-Funding for this series has been provided in part by the following -- -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.

-This is Trolltunga.

Weather is a bit rough, but our plan is to get down there.

-I think I'm the first person ever doing a martini here.

-Oh!

-[ Laughs ] ♪♪ ♪♪ -Welcome to Hardanger.

A fantastic place to visit in the winter time where we are now.

And what are your expectations, Stig?

-I expect cider, great food, and weather.

-Weather.

And Sigrid.

There is a very, very special tourist attraction in the area.

-It is.

It's one of the world's most famous rock formations.

They say that it's a -- it's a troll that was teasing some other trolls and did this.

And then the sun came out and it froze like that.

-Yeah.

It's something we are going to explore.

We're going into the mountain, into the snow, into the weather.

But we need something to bring along to eat, and... -That's my thing.

-That's your thing.

Find something local.

-I will, I will.

Won't be a problem.

-What do you think she will find?

-I think it will be some fish.

-Maybe some local fish.

♪♪ I'm Arne Hjeltnes and I'm going to show you some exotic places and interesting people up north.

-I'm Stig Bareksten, and I will find good beverages and the nice flavors of the North.

-I'm Sigrid, and I'm looking for some lovely local ingredients for a good meal.

-Welcome to "People of the North."

♪♪ Sorfjorden -- this part of Hardanger was originally little villages with small farms in steep hills.

But three major changes, which you will learn more about, has given identity to the area.

The start of modern tourism into these magnificent fjords, the development of hydropower, and not lastly, the growing production of cider from the sumptuous apples which are characteristic for Hardanger.

The mighty Hardangervidda mountain plateau is famous for its delicious trout.

Today, Hardanger Fjellfisk is keeping this tradition inside the mountain, with farmed trout from the same wild origin, in freshwater from the mountains, and energy from the waterfalls.

-Hello.

-Hi.

-Hi.

-Welcome to... -Thank you.

-...Hardanger Fjellfisk.

-Yeah.

What an incredible place.

-Yeah.

We are in the mountain itself.

-Inside the mountain?

-Yeah.

[ Laughs ] So it's a special place.

And a special fish... -Yeah.

-...that we farm here.

-You can call it mountain trout because it's inside.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-And also with the with origins from the mountain, the Hardangervidda.

-Yeah.

-So, uh, it's a small, uh, production, but it's, uh, quality and premium fish for the Norwegian market.

-I'm very much looking forward to taste this fish.

-Yeah.

-And, uh, even take it up in the mountain and try to make a good meal of it.

-Really exciting, yeah.

-Oh!

It's beautiful.

-So, uh, here we have the final product so we can test it.

-Thank you.

I'm looking very much forward to try it.

-Have a nice trip.

-Thank you.

-The Siderhuset Ola K is a new restaurant in the village of Na, in an old refurbished general store.

This is where the daily boat route came with supplies and left with apples and some bottles of cider.

Today, it's a lovely place for food and a wide selection of cider from all the producers in the area.

"A cider paradise," in other words.

-This is a traditional hakkasteik.

Yes.

-Anna.

What is actually hakkasteik?

-Hakkasteik is a traditional course from Hardanger.

It's made out of sheep, veal and pig, and also barley.

-Cider goes very well with hakkasteik.

-Hurrarop.

-For more inspiration, visit our website peopleofthenorth.net.

-We are not here to talk about hakkasteik.

We are here to talk about cider.

And we are now sitting here in this cider restaurant.

Tell me a little bit about this cider revolution we see here and how long enough?

-Yes.

The last 20 years we've had a cider revolution.

Right now I represent about 25 commercial producers here in Hardanger, and in the rest of Norway I think we are about 50-60.

-And now this refined quality cider is quite an important part of the travel industry.

-Definitely, here in Hardanger you now can combine fjord and the beautiful nature here, and these quality products.

-And I mean nice nature is, of course, fantastic to experience, but you need to eat and drink.

-You need to eat and drink.

-Cider production -- that's a long tradition in Hardanger, isn't it?

And when did it start?

-The monks came to Hardanger in about 1200.

1300.

So we have been producing this for 8-900 years.

-And monks, they had quite a good knowledge about fermenting stuff.

So... -Yeah.

-What is it with the climate in Hardanger that makes such great apples?

-It's the fjord.

It makes us have not that cold winters.

So you have a really good climate for producing apples.

They are sweet, but they're also very acidic.

-For me, first of all, cider is an extremely versatile drink.

