Hävvi i Glen

Hävvi is certainly off the beaten track – the gravel road that leads there isn’t for Sunday drivers – but once you arrive you are richly rewarded, because here amid the Jämtland fjelds is a fabulous little restaurant called ‘obviously’, only in Sami. Elaine Asp serves up Sami flavour experiences without compromises. In keeping with tradition, she collects the very best ingredients she finds on the fjeld – cloudberries, angelica, sea buckthorn and mountain sorrel are obvious flavour combinations to accompany reindeer, Arctic char and elk. The connection between the food you’re eating and the place you’re in is very clear here – it doesn’t get more local and genuine than this. The nine-course tasting menu is recommended, but there’s also a generous à la carte menu. As a starter, for example, you can choose a divine tataki of Arctic char with sea buckthorn and pickled angelica, or small black pancakes of reindeer blood with tender downy birch shoots. Among the main courses is gurpi, a traditional Sami sausage of cold-smoked reindeer, served with slow-roasted celeriac and lingonberries. Drinks recommendations are also made with great attention to detail, such as in a Sicilian wine from the slopes of Etna which is the perfect match for the black pancakes. Added points for the local and non-alcoholic options, which include a large selection of local beers from the neighbouring village of Klövsjö. Obviously the dinner ends on a Sami fjeld theme as well, as in a crème caramel in downy birch syrup and shredded dried reindeer meet, or an exquisite tartlet filled with angelica curd and Italian meringue served with angelica sorbet. Wilderness beauty worth a detour.

Published december 2019