My first full day in the Faroe Islands had me tagging along with local television personality and ace cook, Gutti Winther, on a fishing trip at what seemed to be the very edge of the world. The salmon weren’t biting, but the setting was breathtaking – and the clean sea air, majestic scenery, and Gutti’s ‘plan b’ lunch more than made up for any lack of catch. As the saying goes, “a bad day fishing is better than a good day at work,” and my scenic Faroese fishin’ expedition certainly proved that point.
We drove out to the village of Saksun on the northwest coast of Streymoy island. The 45 minute drive from my hotel was worth the trip alone. Have I ever uttered “oh wow” so many times in my life? The panoramas and vistas were among the most beautiful I’ve seen. But as ravishing as the route had been, the destination was all the more enticing: huge inexplicably green mountains forming a narrow valley which when followed to its end opened up to open sea with a vast nothingness extending for hundreds upon hundreds of miles. Here is where we fished.
It was my first time fishing in ages and my first attempt at fly fishing. Despite not catching anything, I think I got the hang of it. I would jump at any chance to have another go. I was feeling a little less than manly about reeling nothing in, but Gutti’s luck was just as mine. A couple of other local guys who’d been fishing nearby left without any catch as well.
We had been fishing for our lunch, and I can only imagine how gorgeous our fresh salmon lunch in the great outdoors would have been. Gutti had a backup plan though and it proved just as resourceful and tasty.
Back near to where he’d parked his car, Gutti waded out into the fjord with a bucket. A few minutes later he came back with the biggest frickin’ mussels I’d ever seen. A gas stove, bottle of wine, some onions and garlic revealed from his car boot along with water from a nearby stream and some foraged angelica archangelica (the taste of the Faroes according to Gutti) and we were back in business preparing a most satisfying lunch. As ginormous as those mussels (horse mussels to be exact) had been, they were also incredibly delicious. Upon leaving, Gutti left the rest of his yield at the front door of the farmer’s house up the hill from the gated entrance to the path along the fjord.
If my dinner at Koks the night before had been an intriguing introduction to Faroese haute cuisine, my Saksun lunch with Gutti the next day was a delectable demonstration of what makes the food there so distinctive.
Keep an eye out for more posts in my Faroes and Away miniseries.
During my visit to the Faroe Islands, I spent a good bit of my Faroese trip touring around with Gutti Winther. He was a brilliant guide who seemed to know the islands’ many nooks, crannies, sea caves, cliffs, fjords et al like the back of his hand and to have a warm friendship with just about everybody from there. My tour with him was arranged through Visit Faroe Islands. I would love to pass some more details about him your way, but when I asked for his contact details he said, “I don’t have an email address; it’s not my style.” However, if you Google his name you’ll get a few results (mostly in Faroese) which might lead you his way.
For loads more info to help plan your own Faroese adventure, go to visitfaroeislands.com.
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