Traditional Icelandic Cuisine

Last weekend was my weekend of Icelandic gastronomic sampling. I was fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to taste some of the culinary delights that have been staple dishes for Icelanders since the time of the first Viking settlers. My friend Broddi happens to have been able to borrow the necessary equipment (a large pot, cauldron in fact) to cook one of his favourite traditional meals – boiled sheep heads. Now before you start thinking that Icelanders must be barbarians to eat these, I must tell you that it is for the succulent taste of sheep heads that they have chosen this meal – and I was lucky enough to be invited to the feast. The heads were tasty, and not surprisingly tasted rather like lamb. Nowadays because of Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease (Mad Cow) the brains of the animal are removed. However there is still plenty of meat thus a half head can make a substantial and fulfilling dinner. Trying desperately to show my gratitude for the meal and perhaps trying to prove a warped sense of self worth, I ate as much of the head as I possibly could, devouring all that was physically edible. These pictures show before, during and after our meal.

The other traditional dish that I was able to sample was seabird eggs. Broddi bought 6 Guillemot eggs at the supermarket as an appetizer to our meal. The pretty mottled pastel blue eggs were a real treat. They are collected from the rocky cliffs of the nearby island of Drangey at this time of year only (egg laying season). We boiled them for 7 minutes and then cracked open the sturdy shells to reveal a translucent egg white and a treasured golden yolk. The pointiness of the egg is an evolutionary trait that prevents them from rolling off of the rock ledge/nest and into the ocean. Having this conical shape, they tend to roll in a circle and hence back towards the center of the nest.

Other seabird eggs that I was able to try this past weekend were gull and goose eggs from the Hvamms Fjord on the west coast of Iceland. I’ll post pictures of that trip soon.

I would like to thank Broddi and Christine for being the gracious hosts you are and for giving me the opportunity to try traditional Icelandic cuisine. I hope I didn’t come across as the overzealous tourist taking pictures of, instead of taking pleasure in, the experience. And thanks also to Bjarni for showing me that the ear and the palate are indeed edible. Yum!