Jamaicans eat a lot of salt fish. We consume so much that our small island nation is one of the most important markets for Norwegian salt fish. Per a 2020 quantitative study commissioned by the Norwegian Seafood Council, “Jamaicans are one of the largest consumers of salt fish per capita in the world.” Each year Jamaicans consume over 5.7 million kilograms of salt fish — we’re the second-highest consumers, per capita, globally after Portugal.

With all of that consumption, Thursday Food and many Jamaicans believe that we are salt-fish experts. That’s until you see how it is processed, which is an eye-opener. Once you see the steps involved, you’ll never take a piece of salt fish for granted again.

Our fourth day in Norway as guests of the Norwegian Seafood Council saw us travelling to Ellingsøy — the northernmost island in Ålesund. Yes, we flew from Tromsø, connecting through Oslo, to the relatively warmer climate of Ålesund. We visited family-owned seafood processors Mathias Bjørge AS. Fun fact: the company and Jamaica both celebrate their 60th anniversaries this year. Mathias Bjørge and his son Karl started the company in 1962, and Karl’s sons Torgeir and Henning are currently running the company. Fun fact: Karl’s wife and Torgeir and Henning’s stepmother is a Jamaican woman named Sharon!

In Thursday Food’s day four in Norway recap, we’ll let Naphtali Junior’s strong photos speak for themselves and show the step-by-step process of freshly caught saithe becoming salt fish.