.

'Biking and cooking.'

Look at that.

'And it's going to be epic.

'This time, were heading the furthest north we've ever been.'

We're in the Arctic Circle!

'In search of exciting food

'and some of the most unexplored places in Europe.'

Oh, it's glorious!

'Our route will take us 2,500 miles round the Baltic Sea.

'Kicking off in Poland, then travelling

'through the trio of Baltic states to Russia.

'Russia!

'Then across to Finland and north to south through Sweden.

'To understand the food, we must expose ourselves to the elements,

'experience life on the wild side...'

I am a Viking!

'..and test our mettle to the max.'

-Hey, it's cold!

-It's the Baltic, isn't it?

'I'm expecting vast forests...'

BOTH: Skal!

'..sparkling lakes...'

BOTH: Wow!

'..and incredible biking roads.'

Look at that!

'There will be hearty home cooking as well as cutting-edge cuisine.'

That's spot on.

'And hopefully a warm welcome.'

'After all,

'these people are our northern neighbours.

'And it's time we got to know them better.

'Our lives are never going to be the same again after

'we taste this sausage.'

Cheers, mate!

Oh, Kingy, we've never been this far north before.

We haven't, dude! Land of the Vikings!

Flatpack furniture.

Pickled herring.

Abba!

Volvos.

And some say the best food in the world.

We are here in Sweden!

Sweden is huge.

Twice the size of good old Blighty.

So to do it justice, we are splitting it in two.

We're starting in the north. In Lapland, to be exact.

From the picturesque town of Jokkmokk...

..we travel to Sweden's largest national park.

Before backtracking to see reindeer in Flakaberg...

..and ending in Harads, gateway to the fashionable south.

'Starting in one of Europe's last great wildernesses...'

Good grief!

'We're on the trail of a foodie revolution,

'the Nordic food manifesto.

It's about seasonal, local produce, animal welfare,

'and no waste whatsoever.'

-Nature's bounty.

-That's seriously good.

'It sounds simple, but it has rocked the culinary world

'and put Scandinavian cuisine on the map.'

I love smoked fish, but this is superb.

'On the way, we meet Santa's little brother...'

HE SINGS

'..go house jumping for dinner...

'..And tree climbing at bedtime.'

Now, this is a proper adventure.

Oh, it is.

To really understand the revolution in modern Swedish food,

we need to start in Lapland.

Because Lapland is home to the Sami people, who have been herding

reindeer in this extreme environment for hundreds of years.

They are masters of living off the land.

And by necessity have been living the Nordic food

manifesto for centuries.

Which is local, seasonal, and of course no waste.

And what better place to start than the cultural

heartland of the Sami...

Jokkmokk.

Bless you!

Jokkmokk is the main Sami town of the area.

Our first stop is a renowned Sami cafe,

run by a young restaurateur and passionate cook, Malin.

And we're hoping it'll be our gateway to the Sami people...

..and their unique cuisine.

Welcome.

Thank you very much. Welcome to Jokkmokk, isn't it?

Watt is Sami food? What makes it special?

We have, like, lots of herbs and we've got, like, reindeer meat and

we've got the fish, but of course we don't have all the vegetables.

And it's also cooked to last, you know?

If you're out working with the reindeers you have to salt

the meat and the fish to make it last longer.

Practical and down-to-earth cooking.

We're starting with brunch...

..which is simply slow-roasted Arctic char

on a bed of freshly picked local herbs.

The eggs, they are baked in the oven, 65 degrees, for one

and a half hours.

-It's just all very soft and lovely.

-It's good cooking, isn't it?

It's nice, yeah.

Look at the colours. Fabulous.

This is a cloudberry and lemon vinaigrette.

Man, the Swedes do love their berries.

Because it's hard to grow veg here, it's

a good way to get your daily vitamin intake.

Like the herbs and the berries, the fish is also local.

Ah, look at the meat on this Arctic char. It's fantastic.

At home in England,

we could use salmon or trout for this, couldn't we?

Yeah, sure.

Now it's done.

It's beautiful, it's fresh, it's simple.

But within that, it's quite perfect, isn't it?

Next, we're trying a soup made from the leaves of a birch tree

boiled and mixed into cream.

Topped with Arctic char and a real Sami delicacy.

This is a salted reindeer heart.

Is reindeer the most common meat that you have here?

Yeah. I would say so. Reindeer or moose.

It's very lean.

I suppose a reindeer doesn't have much problem

with heart disease, does it, really?

No.

You know, we used to eat a lot of heart at school,

you know, when I was a kid.

I think it's important to do what we call

so grandly now "nose to tail" eating.

The last dish is a reindeer blood pancake,

and we're going to serve them with the smoked reindeer meat.

It's a reindeer bonanza!

Dave, did she just say blood pancake?

In the Arctic Circle, nothing goes to waste.

Well, blood is packed with minerals, especially iron.

You can buy it here in Jokkmokk.

You can buy reindeer blood that's frozen.

Let's face it, I don't think you're going to be able to do this at home.

But do enjoy our experience.

The pancake is simply flour mixed with blood

instead of eggs and milk.

If this is going back to basics, Kingy,

this trip is going to be amazing.

Just help yourselves.

Malin has invited some friends and family for us to meet

and share our Sami brunch.

The Arctic char's fantastic.

Lovely oily, meaty fish.

As me mother used to say, it is the sort of food - eat that,

you'd live forever.

Well, this is intriguing me.

Ooh...

