Every five years or so, Norrbotten, the most northerly local Bailliage in Sweden, invites us to a “Reindeer Chapitre”. The venue is the small town of Jokkmokk more or less on the Arctic Circle.

The event started in the coastal town of Luleå with a dinner at the Arkipelag Restaurant. Our host Maître Rôtisseur Marie Wigren, who was inducted during the Chapitre, looked after us excellently. The dinner was a homage to her home turf on the other side of the Bay of Bothnia in the Swedish speaking part of Finland, Österbotten combined with the local Norrbotten cuisine.

Next day we detoured by the regional airport to collect travellers from the southern Bailliages of Sweden. Then we set course for our first stop - the Treehotel in the village of Harads. The hotel consists of a restaurant building and 10 rooms located up in the trees. Every room is designed by a famous Scandinavian architect. The establishment is in the middle of nowhere, as such it’s now a sought after hideaway for the international jet-set.

After a tour of the hotel and an excellent lunch of moose meatballs and a blueberry wine tasting (very similar to Pinot Noir in flavour) our next stop was down the hill at the Arctic Bath Hotel and Spa for a tour. The venue is equally unique. Instead of being up in the trees it’s located on the river.

The village of Harads was next and our final destination the town of Jokkmokk the capital of the region. There we savoured a local menu with focus on Artic char and mountain grouse. The dinner was enjoyed by the fireplace in the Hotel Åkerlund's cellar.

Saturday morning saw a trip to the actual Arctic Circle. After a small ceremony where we ceremonially jumped over the notional line, we headed for the nearby lake for activities on the ice. These included test driving snow mobiles and ice fishing. To our joy and somewhat surprise the Chaîne group had success and caught some reasonable sized fish. A rustic but great local style lunch was much enjoyed.

Our evening venue was again the Hotel Åkerlund. This time partly hosted by the former owner and Chaîne member Maître Rôtisseur Kenneth Åkerlund. The theme for the menu was reindeer, the highlight of which was a whole carcass cooked on the rotisserie. The reindeer dinner is a legendary joyous event. During the evening there was also a performance by two local Sames singing their very special songs “jojks”.

The “Reindeer Chapitre” is an excellent way of savouring the most northern part of Sweden - not only Norrbotten's cuisine but also the local hospitality. The time of year called the fifth season is very special as well when the snow and ice of winter combines with late spring warmth.

We are already looking forward to our next visit. The region is booming especially when it comes to the gastronomy.

Carl Wachtmeister
Bailli Délégué
Member of the Conseils d’Administration and Magistral