A brick building next to the railway station in Sandvika, located about 10 kilometres west of Oslo, houses a well-assorted fishmonger called Fiskeriet meaning The Fishery. Knowledgeable persons ready to help their customers selecting top quality sea food is accompanied with joy at preparing and selling prime quality food.
We visited the fishmonger early in the morning in order to be present when a new delivery of sea food from the Fish Central arrived. Since we arrived quite early, we were able to have a chat with the chief fishmonger, Jon Rydland Steen, who also offered us coffee.
Fish stored in ice boxes should be prepared, filleted and made to look appetizing in the counter. During our visit we could witness the preparation of cod, skate, rose fish, wild salmon and Atlantic halibut having been brought more or less continuously from where they had been caught all the way to the shop. In order to judge the quality of the fish, Jon touches, looks at and senses the smell of the fish. It takes a couple of years in order to learn how to assess the quality of sea food and to obtain good work habits, Jon told us.
Fish has to be matured in the same way as meat in order to get the best taste, we were told. The structure of the fish meat becomes firmer, it will be easier to work with it and the maturing develops the taste of the fish.
We could also have a look at how fish cakes, whose ingredients had first been mixed in a mixer, were made in a back room of the store. Using a high percentage of fish fillet, these fish cakes can’t be compared with the quality and price of fish cakes, which contain large amounts of starch, in cut-price supermarkets. Other products made at this store include various types of butter, smoked salmon, fish au gratin, etc.
Their customers can also buy high quality products from Norwegian niche and small scale producers. Butter and cheese from Avdem in Lesja, sausages from Idsøe in Stavanger, clipfish and dried fish from Dybvik in Ålesund, apple cider from Ringi at Tanum, and organic eggs from Korsvold farm at Hvaler. They also offer top-notch products like conserved vegetables, olive oil, vinegar and spices from foreign producers. Since they also sell salad, lemon, dill and various other herbs, you can easily make a three-star meal based solely on ingredients from Fiskeriet.
There has been a fishmonger in these premises for the last 30 years. The former owner, called Fredrik, sold his shop to the Fish Central which also owns a shop with the same name at Youngstorget in Oslo.
The Fish Central is owning the shop, knowledgeable employees, and ingredients of prime quality makes Fiskeriet a natural choice for customers seeking excellent ingredients and unique food experiences. Being fishmongers, Jon and his assistant Lien are always ready to give advice, in particular on the sea food, they are selling.