It's amazing. The texture of the heart is really soft.

I can remember when my mum did stuffed sheep's heart and

-it was like old rubber. This is beautiful.

-Very earthy.

These blood pancakes are really good.

I mean, if you like black pudding, you'd love them.

-Yeah.

-We have heard about the Nordic manifesto.

You know, where you love to use locally sourced ingredients and

seasonal ingredients and there's got to be the birthplace of that,

and we are hoping to find that in the Sami people.

But what do you guys know about the Sami people who lives in this area?

The Sami people are the people from Lapland and northern Sweden

and the Sami people depend on the reindeer...

I am myself a Sami, a Sami person. Yeah, I am.

Some people say that we are the only natives living in Europe.

Really?

So it's so cool.

So you are the original Europeans?

Yeah, we were here before Sweden was the country.

I am here because of the reindeer,

because the reindeer has given us the food.

Of course, also the fish, but the reindeer has been the main dish.

I mean, we eat the meat and we take the blood...

Do get many reindeer around this area?

Not for the moment.

I'm part of a Sami village

and we are up in the mountains.

You could come and visit me and my family.

-Wonderful.

-Oh, that would be amazing. Thank you.

Thank you for having us and thank you for showing us the dishes.

To put it... It's bloody good food.

I can't believe it! Invited to a Sami village!

Well, the food was incredible.

I can only imagine what their way of life must be like.

So what are we going to wear?

What are we going to take?

Well, don't you worry. Malin has given me a name.

-This is it, Si. Stoorstalka.

-Stoorstalka.

But we need to get a few bits.

A few bits of kind of Sami bling before we head up to the mountains.

Well, look, dude, this is a big thing for us.

We are going to visit the last indigenous European community.

Come on, then.

Stoorstalka is run by husband and wife team Per Niila and Charlotte.

They been successful in spreading Sami craft worldwide.

We need to get Sami'd up, really.

-You need a tool belt.

-A tool belt?

Yes, you need knife, your keys, you carry everything in your belt.

You know, like a go-go-gadget belt.

No, no, no, that's a very beautiful belt.

And can you facilitate those?

Yeah, we can, but we need some help.

Because we have all sizes but not yours.

Hold on! What is he saying?

That you need a Viking sized belt!

Oh, so... Ah, I see.

-So here we have the belts.

-OK.

So if you come with me, we are doing the belt things.

Oh, right.

-And we'll do the weaving.

-Oh, right.

This is a very practical belt because

when you were nomadic people you had to carry your things with you.

-So I'm going to hug you now.

-Good job.

What are we doing?

-This is a weaving belt.

-Right.

Why am I doing the weaving?

Cos you've got nimble fingers, dude.

All these colours, actually, they mean something.

You can see if somebody passes by, you can say,

"Oh, they come from this place or that."

It's a bit like Scottish tartan.

Maybe the Sami and the British share other things.

You're not wrong, dude.

That is fabulous.

-Yeah.

-Oh, look. It's made in England.

Yeah, it is, actually.

And we have a long history of trading with England, actually.

One of the most elegant things that we

imported from England, it was broad cloth.

Made of wool.

-Yeah, we traded fur and we got broad cloth back.

-Wow.

-Flipping heck, mate. You're flying with that!

-I've done that much!

When we got up to the mountains,

what else can we expect from the Sami people?

If you're really lucky, you're going to meet a joiker.

A joiker?

-Yes, a person who joiks.

-What's joiking?

I think we've got to ask Per Niila. He's a really good joiker.

Can you give us a joik?

HE SINGS

Wow. Wow, that was fantastic.

It has a very long duration, actually.

It was part of the pre-Christian song of religion,

so it was also used as a way to get in touch with the spirits,

but then came the church and joik was banned.

The joik, in some way you can say it didn't go away,

but it went underground.

So you use the sounds to... They pick what you are joiking.

So this is an animal.

HE SINGS RHYTHMICALLY

I think I've got it.

Moose!

Yeah, it's the moose.

-Good!

-Yeah!

What's this then?

HE SQUEAKS

Irritating.

No!

-Mouse!

-Yes!

Hey-hey!

Well, that's the - ahem! - large belt done.

A couple of ponchos and we're ready to rock.

Sami style.

-Thanks.

-It was nice meeting you.

One last thing to complete our Samification.

Knives.

A handmade knife is the most precious thing that a Sami owns.

We're obviously not talking any old pocketknife.

It's a real survival tool.

Jesper Eriksson has been making them since he was 13.

So, Jesper, we're here to get our Sami knives.

Do you make everything on the knives?

Yes. I make everything from the blade to collecting the antlers.

I even make the leather.

This is Sami craft at its best.

Jesper uses local reindeer and moose antler...

..and birch wood for the handle and the sheath -

all local and sustainable products.

-Beautiful.

-Aren't they?

I made them sharp also for you.

Makes a good cook.

As in the UK, carrying a knife in public is forbidden.

But as we are going into the wilderness with the Sami,

it's accepted here.

We feel very well equipped and we'll certainly be very

well-dressed when we hit that mountain.

Thanks, Jesper. We should head for the hills, Kingy.

-We should, absolutely.

-See you.

-Thank you.

-Thanks, Jesper.

# Let me tell you about Sweden

# Only country where the clouds are interesting... #

To meet up with Henrik and his family,

we're heading north of Jokkmokk to the Padjelanta National Park.

Kingy!

It's a reindeer! There's two!

-Oh, yes!

-Good grief.

