Icelandic cooking, recipes and food

Because it’s warm(-ish) and sunny outside, here is a lovely and fattening recipe for home-made ice-cream. My mother makes this for special occasions, like Christmas and easter. It is very rich and creamy, and absolutely delicious! 1/2 litre heavy cream or whipping cream 5 egg yolks (use the whites to make meringue drops 75 g sugar vanilla essence to taste Mix egg yolks, sugar and vanilla essence* and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Whip the cream until it is quite stiff and fold into yolk/sugar mixture. Pour into a mould and freeze, or use an ice-cream maker. Use the egg whites to make meringue tops to serve with the ice-cream. *Note on vanilla use: A little goes a long way. The vanilla taste is stronger once the custard has been frozen. You can also use vanilla sugar or a vanilla bean (soak it in the milk). Variations: Experiment with different flavourings and extras: chocolate chips, small pieces of preserved fruit, liqueurs, flavour essences. Goes well with Crème de Menthe ...

Fish balls are one of the many ways in which Icelanders like to cook fish, and the recipes are numerous. When I was little I loved to eat fish-balls in pink sauce (see recipe below), mostly because of the colour of the sauce. 1 large fillet white fish (cod, haddock and saithe are traditional), skinned and boneless 1 medium onion 2/3 cup flour 1/5 cup potato starch (use cornstarch if potato starch is not available) 1 1/2 tsp salt 2 eggs milk, as needed Finely chop or grind the fish fillet and onion. Mix together in a bowl (or just throw both ingredients into a food processor and let it do the work). Add the dry ingredients, mixing well. Add the eggs and then the milk. The fish-dough should be just thick enough to stick together when you form it into balls. Form small balls with two tablespoons or use your hands. Fry in oil or butter over medium heat, until browned and cooked through. Serve with fresh salad and potatoes. Ketchup also goes well with fish-balls. -If you must have some sauc...

It seems the world is finally to taste this unique Icelandic dairy product outside Iceland. Skyr and some other Icelandic products will soon be available from the chain store Whole Foods Market in the United States. A Danish dairy factory has started making skyr for local distribution, and skyr will soon be available in several other European countries. If you see skyr on sale anywhere outside Iceland, please let me know. Edit: See Rebecca's Comment for a heads up on the Whole Foods Market situation.

This is one of my father's favourite dishes. He likes it best with heaps of sugar and cream. It can be served hot or cold, as a meal in itself or as a dessert. 150 g. mixed dried fruit – the usual Icelandic combination is prunes, apples, apricots, pears and peaches. Or you can use one type of dried fruit. 100 g. sugar 900 ml. water 30 g. potato flour (or cornstarch) mixed with 100 ml. cold water Cook the fruit in the water until soft. Press through a sieve or process in a blender if you desire a finer texture. Add sugar and thicken with potato flour mix. Serve hot or cold, with cream or half & half.

I recently got this request (through my book blog): “I read the recipes from Iceland. I was wondering if you have recipes for the hot dog toppings for a hot dog with the works? We visited there last June and loved them, but couldn't figure out how to make them ourselves!?” A hot dog with the works includes ketchup, remoulade, French fried onions and mustard, sometimes also raw onions. Here is part of an essay I wrote about hot dogs: “ The basics of an Icelandic hot dog : Icelandic hot dog sausages are made from a mixture of pork, lamb and beef. The fat content is quite high, as you can see if you grill or fry one. They are flavourful and I like them better than any other hot dog sausages. Having run an Icelandic food website in English for several years, I can attest that they are the subject I get the biggest number of e-mails about from abroad, all of them positive, and most of them asking where they can order some. The bun is a regular hot dog bun: sweet, soft, lig...

Meringue: 4 egg whites 1 1/2 cup sugar 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 cup chocolate chips This will make enough for two layers. The cake tins should be about 23 cm/9 inches across. Eggs should be at room temperature. Whip the egg whites (you can use the yolks to make ice cream) until they are stiff and form peaks. Add the sugar in small doses, whipping well in-between. Whip until the dough is stiff and then fold in the chocolate chips. Line the cake tins with baking paper and lightly grease the paper. Divide the dough between the tins and level the top. Bake at 100 C/212 F, for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. When the baking time is over, let the cakes cool with the oven. Strawberry cream: 1 cup whipping cream (unwhipped) 1 can strawberries in syrup or equivalent in fresh strawberries. Whip the cream until it is stiff and forms peaks. Drain the strawberries and pat dry. Mash the strawberries with a spoon, and fold into the whipped cream. Put the strawberry cream between the meringue layers and cool for 4-6...

The Norwegians and/or Swedes invented Gravlax, and it is a national dish in both countries. This pickled salmon is an excellent entrée and has in recent years become a necessary part of any cold buffet in Iceland. It is almost always served in the same way: thin slices on toast with mustard-dill sauce. I'm including two gravlax recipes here, one with MSG and another one without it. I'm also including two recipes for mustard-dill sauce, one simple, the other fancy. The pickle mix can also be used with trout. Recipe 1: The following pickle is enough for two medium salmon fillets (from a 3-4 kg. fish). 4 tbs fine salt 1/2 tsp ground pepper 1 tsp fennel 1 tsp MSG 3 tbs dill (fresh) Mix all ingredients together. Apply an even layer of the mix to the fish. Wrap each fillet in plastic wrap and then in kitchen foil, skin down. Leave in the refrigerator for 4 days. Remove the gravlax from the packaging and gently scrape off the spice mix. Cut the fish into very th...