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Harðfiskur – Icelandic hard (dried) fish

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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...
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Hangikjöt - Icelandic smoked lamb (instructions)

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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...
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How to prepare hakarl: "rotten" or cured shark

I think I will start my series of Þorri recipes by describing how the most controversial item on the Þorri menu is made. Cured shark is one of those classic "let's scare the tourists" foods that can be found in most countries. This is not to say that we don't eat it as well. We do - some of us at any rate.  Some of us love it so much that we will eat it as a snack. For others, a small nibble before the Þorri buffet begins for real is quite sufficient. It helps the digestion, which is why I always have a few pieces before sitting down to the heavy Þorri food. I read in a book that there is uremic acid in the flesh of sharks. This I am inclined to believe, considering that cured shark smells like stagnant urine or ammonia. The uremic acid content only becomes dangerous if the shark is not butchered correctly right after it is killed, because fresh shark meat is edible and supposedly quite good, although it has never been popular in Iceland. The folk tale that tells...
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