"Hello. I'm Donner and I'm Blitzen."

THEY LAUGH

-Hi, fellas.

-Bloomin' heck.

That's fantastic, Kingy.

Absolutely fantastic.

Hey, well, it'll not be the first and won't be the last.

Nope, nope. What's for tea?

This rugged landscape, dude, is speaking to me in a Viking language.

Oh, you've got to be tough up here, that's for sure.

The Sami village is hundreds of miles away,

so tonight, we're going to stay in a mountain lodge.

Wow, look at that, Kingy!

We're sleeping on an island!

What a perfect place to stay.

And cook dinner!

Talk about off the beaten track. It's gorgeous.

And it'll be really peaceful if you would just shut your face.

I am the true Viking.

You're not a true Viking, man, look at you!

I am.

No, you're not. You're half Irish, from London. Ow!

What we'll have to do, we'll have to find out for sure, won't we?

Aye, apart from the fact there ain't no Vikings up here.

-No, there isn't.

-It's all about the Sami.

We're going to do everything on this cookery with our knife,

exactly like a Sami would. Well, the knife and our Sami pot.

We're going to great that traditional Swedish dish,

the pytt i panna.

The literal transition is bits in the pan.

-It's like the ultimate bubble and squeak.

-It is.

You've got that wonderful smoked reindeer,

you've got a Swedish sausage...

We've also got potatoes, onions, carrots, mushrooms,

and some local cured belly pork.

I'm going to start with the smoked reindeer.

Oh, look at this knife!

It's gorgeous, isn't it?

First, all the cured meat goes in.

Because the winters are so harsh, there is that thing

about eating quite a lot of fat.

The onions go in...

The whole thing about this dish is the crunchy bits on the bottom.

On your potatoes and your veggies and on the meat.

It's just like the best bet.

Now, that lovely smoky sausage.

The idea of this recipe is a one-pot wonder. It is a pan of bits.

At home, you could use, say, some leftover pork or lamb,

whatever meat you've got leftover.

It's a fry up, isn't it?

-That was the crust, mate.

-Let's have a butcher's.

-Hey-hey!

-Oh, that is perfect.

Beautiful. That's what you want.

Right. Now, just pop in the shrooms.

You can see the lad used to work on a building site, can't you?

Every time I add something, he makes a well in the middle.

It's dinner, it's not mortar.

We also put in some thyme and dried mushrooms.

-Ready?

-Yep.

And their soaking liquor. Remember, nothing's wasted!

That's all the flavours of the forest.

Now, what that beautiful cooking liquid is going to do,

it's going to deglaze the bottom of the pan.

Now, traditionally, like all good fry ups,

this dish is finished off with egg.

And we're going to do it the traditional way, which is

with raw egg yolks.

-Beautiful.

-Oh, look at that.

Tell us, what's not to love?

And there it is.

Our Hairy Bikers' mountain pan with caramelised bits

and flavours of the forest.

You take one side...

Beautiful.

Sweet and savoury and awfully tasty.

Man, it's midnight!

And it's still not dark.

It's the land of the midnight sun. It does what it says on the tin.

Morning, Kingy!

Today we're off to the top of the world.

And even though we're at the end of the road,

our journey's just beginning.

-You hear the chopper?

-Yeah, I can hear it.

-It's going to come across those trees.

-It is. Yes!

Watch this space! We're getting on a helicopter!

Argh!

This is the way to travel, Kingy.

This is it, man, we're into the mountains to see the Sami.

For a proper adventure.

I can't wait to see Henrik's village and to meet his family.

Spending time with them is going to be a real privilege.

Well, this is the way to see the Arctic, Kingy, isn't it?

It's just amazing!

-Ah!

-Look at that!

-Ah, this is incredible.

-So beautiful.

This is the stunning Padjelanta National Park.

The park is the part of the UNESCO world heritage site, Laponia,

the Samis' protected land in Northern Sweden.

Padjelanta in Sami language means higher land.

And a pretty good description, if you ask me.

We've been told it takes four days to walk to the village.

Or four hours by snowmobile in the winter.

But we're flying, like the locals do nowadays.

If you think about the Sami people, it's amazing that you could

actually be able to make a living out in this environment.

Yeah. And survive, cos it's a really harsh landscape.

Oh, aye. I mean, if you get it wrong you could die up here.

Oh, easily.

Reindeer at two o'clock, Kingy!

Got 'em, mate! Got 'em!

-Henrik.

-Hey! Welcome.

-It's good to see you again.

-Good to see you.

-How are you?

-I'm fine.

-Good to see you.

-What an amazing place!

-What a way to arrive!

You have come to my village, Stora Lukta.

-And that's a Sami taxi?

-Yeah, that's a Sami taxi.

-And this is where my family lives during the summer.

-OK.

And they are the ones who are involved in reindeer-herding.

The mountain Sami have summer villages all over the national park

to keep an eye on their free-roaming reindeer herds.

'But it's cold up here,

'so the reindeer are still down in the valleys, where it's warm.

'They won't climb up to the village for a while yet.'

But reindeer or no, this place is spectacular.

-Hey! Ambushed, ambushed!

-Yes!

-This is Beatrice.

-Hi, Beatrice, how are you?

-Hello, Beatrice. Dave. Nice to meet you.

-Anthe, how are you?

-Nice to meet you.

-Marianne.

-Maria, hi, how are you?

-Marianne, pleased to meet you.

-Buoris.

-Buoris.

-Nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you, sir.

