"The Cultural Tasting Experience of a Lifetime"

Apparently, I have had it.

The Museum Ajtte here in Jokkmokk hosted this all-night dinner party with the above name, and, although it was expensive, I had probably the best assortment of foods this side of the Arctic Circle. A friend and I went last night with probably 75 seats at candle-lit tables and got to meet some very interesting people (although everyone except for us were probably above 40) and practice our Swedish. It was quite the lavish get up (but only three sets of silverware) and we had a three course dinner with coffee and a little appitizer. As we walked in, we got to try a drink called Jokk made with lingon berrys and some excellent Reindeer meet served out of a traditional Sami hand-crafted bowl.

After we got seated, we were served our first course: a Salmon with sikrom & gahkko, which are made from fish eggs. It was quite a delicate fish, a little on the salty side, but very delicious. We also had traditional flat bread that was also quite good.

The main course came next, and I apologize for the picture quality on some of these but I didn't want to distract people with flashes, but this was the reindeer meat. It was actually the reindeer thigh, which is the most delictable part of the meat (or so I hear from the people who don't like to eat the liver, heart, and eyes) with a root Purée and red wine sauce. It was from everyone sitting around us the best reindeer they ever had, and they would know, because they were all over 60 and have had it before. It was rare, but the flavors were amazing. We had thought we were eating mashed potatoes with it, but the root Purée was lighter and better paired with the stronger flavors of the reindeer and red wine sauce. I think the best part was that the reindeer didn't taste like 'reindeer' in that it didn't have that blood taste that can overpower the meat nor the greasy-fatty taste that comes with other parts of the reindeer.

After the reindeer we were entertained by two yoikers. They sang some melodic yoiks, which was a nice compliment to the yoiks we heard last night at the big church in Jokkmokk, sang by three men. The yoik can be syncopated, and most of the performers last night sung in a less melodic, more repetitive style, which is the more traditional style. Christor Stoor, in the video below, was the one who helped us back in Umea get in touch with a lot of the university people, and gave us a shout out at the concert Friday night. But the dinner was not over, and I digress.

The dessert course was amazing. Hjorton, or what we would call cloudberrys, only grow in northern scandinavia and are some of the most delicious berrys, and they're orange. We had great vanilla ice cream with cloudberry sauce and chocolate sprinked over it- absolutely to die for. Lingonberry can be sweet but it also can have a tartness to it, but the cloudbeery doesn't ever have a bitterness or tartness to it. The flavor was very intense, very sweet, but oh so delicious.

Then the evening finshed up with an after dinner drink and coffee- good coffee too- and we realized that we had made a lot of work for whomever had to do dishes over the course of the evening. It was well worth the expense to experience a great dinner, and I'm glad it wasn't too traditional with reindeer bone marrow and blood pancakes or anything like that, because I would try them, but I'm sure my stomach wouldn't have felt as good afterward.

I had a few other interesting things happen during the end of the Winter Market. Looking back this week has been super busy and filled with a lot of things, and it's been kind of a sensory overload. My conversational Swedish has been getting better, mostly because of all the people I met this week and all the interactions with the shops and sellers around town. One of the most fun things happened yesterday when a friend and I went to the reindeer race out on the lake. I posted a little video of it just so you can see what I'm talking about. The track is shaped like a horseshoe, and the reindeer pull sleds with people desperately hanging on to them around it once. Basically, the race is decided in the first 10 feet and then you get to laugh at the people as they come taring around the turn. It was great to see the huge reindeer too and how tired they get.

Lastly, this morning I went for a long walk just to get some exercise and see the trails with fresh snow on them. I met some Danes who were cross country skiing, and got to see some wildlife, but when I was walking back at noon I noticed this rather odd coincidence of time and space- I think I'd call it a sun-sicle. I just glanced over the lake and noticed it and was only able to take this picture before my camera ran out of battery. I now have to get back to real life and buy some food for the next few days at the grocery store and do my laundry, but I'm feeling really good about how much I was able to do and see during the winter market but also look forward to a regular schedule again.