Food and Culture of Iceland

The wildest part of anybody's journey to Iceland has to be without a doubt the food and alcohol that they ingest. Icelandic food and alcohol stand out because resources were scarce when the country was settled around 870, so the nomads and Vikings had to get super creative in their approach to... well, everything. They also get quite gross with it. The biggest examples of this? Hákarl, Súrir hrútspungar, Slátur, and Sviđasulta (the latter of which I have personally tried).

Hákarl was first produced in the late 900s, when Viking Sailors would discover basking sharks that breached upon the shoreline. When they first tried eating them as they were, cooking them with blood and guts and all over campfire, a lot of them died. This is because there are a lot of toxins and impurities in the shark that are lethal to humans when consumed. They discovered the process of removing the head, disemboweling the shark, and fermenting it with human urine in a crater in the ground for 2 months, which resulted in the dish Hákarl. It is likens to being rancid fish cheese, and based on facial expressions of people that have tried it around me; it is something that I don't intend to ever try.

The next few dishes I mentioned we're all made using different parts of the Rams body. Since Lambs, shape, and other creatures as such ran rampant across the countryside, native Icelanders used every part of the shape to make meals out of. Surir are soured Rams testicles, Slátur directly translates to slaughter and is made from sheep fat, sheep gut, and sheep blood, and The Taste is said to lie somewhere between English blood pudding and Irish haggis. I did get the honor of trying sviđasulta, which is a pate made from boiled and smoked Rams Head, and because of the texture and taste, it was out of my mouth faster than you could say"what is it currently in my mouth".

On the brightside, Iceland does have great food as well, notably their hangikjót, smoked puffin, kjótsuppa, stoneplate rye bread, fried Leaf bread, garđfiskur, plokkfiskur, and skelfiskursupa, the last two of which I have tried. Iceland by far has some of the best fish I have ever had in my entire life, and even though the plokkfiskur was a microwavable meal, it too was quite delectable. Their soups are incredibly creamy and Hardy and full of local produce.

Talking about Iceland's interesting take on alcohol, they utilized pretty much anything they could to have a good time. brennevin, or black death, is a perfect example of this. For this concoction, they fermented caraway seeds with potatoes, in the style of a Scandinavian flavored spirit, and effectively created something as strong as vodka but with the taste of rocket fuel. Another staple, Opal, pretty much taste like Licorice and Robitussin cough syrup mixed together. My friends drink some of this when he had a cough, and his cough went away for the rest of the night. Plus being 20% ABV, it gets the job done. Of more pleasant mention are the alcohol beer care and Reyka. Reyka is Icelandic vodka distilled from Arctic spring water and processed through Lava Rock. It is the smoothest vodka I've ever tasted, and because my card declined several times at the bar, I actually got to try it on the house. Meanwhile, Byrkirhere is a Icelandic schnapps made from birch bark, and has a very pleasant root beer taste to it. It also comes with a birch sprig in the bottle.

Last but not least, the beer of Iceland. There are a lot of non-alcoholic beverages that were inspired by alcoholic beverages, namely Yola oil and malt extract. Both are wonderful multi beverages with alcohol remove. Of the alcoholic options, older hresso and Gullir are the two biggest local draft. Both remind me of Heineken in a way. Although very expensive, these beers are very refreshing. You can clearly taste the difference between beer from anywhere else in the world and Icelandic beer, mainly with the quality of the water.

If you want to try at all, I would recommend going to Icelandic Street Food right next to the parliament and the Reykjavik Punk Museum.

Icelandic Street Food is the cheapest Icelandic food around, and with an unbeatable quality as well. Upon entry, expect the owner of the store to greet you and thank you for coming to his store. He's a very outgoing fellow who speaks more than a couple languages. I ended up chatting him up about Iceland and America both, and because of our gregariousness, he ordered us two beers on the house at his restaurant two doors down, Icelandic beer and snacks. This is a feat that would almost never happen in America. For $17 American, we got two cups of free coffee, shellfish soup in a bread bowl, a good conversation, and two Icelandic lagers. And considering that the bar has open mic night almost every night, it is a feat that cannot be beat. Make sure to bring plenty of money to Iceland, and you'll have no problem enjoying the food and drink like the local do.