It has high acidity.

It's sweet, it's fruity.

So I know it works well with fatty, traditional food because of the richness, and also seafood.

But this is, I would say, a typical notes that we have on most of the cider is extremely fruity, very clear apples, but also it has this kind of floral elements that's, yeah, super nice.

So very complex on the nose, very clear apple.

I think that's the most important part.

-And Hardanger cider has a very special protection.

-Yes, a cider from Hardanger had this protected geographical indication mark in 2009.

-It's like champagne, PAMA, other special, special things you eat and drink.

-That's true, so when you have a glass of cider from here, it's 100% apples from Hardanger.

And the production, it's happened here.

-Basically, you have to come here then, right?

-Of course you should come here and enjoy.

-And see the nature.

-And see the nature.

-Skal.

-Skal.

-Skal.

♪♪ -After a thorough guided tour through the flavors of Hardanger, we venture on to find out more how hydropower has created jobs, a thriving society, and made Hardanger a place for the future of sustainable industries.

We're in the bottom of a part of the Hardangerfjord.

And the reason why people live in here, is this -- zinc.

-And they've been doing that for over 100 years.

-Yeah.

It's amazing.

And they need to have something to do.

-It's beautiful nature, wild nature.

But they need to have something to do, to earn some money and to enjoy the nature and to live here.

Actually live here.

-And this costs around $3,000 a ton.

A metric ton.

And there's a lot of activity here.

-Absolutely.

It used to be a lot of pollution, but the smoke you see here now is actually only steam.

-It's steam because this is a green zinc and not everyone can make apple cider.

Somebody's got to make zinc because the world needs it.

The Odda zinc smelter, established back in 1920s, is beautifully located in the middle of the fjord.

Even though this is far from the large markets in the world, the proximity to clean energy makes it a center for future industry with an important raw material for the automotive industry, transport, electrical, consumer goods, and other industries out there in the world.

This is zinc.

It is straight out of the large ovens they have here and it's very hot.

Oh!

-Maria, why is it exciting to work with zinc?

-I think it's really exciting to work at a plant, the closeness you have to to the equipment, and you get to work with both chemistry and material science, there are different tasks to work with every day.

And Boliden is a company that are really frontrunners to work with sustainability and making value out of waste.

-How is it to raise a family here?

To live here?

-Family life?

It's really easy.

I have a three year old and a five year old, and I think it's also important to teach my children about being in the nature, being outdoors.

We spend a lot of time outdoors, so it's -- Yeah, I feel quite lucky.

Yeah.

-Stian, why is Boliden investing almost $800 million here in little Odda?

-First of all, it's because of the access to hydropower.

That's actually the way it all started here over 100 years ago.

-What does this green zinc mean to a more sustainable future?

-If we are going to succeed with the green transition, we are dependent on metals, and if the metals are produced green as ours, we are very positioned to be able to succeed with the green transition.

-Odda is in the middle of fantastic nature adventures.

After a good night's sleep at Trolltunga Hotel.

We have been organized and equipped by our host, Justin Suldal, to head for the mountains in a strenuous winter expedition.

Like many other travelers, we are excited to see the iconic troll's tongue, one of the world's most spectacular rock formations.

But real Norwegian winter weather is on the way.

♪♪ For more inspiration, visit our website peopleofthenorth.net.

♪♪ Weather is changing all the time.

It's a bit rough now, but I'm hoping for a good meal inside here.

♪♪ ♪♪ It looks wonderful, Sigrid.

-Thank you.

-It looks like there are two different varieties of Hardanger.

-Yeah, one is served with ginger and red onion, apple, carrot.

The other one is very traditional with the sour cream, cucumber, and of course, lingonberries from the mountains.

-Fantastic.

Stig, can I offer you a traditional Norwegian?

Traditional mountain trout.

Mmm!

Homemade chocolate cake.

A little bit of goat cheese in it.

Perfect.

It's possible to enjoy ourselves when we are in the middle of the mountain.

-Yeah, when we have our own chef.

-That's true.

-And bartender.

-Everyone should bring a chef and a bartender if they go really into wild places.

The weather has not improved, but we are still motivated to strive onwards to the famous tongue.

-Come on, guys, let's go.

Just over the edge now and we will soon see Trolltunga.

-Cool.

I've only seen that on pictures.

-It's supposed to be kind of scary and the weather is a bit scary.

What do you think?

-It's interesting.

I would say it's interesting.

And it's typical Norwegian weather.