Seeing the village like this, it's hard to imagine that

it's one of the toughest places to live in Europe.

'Yes, Si, this is no holiday camp.

'Everybody here has to pull their weight.'

So what do you have planned for us? Cos we have to work, don't we?

-First we are going to fishing.

-OK.

And then we are going to salt the fish and smoke it.

For traditional Sami, the short summer is when they fill up

their larder before the long, harsh winter arrives.

Along with reindeer meat, fish is an important source of protein.

And with the lake on their doorstep, you never get fish more fresh

and local than this.

See, Si? That's how the Sami belt's used, isn't it?

Look. Everybody's got the knife but all the eyelets have a purpose.

-Ah! Beautiful!

-Beautiful.

'The family fishes mainly for Arctic char,

'a fish related to salmon and lake trout.'

It's one of the only freshwater fish that can live in the cold Lappish lake.

Even today, in Midsummer, the water is just four degrees -

barely above freezing.

Look at this. Fresh, beautiful fish from these very waters.

'With no fridges or freezers up here, the catch of the day needs to

'be treated to keep for the next few weeks.'

Then I put some salt and then I put fish in,

make some salt on it.

How long do you salt it for, Marianne?

-Over the night, we used to say.

-Overnight, yes.

-Yes?

'Salting helps to dehydrate the food, which stops the fish rotting

'and kills most harmful bacteria.

'While today's catch is sitting in salt,

'yesterday's catch is ready for smoking.'

Who have you got hiding in there, Marianne? Bilbo Baggins?

SHE LAUGHS

-Marianne, how long do we smoke the fish for?

-A few hours.

Marianne is cold-smoking her fish,

a technique which means keeping the fish at the perfect distance

from the fire so that the smoke is never hot enough to cook it.

The smoke has antibacterial properties which,

when combined with the salt, makes the meat last for weeks

instead of days and gives it a unique, earthy flavour.

In the rest of Sweden, preserving has become fashionable,

but for the Sami, it's a way of life.

And while the smoke does its work,

Marianne gives us a Sami cooking lesson.

First, fresh fish straight from the lake.

When we are out fishing and we don't have any pan with us,

then we take just a stone,

a flat stone, and put it on the fire.

So do you know how, like, the Sami culture is very strong?

But what's it like for young Sami people?

-You are just young once in the life.

-Yep.

The young Samis, they are finding new ways to have their traditions

but still live and find other ways of living.

I mean, they can be making websites

and sometimes they can be with the reindeers,

-they can be a photographer.

-Yes.

I mean, if we were standing like we were 100, 150 years ago,

-we wouldn't be a culture today.

-Yeah, no.

'Ah, mate, look at that fish! The flesh is getting pink and crispy.'

That's beautiful, isn't it?

'It's going to be awesome.'

-Now we can eat it.

-Fantastic.

SHE LAUGHS

Mmm.

-That's moist, Kingy.

-It's just a beautiful fish.

-What a great fish from a lake.

-Oh, it is, isn't it?

-Yeah, it is. It's superb.

'Second, it's the smoked version in butter.'

You know how sometimes it's like smoked food tastes better?

So you can imagine it being used as a preservative.

But it actually creates a unique flavour that's absolutely stunning.

-Here you have.

-Hey!

-Ooh, that's good.

-You know what's different, Dave?

There's smoke all the way through the fish but so light and lovely.

I love smoked fish. But this is superb.

'Kingy, these people have been living the good life for centuries.

'Cooking local and seasonal produce.

'Preserving what nature gives them for the harsh winter.

'And tonight, they're happy to share it with us.

'But Marianne is doing all the work. We should cook something as well.'

-I tell you what, then. We'll do the pudding.

-We will.

While the family crack on with their chores,

it's time for us to do what we do best.

Well, we've had to be a bit inventive for this one, haven't we, really?

You know, it's like a cross between the Nordic Manifesto

and the Northern Manifesto.

So, as a treat for the family, we've brought

some of the ingredients from home to make one of our favourite puddings.

With a good old Nordic twist.

A roasted-almond rice pudding with crystallised angelica

and a mixed-fruit berry compote with a cloudberry flourish.

POSH VOICE: Oh! I can feel my dancing shoes coming out already!

I'm going to stand here and I'm going to toast off some almonds

which have just been blanched to get the skin off.

And I am going to start making said rice pudding.

'Which is milk, pudding rice, sugar and some fresh vanilla and butter.'

I tell you what, Kingy, we're going to have a yoik-off.

Ee-yoink-ee-oink.

Ee-yuh-ee-oink.

Ee-yuh-ee-uh-ee-oink!

Ee-yoink-ee-oink, oink, ee-yuh-ee-oink!

That's easy. You could smell it.

-Pig!

-Yes!

-Hey-hey!

-Your go.

-Right.

Oor-up. Oor-up.

Oor-up-rup-rup-rup, ror, oor-up.

Roor-ro-o-or-rup, rur-rup.

-It's a cow.

-Yeah. You get the gist.

'Once the almonds are done, chop them roughly and set them aside.

For the compote, start with a glass of water.'

I've got some lovely mixed berries here.

I've got lingonberries, blackberries,

I've got some cheeky cherries which have been stoned,

and some raspberries and some strawberries.

'You could use jam here but in the land of the berries,

'it would be rude not to use what Mother Nature has to offer.

'Man, the Swedes eat berries with everything.

'Meat, fish, and, of course, dessert.'

