Norway – Halden – a special day at Fredriksten castle

Halden is my mother’s hometown, so it’s somewhere I know very well having spent many summer holidays there as a child. Located near the border with Sweden, it’s in a vital strategic postion guarding the sea approach to the capital Oslo.

Overlooking the town is the fortress of Fredriksten, named after King Fredrik III of Denmark and Norway.

Fredriksten was constructed by order of Fredrik in the mid-17th century to protect Norway from Swedish aggression. It received many upgrades over the years until it became the star-shaped fortress we see today.

I’ve been up to the castle many times but on this occasion my brother Daniel and I were very fortunate to be guided by our old friend Nina who had just passed her tour guide exam that very morning!

She regaled us with many tales of derring do, including the story of the death here of the Swedish king Charles XII.

The castle was never taken despite being attacked by Swedish forces in 1658, 1659, 1660, 1716, 1718 and 1814.

After saying our goodbyes to Nina, we made our way to Curtisen, Halden’s best fine dining restaurant which is located within the fortress citadel (Nina told us it was once the Komandant’s toilet back in the day!).

We were here to celebrate the 70th birthday (albeit one month later) of our lovely Auntie Gro, our mother’s younger sister.

We were joined for the festivities by our beloved Uncle Eivind, Gro’s husband.

The head chef at Curtisen is Sebastian Engh, who is originally from Bangkok and was once the executive chef at the Norwegian embassay in Stockholm. Sebastian has lived in Norway for more than twenty years and speaks excellent Norwegian as a result. His English is great too so he told us food stories in both languages on his frequent trips to our table.

The food, all locally-sourced from the Østfold area, was not only visually stunning but full of flavour too. The Autumn menu had just begun so after a round of nibblesome hors d’oeuvre…

…we began with a layered vegetable tart with beetroot cream, pickled pumpkin, basil biscuits and browned butter (Grønnsaksterte med rødbetkrem, syltet gresskar, basilikumkjeks og brunet smør).

Next came a stunning Chanterelle soup with roe deer meatballs and choux pastries filled with truffle cream (Kantarellsuppe med rådyrbolle og vannbakkels fylt med trøffelkrem).

The kettle being used to pour the sauces was a blast from the past for us as many Norwegian families, including ours, had enamelware with the same lotus leaf pattern back in the 60s. They were made by Catherineholm, a now defunct Halden factory, and are extremely collectable nowadays.

Next, Halibut with herbal risotto, chives, dill sauce and marinated salmon roe (Smørtunge med urterisotto, gressløk, dillsaus og marinert lakserogn).

Beef tenderloin with artichoke puree, wild mushroom duxelle, artichoke chips and port wine, with a side of new potatoes (Indrefilet av storfe med jordskokkpuré, skogsopp duxelle, jordskokkchips, nypotet og portvinsjy).

And to finish, blackcurrant mousse with apple compote, blackcurrant and plum sorbet, sea buckthorn cream and blueberry ‘financier‘ cake (Solbærmousse med eplekompott, solbær og plommesorbet, tindvedkrem og blåbærfinancier).

We opted for the wine-matching and received a medley of excellent fine wines from Portugal, France and Piedmont.

I was tempted to finish with a Haldenkanalen cognac, made in France but bottled locally, but instead waited till I got back to Gro & Eivind’s for a glass of Braastad, another fine ‘Norwegian’ brandy.

Before dessert however, Sebastian invited us to the wine cellar to tell us the history of the restaurant and his culinary journey, while tasting an excellent Rioja.