Icelandic cooking, recipes and food

To me, pancakes always evoke the image of my grandmothers, both of whom are expert pancake makers, and will whip up a batch at a moments' notice. These pancakes are quick and (fairly) easy to make, and how you serve them depends on the occasion. Rolled up with sugar, they make an excellent addition to afternoon tea (or coffee, depending on your preferences). Spread with jam and folded up with whipped cream, they are a delicacy fit for festive occasions. This recipe comes from my maternal grandmother. This "recipe" is only a guideline to help first time pancake-makers along. As you become more fluent in pancake-making, you will probably develop your own "dash-of-this, a-little-of-that" recipe, as I have. 1 cup flour 1 medium egg (the original calls for two eggs - I prefer to use just one) dash of baking soda a dash of baking powder 100 grams margarine/butter, or equivalent amount of cooking oil milk, as needed. These are the basic ingredients. I also ad...

This is a simple, easy, nourishing dish. 400 g fish fillets (I use cod or haddock, but it would be good using flounder or sole), boned and skinned 1/2 tsp salt 1 medium onion, finely chopped 1 tbs bread crumbs 2 tbs cheese, grated 25 g butter Cut the fish into chunks and arrange in a greased casserole. Add salt. Sprinkle chopped onion over the fish. Sprinkle bread crumbs and cheese on top, and dot with small pieces of butter. Bake at 175-200°C for 20-30 minutes. Serve with cooked potatoes and a salad. Variation: Put the salted fish in the casserole with the chopped onion and butter. Bake for 8-10 minutes at 175°C. In the meantime, mix together: 50 ml Cream 100 ml Milk 1 tbs Breadcrumbs 2 tbs grated cheese Pour over the fish and continue baking for 15 minutes. Note: Can also be made in a microwave oven. Adjust cooking time accordingly. convert measures

This is the last of the Þorri recipes. Rúgbrauð is great topped with butter and cheese, or with home-made lamb pâté (recipe will be posted later). Serve it well buttered on the side with poached fish, or Danish style with cold pickled herring (recipe will be posted later). Eat it with sliced hangikjöt or ham or spread it with cream cheese, and if there is anything left, use it to make bread soup . The brown slices at the front of this photo are rye bread. Also included are sections of flat bread, and in the background are jars of picked herring, in curry sauce, in vinegar, and in tomato sauce. 600 g sugar 400 g whole wheat flour 2 kg rye flour 1 tsp salt 50 g dry yeast 1,5 l milk Mix the ingredients together and knead well.         To cook in used milk-cartons: Half-fill each 1 liter carton, pressing well to avoid air bubbles in the bread. Stand on the bottom of the oven and bake at 100°C for about 12 hours. To cook in loaf pans: Press ...

Flatbread, cut into wedges and  sandwiched with hangikjöt. Yet another food you are likely to find on the Þorri buffet. This traditional bread is delicious with butter and a slice of hangikjöt (smoked lamb). 500 g rye flour 1/2 tsp salt 250-300 ml boiling water Mix the salt and the rye flour. Add some water and knead. Dough should be fairly soft. Roll out thin and use a small plate to cut even sized breads. Prick all over with a fork and bake on top of the stove at medium to high temperature. For authenticity, do not use a griddle or skillet, but put the cakes directly onto the cooking plate (this is both smelly and smoky). Cook on one side until it begins to look dry, then turn over. The bread should have some slight burn spots here and there. Good with slices of cold meat, such as hangikjöt, ham, or lamb pâté, and delicious slathered with butter. Someone contacted me with a couple of tips for making flat bread: -If you make the flat bread in the traditional way, there will ...

Cooked svið. Continuing with the Þorri food, here is a popular Þorri dish, one that is also widely eaten outside the Þorri season. Sviðasulta, literally sheep's head jam is a traditional meat product that can be found in any Icelandic supermarket. It is usually eaten fresh, but during the Þorri season you can also get whey-pickled head jam. There is also a pig's head version, svínasulta , which is spiced. This variety food is known as head-cheese or brawn in English. Some recipes include gelatine, but it is generally not necessary if the cooking liquid is allowed to thicken during cooking (by not adding water unless it seems to be completely evaporating). 6 ea. sheep's heads, singed (see instructions below) as needed water and salt How to singe and otherwise prepare sheep's heads for cooking: Take the fresh heads and singe them with fire until all the hair is burnt. Use a stiff brush to clean the heads under running cold water. Clean the area around the...

Still in keeping with the Þorri theme, here is a popular food that is a favourite main dish for Christmas and Sundays, as well as being an essential part of the Þorri buffet and a popular cold cut to top bread and flatbread . Slices of hangikjöt Hangikjöt is an old favourite of the Icelanders. For centuries, we have smoked, pickled, dried and otherwise preserved food, and hangikjöt is one of the most delicious of the smoked products.  Much like in olden times, hangikjöt is not an everyday food, except when used as a topping for bread, skonsur and flatbread . It may be eaten either hot or cold, and is traditionally served with cooked potatoes, white sauce, peas and pickled red cabbage. What follows is a description of the old method used for smoking lamb/mutton to make hangikjöt . Smoking food, general information: Smoking is an ancient food preservation method. The smoke dries the food and prevents it from spoiling quickly. Food that is to be smoked must be salted firs...

Continuing with the Þorri theme, this is the single most popular food you will find on the Þorri buffet. It is a popular snack in Iceland, and some people love it so much that they will some with them when they go abroad on holiday. Harðfiskur, whole fillet Of the traditional Icelandic foods, harðfiskur and skyr are probably the two which most appeal to foreigners. I have received several e-mails from people asking how to make harðfiskur or where to buy it abroad, and so I decided it was time to give a description of how it's made. Many kinds of fish dry well, but traditionally it is mostly cod, haddock and ocean catfish (wolf-fish) that are dried. Flounder also makes excellent harðfiskur , and in some areas of Iceland people also dry arctic char.   Drying haddock, cod and flounder: Harðfiskur in ready-to-eat pieces Wash the fish and scrape off the slime, then gut the fish and remove the head. Haddock and cod can either be butterflied or filleted before drying. F...