To this the juice of a lemon, so I've got my water, my fruit,

my lemon juice and we add in the sugar.

Bring that to a gentle simmer, just let it moulder for about ten minutes.

'To thicken the compote, I'm using arrowroot.'

Go on, Dave, go on.

Stir it.

Well, that arrowroot's thickened it really nicely,

so turn the heat off and now we get the good bit, Kingy.

We're going to season it to taste with cloudberry liqueur. Yeeha!

They've even berrified their booze.

I'll drink to that.

All we need to do now is put that in the fridge

and wait for it to go cool.

HE WHISTLES A TUNE

Once the rice is cooked, stir in the almonds and leave to cool.

Taking my trusty best friend, I'm going to shave angelica.

'It may seem an exotic ingredient but you've all seen it at home.

'Candied angelica is the green stuff on top of the Christmas cakes.'

Ooh!

'And to make the perfect caramel...' Take some sugar.

Don't touch it, don't stir it, don't do anything. We want caramel.

But if you stir it, game over.

'When the caramel is ready, just pop in your angelica.'

-Really it's like toffee angelica. Oh, you can smell it now.

-Beautiful.

'Once the outdoor fridge has properly chilled your compote and rice,

'gently fold some whipped cream into the rice.'

Are you sure that's not frozen?

It's not frozen but it's what you would call stiff.

'The angelica will add the bit of crunch

'but it's also good for your tummy, helping the digestion.'

Mmm.

Mate, they don't need a food manifesto here.

They just make the most of what the land and lake provide.

DOGS BARK

BOTH: Yes!

Well, it's interesting. We talk about seasonality with food

but now it's like the fish season, isn't it?

And so you've got the best of it.

And, you know, you start thinking about the reindeer season.

It's not quite here yet but then you're going to be

so ready for it and enjoy it and be the best of it.

Mm-hm.

How did the Sami secure the land from a modern world

that was ever-expanding?

We never could secure it, and, I mean,

-if I use that, when the white man came, he took what he wanted.

-Right.

I mean, with timber-extracting, with hydropower plants,

so the sad answer is that we never could protect our lands.

-And how does that make you feel?

-I get most angry.

-Yes.

-And I think that more and more Samis are getting more politics.

-Yes.

-Yeah.

'Let's see if our pudding hits the spot, Kingy.'

Thank you.

That little thing with angelica up on the top.

It makes it complete, all the flavours and...

Yeah, it's really powerful, isn't it?

I love this pudding.

It has such a... The taste, a different taste.

-The almonds make it crunchy, don't they, as well?

-Yeah.

-Yes.

Well, I think that was a resounding success, and what a lovely dinner.

It was lovely, and great company as well.

Do you not use toothpaste, you minger?

MUSIC: Whiskey In The Jar by Thin Lizzy

Cheers, mate.

-It's ten o'clock, Kingy. Time for bed.

-Lovely.

Morning, sunshine! It's our last day here.

The boys have set off really early to check on their reindeer.

So we're helping Marianne and Beatrice with their weekly bake.

How beautiful!

What a fantastic thing to do on a beautiful day in a beautiful place.

Dave, you can start to put the water in it.

-Just...

-So what's the women's role in Sami culture?

-Just so we get a good overall picture.

-We are the glue.

-You're the glue that binds.

-We are the glue who binds all things together.

We take care of the children, the food, the dogs, the house,

the cleaning. We've got everything.

And then after you've done all of that,

-you go off and herd reindeer with the men?

-No, no, we don't.

-We don't do that. It's too hard work.

-OK.

And we are not built to do that.

-Everybody talks about feminist but it's not.

-Not, it's not.

Because we rule all over the men.

-Without food, what are they going to do?

-What are they going to do? Nothing.

That is beautiful bread.

-That's...good.

-Good?

-Yes, that's good. So...

So what do we do now? Wait?

We are going to go and pluck jomo for the dessert.

And where does jomo live?

In the woods. So we're going to go on a little hike, you and me.

Smashing(!)

-'Here, how come I'm the one hiking?!

-Mate, I kneaded the dough.'

Hey, hey! So, it's a small house-cum-bakery.

-Yes.

-Brilliant.

I feel like a mountain goat.

'Vegetables are a rare commodity above the Arctic Circle

'so edible plants are much sought after in Sami cuisine.

'In fact, they are protected.

'So apart from berries and mushrooms, up here,

'you need to be Sami to pick anything.'

-This is jomo - this leaf you see here on the ground.

-Ah.

-So we would know this as wood sorrell, I think.

-Yeah.

Yeah, that's sorrel. Oh, wow, it's fabulous. Fresh.

It is like eating a lemon.

Just like, mm.

-Right, so we roll this out?

-Yes.

-With a knobbly rolling pin.

-Yes.

So you know in the old days, would the Sami houses have been like this?

-Yes. We lived in this sort of cabin.

-Yeah. It's cosy.

Yes, it's very cosy.

-Now you can take this and pick...

-Oh, right!

Cos if you don't do that, the bread goes

-and you have the air in the middle.

-Yeah.

-And then you have to throw it on the stone.

-Right, this could be messy.

Argh!

-You're good at.

-Not bad.

-Not bad.

Would you ever change anything about your Sami way of life?

No. I couldn't leave this life.

-Yes, that's good. And then you put it down here.

-All right.

When you work with the reindeer, you don't have so much money

but it's just that...

-..way of living.

-Yeah.

-That's...

That's more than money.

You know that's going to be gorgeous, don't you?