-Can we see anything?

-We will find out.

-Let's go.

-Trolltunga is no doubt one of the most awe-inspiring cliffs in Norway.

Situated about 1,100 meters above sea level and hovering some 700 meters above Lake Ringedalsvatnet.

This is Trolltunga.

Its number one tourist attraction in Norway.

The weather is a bit rough, but Sigrid, Stig and I, our plan is to get down there with a harness and a rope, and then wander out on this magnificent piece of nature creation.

Sun is up.

Trolltunga and the valley below were carved out by an ice cap that covered most of Scandinavia during a series of ice ages.

Every year, travelers from all over the world come here to do the hike and get the picture of themselves on or in front of the world famous cliff.

We plan to go all the way.

This is actually the troll's tongue, and the crew is actually in the wind up there.

-Yeah, the best weather is here.

-The best weather is down on Trolltunga.

And now, Stig, what's going to happen here?

-Now it's martini time.

-Lovely.

Dry martini at Trolltunga.

-I think I'm the first person ever doing a martini here.

-It's going to be the roughest martini you ever made.

-I think the hardest part was actually getting here.

[ Laughs ] -Sigrid is going to get some ice for your martini.

And there's actually nothing here on Trolltunga.

So we had to bring everything.

But then let's mix and taste and get out of here.

-Yeah.

-[ Laughs ] She's actually going to cook.

-Of course.

Dried reindeer hearts.

-Here are the ingredients.

Stig, what are you going to make?

-In the fjord, they have their own way of preserving these fantastic apples.

So we're going to make an apple martini.

-So there's, like, a concentrated dessert wine?

-Yes, it is.

Yeah.

So we have this ice from Tunga, and then we're going to add a quite generous portion of gin.

And then just a splash of this ice apple cider.

[ Speaking in Norwegian ] -[ Speaking in Norwegian ] On the table.

That's a generous one.

-Oh, this is a generous one.

Too windy.

♪♪ -Oh!

-[ Laughter ] -Just what I needed.

-[ Laughter ] -Never has a dry martini tasted better than this.

Okay, I think it's time to say goodbye from Trolltunga.

And then go over to somewhere else in Hardanger where we are.

-Yeah.

-Bad weather is coming.

What is better after hard work in ice and snow than to find something refreshing?

Stig visits farmer Hakon Kvestad to learn more about the old traditional farm brewing in Hardanger.

-Hakon, now you have taken me to your ancient brewer house, here at your farm, and I'm so much looking forward to try to understand and learn about this traditional way of brewing beer.

-Hmm.

I'm very proud of showing this because it's a very, very old tradition here.

So they say even from the Vikings.

You had to brew your own beer, otherwise you could get punished.

-Yeah, but what's the biggest difference between the modern beer and...?

-The main ingredients is the same.

But this first operation we do is maybe one of the biggest difference.

-Okay.

-Because now when we started to boil this, this is clean water, in copper copper pan.

And so we add [native language] on the local, it's called einer on Norwegian juniper.

-Juniper.

-Juniper.

Yeah.

So and then we add it and we boil this for one hour.

So the water gets color and taste from the juniper.

And that's maybe the biggest difference.

And from all the time they were very clear of it made conservation for the beer so it could stay for longer.

Fresh longer with this.

-But I know there is one more ingredient to create a beer.

And I know this one is very unique for this region.

-This is very unique.

And this is the yeast.

-Yeah.

-And this is on the local we call it kveik.

And it's a very old tradition.

So it's a good tradition to take care of this because every family in all the times had their own kveik.

-But this is a very old yeast.

-Yeah This you look at now, this has been here in this -- with our brewing in about 50 years.

But then it came from another family and it's much older.

-Probably hundreds of years.

-Yeah, it can be.

-And I know this gives a unique, uh, character to to the beer.

-Yeah.

This yeast gives one taste, and the neighbor maybe have another one.

So it's very special.

-I'm looking forward to this one.

-Nice.

♪♪ Yeah, I'm happy to offer you a taste of the finished beer.

That's good.

Pure kveik also.

-It's very good.

High on acidity.

It's -- hup, hup, hup, hup.

[ Laughter ] -Then we have done a good work today.

-This is like a 100% farmhouse ale kind of thing.

From here.

-Yeah.

-I think more.

-Yeah.

I'm happy about that.

Super.

♪♪ -Vikinghaug is a very traditional hotel in Odda.

The hotel has actually been taken down and been a hotel in three different counties in Hardanger.

