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| The Cod-LIver Oil
Factory The cod-liver oil
factory in Å is very old, probably dating back to 1850. In this
building cod livers were boiled and turned into oil. A new cod-liver
oil factory belonging to squire Ellingsen was built in the hamlet of
Tind.
The manufacture of cod-liver oil is
demonstrated in this building,
and the museum also sells its own
brand of cod-liver oil.
Down by the old harbour, near the beach
where they used to haul up the boats, you will find the oldest
production plant in Å, the cod-liver oil factory |
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Down by the old
harbour, near the beach where they used to haul up the boats, you
will find the oldest production plant in Å, the cod-liver oil
factory. Here, the fish were braced and hung up on the fish racks
to dry, or they were split and salted to make klipfish. The roes
were salted in enormous German wine vats of oak, and the cod liver
was boiled or steamed into cod liver oil.
In the old days, the liver was just left in the vats and the cod
liver oil was skimmed off as the liver fermented in the heat of
summer. Later, they began to boil the cod liver in iron cauldrons
in order to extract a greater yield of valuable cod liver oil.
This was done all year round. The stench was rife all over the
fishing village. “You can smell money,” people said of both this
and the smell of dried fish.
The old Norse name for cod liver oil was “lysi” – light, and the
oil was actually used to fuel lamps all over Europe. Moreover, it
was used for tanning skins, in the manufacture of paint and soap,
and lots more. Cod liver oil and stockfish were for centuries
Norway’s most valuable commodity.
Every summer, thousands of barrels of cod liver oil were
transported on cargo vessels, the so-called “jekt”s, from Lofoten
to Bergen and further on to Europe.
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Fish, liver and roes, cooked together
and referred to as “mølje”, have always been an important and
healthy part of the coastal people’s diet. Vitamins A and D and
the Omega 3 unsaturated fatty acids in the cod liver oil, helped
keep people healthy. It was often said that the cod liver oil
makers and other people that took a lot of cod liver oil were
seemingly never ill.
Medicinal Cod Liver Oil
Pharmacist Peter Møller wanted to introduce more people to the
healthy effects of cod liver oil. In 1854, he built a lined
cauldron, filled the space between the cauldron and its lining
with water, and steam-boiled the fresh cod livers. In this way he
greatly improved the quality of the oil. The invention of
medicinal cod liver oil was honoured with awards at many trade
fairs in Norway and abroad. Later, the cod liver was steamed in
conical oak barrels. In order to extract the last remaining drops
of precious cod liver oil, the residue of the liver was then
squeezed in a liver press before going to the manufacture of
cattle feed or fertiliser.
Today, much of the old production equipment can still be seen in
the cod liver oil factory at the Norwegian Fishing Village Museum
in Å. Cod liver oil is still produced there in the old fash-ioned
manner, and small bottles of it together with cod liver oil lamps
are on sale as mementoes from Lofoten. |
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Back to the Guided Tour |
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