-Here's the team.

-Here's the bread.

-Right, look at this, Kingy.

-Oh!

-Wow!

-And this is the jomo we have picked.

We have boiled it and now we have blended it with milk and cream.

Simple but genius.

'The sorrel has a sour, green-apple taste and is often used in soup or salad.

'But here, Beatrice has added sugar

'and is using it for a rare treat in this part of the world - a dessert.'

Mmm. That is so fresh-tasting, isn't it?

-Do you know what? Initially it's like rhubarb.

-Yeah.

Then the bread, it's toasty and crunchy. Ah, it's delicious.

'These people are so welcoming, I can hardly bear to leave.

'But, you know, last year Si was so poorly

'that this trip nearly didn't happen at all.'

Last year I was very ill indeed. Erm...

And I think it's more poignant to see the world that I live in.

There were times when he was sick that I never thought we'd actually

get back on the road like this, but, boy, have we got back on the road.

It's incredible to be alive

and feel alive in a place like this with people like this.

-Ah! Thanks, guys. Thank you so much.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

I think the helicopter's coming now. Thank you.

What an amazing couple of days.

Yes, mate, a simple way of life in harmony with nature.

If this isn't the source of the Nordic Food Manifesto,

I don't know what is.

We've missed out on seeing reindeer in the mountains

but that's still top of our wish list.

Well, Henrik suggested that we head 100 miles south of here...

To another group of Sami, the forest Sami.

That could be our only chance of understanding the special bond

between the Sami and this fantastic animal.

But right now, I'm choking on this dust. Let's stop for lunch!

Wow! This should do.

Look at these fish.

'In the mountains, we were living on Arctic char, which was amazing.

'But in the local waters here,

'it's all about these beautiful brown trout.

'And we are doing our own take on a classic trout almondine.'

So we're calling this the Hairy Bikers' Sami-sational fish dish!

Step one, I fillet the trout with my new best friend.

Right, so make an incision behind the gill like so...

We're now going to start with that beautiful almondine crust.

So three tablespoons...

..of plain flour.

And then three tablespoons of ground almonds.

Salt. And pepper.

And then in the other bowl, some whole milk.

What we've kind of got here, it's a bit like a salsa verde, isn't it?

I've got the zest of a lemon there,

and I want the juice of half a lemon.

So just put your hand there cos I don't want the pips in.

I want about a tablespoon of capers.

-I love capers.

-I love capers, too.

'Some of our ingredients aren't grown around here

'but, as the Nordic Food Manifesto says...

'There's nothing wrong in using influences from abroad

'to bring out the best in local produce.

'So that's what we're doing.'

Now I want a big handful of parsley.

It's like a Martian's Afro.

-Kingy, I'll just get the mise en place over here.

-Get in.

Step one, take fish, dip in milk, dip in almondine mixture,

put in the butter and oil, fry till golden.

Probably about two minutes this side and three minutes on the other side.

Turn the gas up, Kingy. I think I might.

THEY LAUGH

-The smell of wood smoke and fish frying and almonds...

-Not too shabby, is it?

-Look at those.

-Mr King, you have a touch

with fire and food. Look at that.

Crisp, really crisp.

Let's just set aside now. Now we work quickly.

And we put in a handful of almonds.

We are going to toast these till they're golden.

It just takes about a minute or two in that butter.

All the flavours that have come out of the fish

will coat and toast the almonds. Beautiful.

Add the parsley and the capers,

and the lemon juice and the lemon zest.

Look at that, campfire cookery has never looked so good, has it?

Look at that, come on.

Locally caught wild trout,

in an almondine crust,

with buttery caper sauce.

MUSIC: Stranger on the Shore by Mr Acker Bilk

Oh, man. That fish is of such good quality, Dave.

I love how the capers cut through that butter.

Nice bit of zest,

oily, fresh fish, lovely almondine,

just fantastic.

It's one of the most perfect fish dishes.

It has that kind of French classical quality.

Bit of new Nordic,

and a bit of Hairy Bikers.

Tonight's stopover is in a small village

just south of the Arctic Circle, Voullerim.

The little hotel is unusual,

as it was bought by some of the villagers to avoid it being closed.

They now run the place just the way they like it

and the advance party is welcoming us with a local tradition.

Here are some cheese, then...

-OK.

-..for the coffee.

Cheese for the coffee?

Yes. Just take a piece or two or three and put it in the coffee.

-IN the coffee?

-Yes.

-Just in the coffee?

-Yes, in the coffee.

And let it be there for a minute or so.

Mm-hm.

And when you're chewing it, it will "mm, mm, mm."

Do we just drink the coffee with the cheese?

-Yeah.

-Oh.

It's squeaking in me head.

-It's just...

-Squeaking?

Have you have heard about hushoppar-middag?

-No.

-Hus?

"Hushoppar mida"?

-Hushoppar-middag. House jumping.

-House jumping?

We used to jump over postboxes when we were drunk.

THEY LAUGH

No, but we are jumping between house.

-Oh, OK.

-From one house to another.

We have a starter in one house,

and then we have the main course in the second house

and dessert in a third house.

What about house jumping dinner later on tonight?

-Not half.

-We would love that, ladies. Thank you very much.

-That would be brilliant.

Hopefully the dinner won't be as cheesy.

You see what I did there?

Spot on.

Can't be late in Sweden.

Right, it's starters first.

-Hi.

-Hi.

-Dana?

-Yes.

Dana, lovely to meet you.