Today, it is most famous for its role in the international fictional fantasy series "Ragnarok" on Netflix.

We are in the reception of Vikinghaug.

This place is actually one of the places where the tourism started in Norway.

What's the story?

-I think they saw the first tourist with -- with the, like, like tourist equipment in 1860s.

-And what kind of society was that at that time?

We're talking 1890s.

-It was a farmer fisherman's society with growing tourism.

And we had actually 13 hotels in the county.

-Wow!

-That's huge.

-Tourism is again booming.

And what are people looking for when when they come and stay with you at the Vikinghaug?

-They are looking for to to explore the nature.

And it's so compact with different types of nature.

We have the only marine glacier.

We have eight waterfalls up this valley.

-Basically, the tourists are coming to this area doing exactly the same as they did in the 1800s.

-Yeah, we don't change.

-[ Laughter ] -Skal.

Skal for that.

-Cheers.

-We don't want change.

-No.

-We want this to be the same.

[ Terje Gravadal's "Industrial Workers" plays ] ♪ They are the legends ♪ ♪ Of the mountains ♪ ♪ Of the valleys ♪ ♪ And of the the fjords ♪ ♪ Legends, legends legends, legends ♪ ♪ Workers ♪ ♪ Workers ♪ ♪ Hard work, work hard ♪ ♪ Workers ♪ ♪ Workers of the valleys ♪ ♪ And of the fjords ♪ -To finish off our wonderful days in Hardanger, we are going to have a fabulous meal at Utne Hotel, which has been in continuous operation since 1722, which is 54 years before the Declaration of Independence.

So while you guys were struggling with independence, these guys were serving food and drinks.

Our very own able chef, Sigrid, has found a friend in Hardanger's own master chef Jon Aga at Utne Hotel.

-Okay, Jon, what are we going to make?

-Real meat, real fish, real scallops, and real apple dessert.

-And when you say real, it's quality and local.

-Yes.

It's from the Hardanger region.

-Yeah.

-The meat you see here, this is from a very small slaughter.

-Yeah.

You know them?

-Yes, I know them.

Very good.

I have drink a lot of cider with them.

-[ Laughs ] Makes a very good relationship.

-Yes, very.

Could you just show me?

-Yeah.

-I'll do my best.

-That is very good.

You do like this.

♪♪ ♪♪ -The guests are arriving.

Many of them, familiar faces from our adventures in this episode.

♪♪ ♪♪ -We're working hard here now on this meal.

But tell me a bit about this historical place -- Utne Hotel.

-Is one of the oldest hotel in Norway.

-It's how many years?

-Years is 300 years.

-300 years old.

-It's 300 years history in these buildings.

That is also the history.

Is that only women that have, uh-- -Driven.

-Yeah.

-Driven this hotel.

-Yeah, yeah.

-For centuries.

-Yes.

-And there's one special, very special person.

-Yes.

-Mother Utne.

-Yes, Mother Utne.

She took over the hotel in 1827.

She died in 1903.

-70 years?

-Yes.

-She drove the hotel for 70 years.

-Yes, yes.

-So we could see on the picture of her hanging here that she was strong.

-Yes.

-So what kind of experience are you giving the guests coming to the hotel?

-The hotel is lying in the Hardangerfjord.

It's a little hotel with 17 rooms.

And each room are different and we have a very good menu and food.

We use local products all in the season, and we have the cider, and we have the fruit.

So they have a lot of things to do when they come to experience the Hardangerfjord.

Welcome everyone.

[ Applause ] -Catfish with the espuma.

-Lovely.

Sigrid, how was it to work in the kitchen with Jon?

-It was inspiring.

-And you have made some of this.

-I helped, I helped and learned.

-And the steak catfish with the local Hardanger cider pairs perfectly.

It's a good match.

-100%.

♪♪ -For more inspiration, visit our website peopleofthenorth.net.

-This sort of sums up our trip to Hardanger.

What is your impression after these days in Hardanger?

-Hardanger is a dramatic nature original people, real people.

So real food, real people, real mountains, real weather.

I like it.

-So what's your take on it?

-I love the people and the good thing they also share a lot of cider.

-They really use their apples and I would say zinc and cider.

How long is the place to be?

Don't even think about it.

Sink.

Sink no more.

♪♪ ♪♪ -Tellus works.

-For more inspiration, visit our website peopleofthenorth.net.

-Funding for this series has been provided -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.

♪♪