Another essential ingredient of the Þorrablót celebrations is sheep’s head jelly. Svið is another throwback to leaner times when no part of the animal was allowed to go to waste.Ĭan’t resist trying a plate of svið with all the trimmings? The Fljótt og Gott restaurant in Reykjavík’s main bus terminal will oblige. This one sees a sheep’s head cut in half, singed to remove the fur, boiled with the brain removed, and served with scoops of mashed potato and turnip. Svið, or smoked sheep’s head, is another traditional dish and also part of the midwinter Þorrablót celebrations. Sheepish: Svið is a throwback to hungrier times. One of the best plokkfiskur in Reykjavík can be had at the Fish & More restaurant on Skólavörðustígur. In the past, plokkfiskur was a means to preserve leftovers, though today most families buy fresh fish to make the stew. This is proper family and comfort food, and most local families will have their own version. It’s often served with Icelandic rye bread and butter. This is the one dish that’ll appeal to most visitors.įish stew, or plokkfiskur, consists of boiled fresh cod or haddock filets, mashed together with potatoes and a roux-based white sauce. Like skyr, harðfiskur is a standard product found in most shops in Iceland, like the 10-11 chain.ġ0-11, Kaupvangur við Mýrarvegur, Akureyri +354 461-2933 It’s no surprise Icelanders get hooked on fish at a young age. Harðfiskur, which Icelanders usually eat slathered with butter, often comes in colorful packaging illustrated with comic figures to attract young children. It can be found in all supermarkets in Iceland. The first seafood on our list: Harðfiskur is basically fish jerky made from wind-dried fish (often cod, haddock or seawolf). Local Bónus supermarkets will almost always stock it. Skyr is available in most Icelandic shops and grocery stores. It’s now begun making the leap beyond Iceland’s borders, having recently been introduced to supermarkets in the US and UK – in a variety of fruit flavors. It’s traditionally served with milk and a topping of sugar, often for breakfast, and is usually an essential dish of all Icelandic childhoods. It’s been a part of Icelandic cuisine for more than a thousand years, and is made of pasteurized skimmed milk and a bacteria culture only found in Iceland. Skyr is a dairy product, closely resembling full-fat Greek yogurt but with a much milder flavor. Smoked puffin is served as tapas, together with other Icelandic specialties, at Reykjavík’s Tapas Barinn restaurant. “I had absolutely no idea they could be found in Iceland, so you can imagine my surprise when all these tourist shops with plush puffins started opening. Says Arngrímur: “I’ve never tasted puffin, but I can tell you that until the age of 15 or so I thought that puffin was explicitly a British bird. Visitors can actually order them in many tourist restaurants in Reykjavík, usually smoked to taste almost like pastrami, or broiled in lumps resembling liver.īut do Icelanders really eat cute birds with colorful beaks? Icelanders also, according to legend, sometimes eat the friendly seabird puffin. One such is the Islenski Barinn restaurant in downtown Reykjavík.Įxplore world’s largest man-made ice cave in Iceland He says the þorrablót of Icelandic sports team Stjarnan is one of the country’s biggest parties of the year, with many people shelling out big rock concert-style money for tickets.įor the brave, hákarl tastings are offered in many places in the Icelandic capital. “The þorrablót as we know it, with all the tourist-scaring food, is only a 50-year-old or so tradition,” says Reykjavík-based folklore scholar Arngrímur Vídalín. This isn’t some centuries-old ritual though. Kæstur hákarl is available in Icelandic stores all year round, but is mainly eaten as part of the midwinter þorrablót – a feast where Icelanders tuck into traditional food. It has a distinct tang of, well, urine, and is served in small cubes as a sort-of hors d’oeuvre, often followed by shots of Brennivin (see below). Hákarl, in short, is Greenland shark – or other sleeper shark – which has been prepared by a fermentation process (buried underground for 6-12 weeks, actually) and then hung to dry for four to five months. Kæstur hákarl (“treated shark”) is the one infamous Icelandic dish most tourists are made to try at least once. While an increase in international visitors means that’s likely to change soon, in the past it’s been down to the scarcity of arable land in this volcanic country on the edge of the Arctic.īut Icelanders have always been resourceful, and while some of their heritage foods might be quite exotic for a visitor, for locals they provide a direct link to the past. It’s not yet known, however, for its haute cuisine. Iceland is known for its breathtaking landscape, hot volcanic pools and, in 2016 at least, for trouncing the English at soccer.
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