Category Archives: food
Want to avoid feeling out-of-place in Reykjavik? Never mind eating sheep testicles in an attempt to fit in — here are the important everyday customs you’ll really need to become a true Friend of Iceland.
Take off your shoes
If you’re lucky enough to get invited into the home of a genuine Icelandic person (yes, it has been […]
Step One: Hold your nose.
In a country of bizarre traditions, one of the craziest has to be the putrid skate party. Every year on Þorláksmessa (St. Thorlák’s Mass), 23 December, Icelanders get together and eat skate (the fish, not the sporting equipment) that has been sitting in a closed container and allowed to ferment for about […]
A roundup of things to do in Iceland this December, as prepared by your door-slamming editors.
It sounds cliché, but Christmas in Iceland is really a magical time. Maybe it’s the reindeer and snow, or Icelander’s willingness to throw themselves head-first into any and all celebrations. Whatever the reason, there is little doubt that a Holiday Season spent here […]
You won’t find any apples in it. You won’t find any oranges in it either, for that matter. Just lots of chemicals and a healthy helping of national pride.
Most nations have their own version of Fanta; Britain has Tango, France has Orangina, and Iceland’s Appelsín is our version of a sticky orange drink. However, because it’s Icelandic it […]
The Icelandic pony horse gets rolled.
What do Slovenia and Iceland have in common? Not much, you might think… unless you are fortunate enough to chanced upon a dish of horse sashimi hidden amongst the California rolls at a downtown sushi joint. As it turns out, both nations are not-so-secret horse-eaters. The difference being Icelanders use […]
A roundup of things to do in Reykjavík this May, as prepared by your gastricly challenged culturally enlightened editors.
The Reykjavík Arts Festival takes over the capital May 10 to 26. It features hundreds of people that you’ve never heard of who have more talent than Robbie Williams. Oh right, there are mimes too, so, uh, the less said the better.
And you thought the rite of […]
A battlefield for bargain hunters
So, you want to know where all the old compilation albums and china tea sets went from your local charity shops? They can be found at the Kolaport flea market next to Reykjavik’s harbour.
Imagine a huge undercover car boot sale, dotted around with stalls that resemble the back of Delboy Trotter’s […]
There’s something fishy about the taste.
Are you getting enough PUFAs? If you take lýsi every day, you probably are. Lýsi is the Icelandic word for cod liver oil; and it’s extremely popular here in Iceland. PUFAs, on the other hand, are polyunsaturated fatty acids, and anything with a name that long and scientific-sounding just has […]
In which we celebrate the original Icelandic version of that jolly old Coke-drinking elf.
If countries get the Santa Claus they deserve, you might be forgiven for wondering what we in Iceland did to deserve ours.
While other countries have a jolly old Coke-sponsored fat guy with a penchant for gift giving and flying reindeers, we Icelanders […]
A roundup of things to do in Reykjavík this weekend, prepared by your sweet, yet sassy, editors.
For all you lovers of that big church on the hill, this weekend there are 20 years since it was opened. Photographs of the church throughout its 50+ year building process are on display. Nearer my God, to thee.
Thursday […]
Part 2: Kókómjólk.
After years of research, your humble editors have concluded that Kókómjólk is probably the best nonprescription hangover cure with a picture of a striped, muscular cat on it.
What’s this Kókómjólk, you ask? Well, it’s Iceland’s premier chocolatey milky drink. In fact, it’s Iceland’s only chocolately milky drink.
Which is probably why, having nothing else […]
Ok — of Midges, actually.
Right. We’ll be the first to admit that the name isn’t very appealing, but then again, back when our Viking ancestors were still roaming the land, having those ridiculous feuds and thinking up names for places, they probably weren’t too concerned about how they would play in tourist brochures a thousand […]
Some say skyr is the new tiramisu. We say it’s traditional food that might actually be edible.
Thick enough to stand a spoon in, skyr is a protein–filled dairy product, sort of like yogurt (except not really). What they don’t tell you, is that it’s often full of sugar as well, depending on the flavour.
And there […]