-Lovely to meet you, too. Welcome in. Thank

-you.

-Thank you.

This smells great!

-Do you want us to take our shoes off or not?

-Yes, please.

-Tonight we are having cheese pie, the Voullerim roll...

-Uh-huh.

-Yes.

..and a char and cloudberry ceviche.

-Wow.

-Oh!

-That was a cloudberry festival winner last year.

We'll drink to that.

This is beautiful food.

You know when you walk past a neighbour's house and you're thinking, "that looks nice.

-"I wonder how they live."

-Yes.

Join one of these dinners and find out.

The Voullerim roll is fabulous.

Is it smoked reindeer meat, did I hear somebody say?

-Yes.

-It's fantastic with the horseradish as well.

It's a great way to have a dinner party because this is wonderful,

so your work is done,

you can really enjoy yourself and then it is over to Annette's house.

Dave, that was home cooking.

Yes, mate. You can rely on the Swedes to do tasty, stylish

an simple, all at the same time.

I want to be Swedish.

Ooh, I can't wait for the main course.

Wow!

That looks fantastic.

Now are we going to eat the wiener schnitzel...

-Uh-huh.

-..from the moose.

Did you shoot this moose?

-Yes.

-I never expected that answer!

HE LAUGHS

'Turns out Sweden has over a quarter of a million moose.'

'Aye, one less now, though.'

Really superb meat.

It's almost like a good roast veal.

Mm!

'One of the guests is from the forest Sami community,

'so he can give us an idea of what to expect tomorrow.'

The forest Samis, they stay together with their

herds throughout the year.

-Right.

-And in very close vicinity of the herds,

whilst the other Samis,

of course, have the free-ranging idea

-up in the mountains.

-Yep, right.

So that is the main difference.

So if we went to see the forest Sami, we'd definitely see some reindeer?

I'm sure you would.

Well, that's the answer, then, isn't it? Skal.

ALL: Skal.

Thank you very much.

'I'm proper loving this hushoppar-middag.'

'I'm proper loving the pudding cos it's got to be next.'

-Wow!

-Oh!

-Oh, this is fantastic!

-That looks great, doesn't it?

Now we are having

a dessert, and it's a cloudberry

-parfait.

-Whoa!

-It's cloudberry liqueur and cognac.

-That looks gorgeous.

'Ah, parfait is frozen dessert made with sugar,

'meringue and cream.'

'And nobody does berries and cream like the Swedes.'

The cloudberries are really quite special, aren't they?

Sour and sweet at the same time.

There is a citrus to the cloudberry, though,

that goes great with the parfait and the sweetness of the meringue.

That parfait is like silk.

You can taste the alcohol,

you've got some meringues, you've got some texture to it.

It does taste of the area, it's lovely.

'Well, we've had another warm welcome, mate.'

'Yep, you've got to love 'em here.'

There's one last thing to do before we head south.

Find some reindeer.

Between our house-jumping friend and Henrik's info,

I think we're on the right track.

We're off to the village of Flakaberg,

to meet Lars and his family, who are forest Sami.

Flakeberg is in the middle of nowhere,

but it is surrounded by the most beautiful forest.

I didn't think we were going to find it, you know, did you?

No, this is it, this is where Lars lives. Lars lives in the woods.

Lars has reindeers. This could be the end of our quest.

-So it's fair to say that Lars is a forest Sami.

-He is.

And like the mountain Sami, they've both got mosquitoes.

They have, haven't they?

I just can't wait to see them.

'We better find the main man before we are eaten alive.'

-Whoa! Lars.

-Lars.

'Oh, man, I love his clothing.'

It's colourful but practical,

just like you.

Oh!

-Cloudberry cake?

-Oh, yes, please. Have long have you both lived here?

And how long has the family...?

All my life.

-Your father too?

-Yeah.

Six generations here.

Six?!

We've been to the mountain Sami

and travelled up there but we didn't see any reindeer.

Not so many Sami people have the reindeer

like we have.

They go not longer than maybe five, 6km from here.

And then they come home, most every day they come home.

Lars, how many reindeer do you need to have

to make a living?

Today you must have 1,000, a minimum

of 1,000.

-1,000?

-Yes,

but there's not many Sami people

live only from the reindeer.

Do you love the reindeer, Lars?

It's the best. Reindeer is my life.

We love the reindeer and then we eat them up.

Why do you do that?

Because we must have food and we must have money.

We could not live only to look at the reindeer.

Shall we go outside and see the reindeer...?

That would be brilliant. Thanks, Lars.

We can go a little trip.

When I see you, you can have lunch.

-That's brilliant!

-Brilliant, thank you.

'Come on, Kingy, mosquito hats at the ready.'

So how do we attract the reindeer?

We shall take a little food for them

and they come.

This is the reindeers' good food.

-Is this the white thing?

-The white moss.

-It's all right, isn't it?

-It IS nice.

HE CALLS

Ho-ho-ho!

-Dude, we're feeding reindeer...

-I know!

-..in Sweden.

-I never thought I'd be hand-feeding reindeer.

-No, mate, it's a first.

The small reindeer here, they are born

in May.

We are all big predators here, all.

We are wolf, lynx,

the eagle when their calf is not so big,

the eagle comes and takes them.

Takes them up.

'Lars' reindeers can come and go as they please

'and spend a lot of time roaming free in the forest.'

'At this time of year, they are growing their antlers

'and shedding their winter coats.'

