The Black Cauldron

Bondens marked, Sorte Gryte, Vestbygd, Jorunn og Svein Magne Husjord. Foto: Tore Berntsen, Visualdays.no

Brunost in the old fashion - Den blacke Gryte

Gårdsysteriet Den Sorte Gryte is widely known for its brown goat cheese and hospitality. Jorunn and Svein Magne Husjord welcome drop-in guests all summer and would like to have all their visitors' senses tuned up.

Den Sorte Gryte is located with a view over the Vestfjorden and the proud Lofoten Mountains to the south. The site's 300 goats live around the knoll behind the barn and from large windows in the farm cafe you can follow the milking when it's time for it.

There is a calmness of its own about the place and the restaurant's bell strings and embroidery in combination with cup holders from great-grandmother's time make it a bit as if time has stood still.

Geitene til Den Sorte Gryte bak geitost skiltet
Karamellprim fra Den Sorte Gryte

Stress-free zone

- We want the guests to feel that time goes a little slower and that they use all their senses, confirms Jorunn. - You can stay full anywhere. We want them to also be satisfied and feel that they have found peace when they leave here.

Here they can come and go while following daily life on the farm. When the situation permits, we also arrange group tours with a tour of the cheese factory. People love storytelling and hearing about how things used to be. Many also want to learn about the process from milk to finished cheese.

Cheese the old fashioned way

- We started in 1983 with 45 goats in the old barn, she says happily. - People thought we made it difficult for ourselves, but we started with brown cheese, cooked in an iron pot over wood. Hence the name of the cheese farm: Den Sorte Gryte.

Today we use two large 300-litre pots on a wood-burning stove with a cooking time of ten hours.

- After the brown cheese from Stordalen Gardsbruk was voted the world's next best cheese during the Cheese World Cup in Bergen, it seems that brown cheese has gained a new position among people. It is no longer only associated with toppings on a slice of bread.

We were awarded gold in its category for our brown cheese and even though it was in 2018, many people still ask for our winning cheese.

We think it's wonderful that brown cheese has been given an elevated status.

Byline: Trude Henrichsen