About Stockfish

The drying of food is the world's oldest known preservation method.

In historical records, we can read how dried fish was one of the foods which the Vikings brought with them when they went raiding.

 Stockfish is fish, especially cod, dried by sun and wind on wooden racks on the foreshore (called flakes). Stockfish, produced from spawning cod (”skrei”), has long been the staple product of the Lofoten region, sold to almost all of Europe.

The fish is prepared immediately after capture. After gutting the fish, it is either dried whole, or split along the spine leaving the tail connected. The fish is hung on the flakes from February to May. The cold climate protects the fish from insects and prevents bacterial growth. A temperature just above zero degrees celsius, with little rain, is ideal. Too much frost will spoil the fish, as ice destroys the fibers in the fish. The climate in northern Norway is excellent for stockfish production.

Due to the stable conditions, the stockfish produced in Lofoten is regarded as the best in the region. And it is the last two islands of the Lofoten chain - Røst and our home island of Værøy - which are regarded as having the most perfect conditions for stockfish production in the world. One final factor in favour of our claim of producing the world's premium stockfish quality is that the traditional cod harvest in Lofoten also takes place right in the middle of the year's best drying time.

Towards the end of April, an area of 400,000 m² of Lofoten is covered in stockfish. By far the largest proportion of this remarkable scale of natural fish production is located on Røst and Værøy. By the end of the drying process the weight of the cod is reduced by about 80%.

Italy is still the most important market for high-quality stockfish from Lofoten, where stoccafisso is highly regarded as a delicacy.

e-post: arne@lofotenviking.com