Lars, in the autumn,

is that the time that you slaughter the reindeer...for meat?

We slaughter little in the autumn,

-in September.

-Right.

Not so much.

The much we slaughter in November, December.

Then we slaughter.

How do you choose which ones to kill?

If I see they come older,

and if he have little...

-Limp?

-Yeah.

The weakest of the herd you take, the strongest of the herd you leave?

-Yeah.

-Is it difficult, because you live so close to them, to slaughter them?

Yes, it's a very hard day when I slaughter

some of them.

This one, I'll never slaughter this one.

-Never.

-He looks healthy, doesn't he?

-He comes very, very beautiful in September.

-I'll bet.

And we have a very big...

-Big antlers?

-..horns.

BOTH: Yeah.

You couldn't live without reindeer?

No. Every day I go out and see how they are

and give them some food.

Talk with them.

The reindeer can only understand the Sami language.

-Uh-huh?

-Only Samish.

Do they understand joiking?

Yes, they understand.

HE SINGS

Oh!

Is that a joik particularly for a reindeer?

Yes, only for these ones.

-Only for these ones.

-I have to say

a pampered herd I have never come across before.

They're great, aren't they?

How fabulous!

They're wonderful animals.

It's not very often that we see human beings intrinsically linked to another animal.

And that other animal is the reindeer.

Whether they are forest Sami or mountain Sami.

They are just gentle, kind, reflective people.

And because we have the modern buzz in our lives now,

it's very hard sometimes to kind of remind yourself of that silence

and of that point of reflection, isn't it?

It's been a remarkable insight

into what I think is like the core of Swedish food.

On every menu here, there is reindeer,

moose and Arctic char,

and that is our sausage, egg and bacon, really.

'Well, mate, you are not going to be disappointed

'for lunch, because Lars

'is going to stir fry some of his reindeer fillet.'

The smell of it is just...

I have seen the cooks when they are in the television,

-they are...

-Oh, yeah.

They are all very good.

DAVE LAUGHS

-I think you got the job, Lars.

-I think he has, hasn't he?

Could be a body double for us, Dave.

Lars, is that an eagle?

Oh, it melts in your mouth.

'But it wouldn't be a Sami lunch without a few more local delicacies.'

I'm bringing you dinner.

-Are you hungry?

-Very.

-Yeah.

Oh, look at those potatoes.

I'll put it here, lunch.

We've got reindeer, some lingonberries, parsley.

We'll at some cream and mashed potatoes.

This is a fine feast.

I poison you?

Yeah!

Oh!

Nature's bounty, beautiful.

-The mushrooms are fantastic.

-Aren't they?

This is the ultimate Nordic manifesto meal, isn't it?

Absolutely is.

Potatoes from here,

morels from the woods, the reindeer from there,

it is wonderful, isn't it?

The berries, lingonberries.

The lingonberries is only 50 metres.

That's good food there.

It's great food, Lars.

Oh, that was so good, I could eat the pattern on the plate.

That was beautiful, thank you.

Mate, I think that is a perfect way to say goodbye to Lapland,

-with that meal.

-Couldn't get any better.

-Not even close.

-I will remember that as long as I live, thank you.

Thank you so very much for having this.

It was nice to have you here, you are welcome back.

-Thank you so much.

-Thank you.

-Thanks, Lars, bye.

-Thank you.

'Well, we finally found Rudolph and his mates.'

'But it's time to say goodbye to our new friends, the Sami,

'and we are ready to head south,

'towards a more urban part of Sweden.'

Yeah, I'm looking forward to a little bit of Scandinavian style.

'For our last stopover we are checking out the fashionable

'Treehotel near the village of Harads.'

I sense we are getting a whiff of modern Sweden.

I sense something a bit different.

'The Treehotel has only six rooms.

'Each wackier than the last.

'From a cabin suspended in a tree

'to a UFO, and even a bird's nest.'

'Wow. Can you check mine? It's a mirror cube!'

Wow!

Now this is the face of modern Sweden -

design crossed with nature. Look,

I've got a balcony.

'Will you stop faffing about? Come and look at mine,

'it's great!'

-Wow!

-Plush, innit?

It's fab!

Come and have a look at the balcony. Come in.

-Cheers.

-Cheers. The Sami.

-The Sami

-and nature.

-And Sweden. And the Baltic, actually.

-It's marvellous.

What a journey, what a trip - riding bikes...

Flying choppers...

Living with the Sami...

In the mountain...

-In the forest...

-Eating reindeer.

-Eating fish.

-Eating more reindeer.

And making new friends.

I feel my soul and palate have been cleansed.

-So let's head south.

-Dude, the land

the Vikings awaits us,

feels like home is calling.

-If anybody's a Viking... We both could be Vikings.

-Do you reckon?

Hi, I'm a Viking!

I AM A VIKING!

HE GROWLS

But we really will find out whether we are Vikings are not

because to end at this mystery, we have had our DNA tests done.

Quite comprehensively, and it takes our fathers' lineage right back,

right back to where we really do come from.

Time will tell - tune in to the next programme to find out.

Viking or not,

we're carrying on our journey...

..To the cutting edge of Nordic cuisine.

-We will make that Swedish classic...

-Smorgasbord.

Get ourselves in a right pickle.

And it wouldn't be Sweden without meatballs.

So don't miss the end of our amazing Baltic adventure...

..As we invade southern Sweden, Bikers-style.

This Viking malarkey is quite tiring, isn't it?

It's knocking hell out of my knees.