Sunday, July 17, 2011

The Foods of Iceland

Ok - so we got back from Iceland a month ago, but I haven't blogged about the food just yet...until now...

First up, this hot dog stand on the side of the road is like the country's National food - seriously. Bill Clinton ate here back in the day (and oddly had a heart attack a week later, but that didn't stop us!) I ordered "The Clinton" - which is just mustard - but not like yellow mustard - more like a brown sweet sauce. We also ordered one with the works (I split that with Curtis). It had the mustard but also crunchy onion bits and maybe something else - ketchup? I liked that one better actually.

We also had our fair share of burgers in Iceland. Once we ate at Hamborgarafabrikka, which coincidentally enough is a famous "Reality TV Show". I use that term loosely because you can tell the show is scripted but it's supposed to be like Icelandic reality TV. Anyhoo - this burger here is one that our friend Justin ordered. Love that fried egg on top - it just looks like a cholesterol nightmare! haha

We also went to this more traditional burger place - Burgerjoint. This one here is the original and the best. The burgers here are more like a typical fast food burger but the meat is fresh and all burgers come with cheese!

So, this photo is funny but we didn't eat any sheep's head or lamb face - but I did try fermented shark - but idea. At first it didn't taste like anything (but I plugged my nose - they smell is HORRID!) then all of a sudden my tongue started going numb (I swear they soak that stuff in formaldehyde!) So I spit it out. Never again. The legend is that virgins pee on the shark meat and then they bury it in the ground for several years to develop the flavor. Umm...yeah...you can tell just by that that it can't be good! haha Anthony Bourdain actually said it was the worst thing he's ever eaten and he's eaten some horrible things!

Speaking of Tony, we did make it to one restaurant that he praised highly called "3 Frakkur" or "The 3 Coats" or also translated as "The 3 Frenchmen". There we enjoyed wonderful halibut with wasabi mash. So good! I also tried whale for the first time. (I know, that's bad...) Whale tastes like steak - not like fish at all. (Pictured above) This place is featured on Food and Wine and is a treasure to chef's worldwide. The gallery on the website has Jamie Oliver posing with the Chef.

Lastly, we ate at FishMarket and had the tasting menu - about 8 or 9 dishes that ranged from huge mussels, to sushi, to fish to lamb...it was so much food! Fish Market uses Iceland’s freshest ingredients to prepare original fish, meat and sweet dishes with a modern twist. They buy direct from the country’s farmers and fishermen to guarantee the sustainability and quality of our dishes. Everything was delish!

The best part of Iceland wasn't the food (although the food was great!) It was definitely the people - love you Kristin and Steini!

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