Icelandic cooking, recipes and food

This root is known variously as a rutabaga, swede, swedish turnip or yellow turnip. I prefer rutabagas raw, but I also like them in lamb soup . Poached rutabagas: Wash 1 kg. the rutabagas in cold water and peel them. If small, leave whole or halve, if big, quarter and then halve or cut into wedges and halve those. Try to make the pieces a uniform size. Bring 1/2 liter water with 2 tsp salt to a gentle boil. Drop the rutabaga pieces into the water and poach - or steam them for a stronger flavour - until soft. Take care not to overcook, of they will become watery and bland. Serve with boiled meats and fish. Mashed rutabagas: 1 kg rutabagas salted water (100-200 ml milk) 50 g butter salt, pepper, (sugar) Wash, peel and re-wash the rutabagas in cold water. Cook in the salted water until soft. Remove from the cooking liquid and mash thoroughly. Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the mash and thin with the milk, if needed, to the consistency of thin mashed potatoes. Add salt, pepper and suga...

I have never tried this soup, so I am not taking any responsibility if you make it and hate it! 1 liter strong whey 4-5 tbs sugar 1 cinnamon stick 50 g potato flour or cornstarch 100 ml cold water Cook the whey with the cinnamon and sugar for 5-10 minutes. Make a paste from the starch and cold water and stir into the soup to thicken. Pour into a bowl, sprinkle with sugar and cool. Red food colouring or crowberry (or redcurrant or cranberry) concentrate can be used to give the soup some colour.

This is delicious with pork roast, ham, hangikjöt or salt herring: Pickled red beets (beetroots) Sweet apple Beet juice Lemon juice Cream Sugar all to taste The beets and apples are cut into small cubes and mixed into softly whipped cream, along with lemon juice, sugar to taste, and enough beet juice to turn the salad pink.

Red beets are traditionally served with meats, especially pork, but I like them best in herring salad , creamy beet salad (recipe upcoming) and with liverwurst on Danish rye bread. Red beets water salt 100-200 g sugar 1 liter white vinegar Wash the beets thoroughly in cold water, put into cold water, add salt and cook until done through. Remove from the cooking liquid and gently remove the skins with your hands and cut off the tops. Slice the beets into slices, about 1/2 cm thick (I like them crinkle-cut). Fill a pickling jar with the beet slices. Cook together sugar and vinegar until the sugar is melted. Pour boiling vinegar over the beet slices. They will keep in sealed jars for 2-3 months.

My mother used to make this dish several time a year when I was growing up, and I liked it then, but now that I have learned to appreciate genuine Indian and Chinese curries, I never make it, simply because I detest pre-mixed curry powder (the only thing I use it for is sauce for marinated herring). The curry used is the mild type, but I imagine that a medium hot curry powder would be good with mutton, which has a stronger flavour than lamb or veal. This is a relatively new but still traditional Icelandic dish. I think curry powder first appeared in Iceland in the 1940s or 50s, and this dish has been part of the Icelandic everyday diet ever since. Lamb or mutton is generally used, but this recipe is also suited to veal. 750 g lamb, mutton or veal 800 ml water 2 tsp salt 2 carrots Curry sauce: 2 1/2 to 3 tbs flour 1 tsk curry powder 150 ml cold water 400-500 ml meat cooking liquid or stock 100 g rice 1 liter water 1 tsp salt A cheap cut like shoulder can be used in this dish. Meat shou...

The cod's cheeks are eaten both salted and fresh. this recipe will do for either. Salted cheeks must be soaked in water to wash out some of the saltiness. 10 cod cheeks an egg yolk, lightly beaten some breadcrumbs mixed with salt and pepper 100-200 g butter If you have whole cod's heads, cut away the cheeks and clean them well. Roll in the egg white, and then in the brumbs. Melt the butter in a frying pan and brown the cheeks in the butter. They may also be fried in an oven-proof dish in the oven. Serve with boiled potatoes.

You can use either rib cutlets or leg cutlets to make this dish. This was one of my favourite Sunday dishes when I was growing up, and remains a comfort food for me. The recipe works with pork or veal cutlets as well, but the traditional meat is lamb. 750 g of rib half-cutlets or leg cutlets of lamb 2 egg whites or 1 egg and 2 tbs milk 3 tbs bread crumbs (we generally use Paxo brand crumbs, but home-made or other brands are fine as long as they are unflavoured) 2 tsp salt 3/4 tsp pepper* 100 g butter or margarine 20 g butter 1-2 onions extra butter as needed 2-3 tbs water Traditionally, the cutlets are beaten with a meat mallet, but if you have nice, tender lamb, it really isn't necessary. Set up a mise-en-place: frying pan on the stove, dish with bread crumbs and spices, dish with egg, dish with cutlets. If using egg whites, whip them until they begin to froth. If using a whole egg, break and stir vigorously with the milk until slightly frothy. Mix together the bread crumbs and sa...

These carved wooden moulds would be pressed on top of the bread prior to baking, to make patterns in the crust: Both are on display in the museum in Skógar.

Salt cod is made by filleting or butterflying cod and arranging in layers with layers of coarse salt in-between. The fish is allowed to stand in a cool place for 1-2 weeks. To increase the time it can be stored, salt cod is dried, traditionally by laying it in a single layer on clean rocks or gravel, in dry weather, until reduced in thickness and dry to the touch. If the fish is sun-dried, it can turn yellowish. Small codfish are treated differently: they are gutted, their heads cut off and they are washed in cold water, then arranged in a barrel. A layer of salt is put on the bottom, then a layer of fish, with the backs down, then another thick layer of salt, taking care to fill the body cavities of the fish with salt. When the barrel is full, a final layer of salt is put in, a loosely fitted lid put in and a light weight put on top. To cook salt fish, soak it in a generous measure of water for 12 hours, changing the water 2-3 times. It is then cooked in fresh water for 10-20 minu...

These little rye bread "cakes" are made to be served with milk soups or hot milk. Make sure you use the sweet Icelandic type of rye bread and not the Danish or German style unsweetened pumpernickel bread. 250 g rye bread, finely crumbled or grated 75 g sugar 100 g butter or margarine Mix together bread and sugar and gently brown in the butter in a frying pan until it begins to harden. Press into egg cups or miniature muffin tins to cool. Serve with sweet milk soups or hot milk.

Spice-pickled herring is used both as it is and also as an ingredient in various dishes, especially salads and Danish-style open-faced sandwiches. The taste is similar to that of pickled anchovies. 3 kg fresh herring, gutted pickling mixture: 750 g pickling salt 150 g sugar or brown sugar 20 g allspice 15 g bay leaves 30 g pepper 5 g saltpeter Mix together all the ingredients except the herring. Take a container, e.g. a large pickling jar, and cover the bottom with the pickling mixture. Arrange the herrings tightly in layers, head to tail and belly up, with a layer of the pickling mix in-between, ending with pickling mix. Close the container and store in a cool place for 3-4 weeks.