Icelandic cooking, recipes and food

I’ve just been reading an interesting report by Matís, an Icelandic biotech R&D institute, about skyr.  They make a distinction between modern skyr and traditional skyr and one of the conclusions they come to is that MS Skyr is not traditional because it deviates from the traditional methods of making skyr. (I have already posted a recipe for skyr , which may be referred to for one traditional method). If you want to try the real thing, the report mentions that KEA and Bíóbú both make skyr with (modernised) traditional methods. Their products are available from supermarkets.  In addition you can also buy traditional skyr from a couple of farms that participate in the Beint frá Býli movement (Farm Food Direct), and from specialised shops (I'm sure you can buy it from Frú Lauga , for example). I'm planning to read the report in more depth and may post a digest of the findings.

Skyr produced by Arla has been available in several flavour varieties (including natural) in the UK since the middle of last year. How I managed to miss this, I don't know, because this kind of news usually makes headlines in the Icelandic media (we are that proud of our skyr). It's possible the news has been ignored here because the skyr in question is not produced in Iceland.  Iceland failed to acquire a protected designation of origin for skyr and therefore anyone can use the term, even if the product doesn't really conform to the traditional definition of skyr. I am in no way implying that this is what Arla has done, but it has been implied that certain other producers are making yogurt, thickening it with rennet and calling it skyr. However, MS Iceland Dairies ( Mjólkursamsalan in Icelandic), has now started producing skyr for export to the UK. It will, to begin with, be available in Waitrose supermarkets in and around London as of February 8. I'd be ...

Ages ago I promised to find a recipe for skyr brulée – well I finally found one! The recipe comes from chef Steinar Þór Þorfinnsson of the restaurant Einar Ben. I haven’t tested it, but here goes: Skyr- and white chocolate crème brulée with blueberry schnapps Skyr-crème brulée: 100 g cream 100 g pure skyr 40 g egg yolk 40 g sugar 80 g white chocolate The juice of 1/2 lime 1 vanilla pod Split the vanilla pod lengthwise and put in a saucepan with the cream. Bring to the boil, remove from the heat and add the skyr. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler and add to the warm skyr mixture. Stir together the egg yolk and sugar and add to the skyr mixture along with the lime juice. Put into crème brulée ramekins and bake in a water bath at 120 °C for 30 minutes. Cool. Sprinkle with demerara sugar and melt the sugar with a crème brulée torch. P.S. Before making this, please take a look at the review in the comment. Blueberry schnapps: 125 g puréed blueberries 500 ...

200 g oatmeal biscuits/crackers (e.g. Graham crackers) 60 g butter 1 tbs sugar Crumble the crackers finely. Melt the butter and stir into the crumbs with the sugar. Press into the bottoms of several small serving bowls. 4 sheets gelatin The juice of 1/2 lemon 300 g plain skyr 100 g sugar 2 eggs 150 g sour cream 1 tbs sugar Soak the gelatin sheets in cold water for 5 minutes. Remove from the water, squeeze out the remaining water and put the gelatin in a bowl or the top of a double boiler with the lemon juice. Heat gently until the gelatin is melted. Separate the egg yolks from the whites. Mix together sugar and skyr and add the egg yolks, one by one. Fold in the sour cream. Lightly whip the egg whites with 1 tbs. sugar. Mix the gelatin into the skyr mixture and then gently fold in the whipped egg whites. Divide the mixture between the bowls and cool in the refrigerator. This can also be made into a whole dessert, in which case use a large, deep pie dish.

Here is the first of the modern skyr recipes. Note on the measurements: I have rounded all the ounces to the nearest whole number. It does not make any difference for the recipe. Mousse : 500 g / 18 oz. plain skyr 75 g / 3 oz. sugar 200 ml / 7 oz. cream 3 sheets gelatin 1 vanilla pod 50 ml / 2 oz. cream Split the vanilla pod lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Reserve the seeds and discard the pod (or reserve for making something else). Soak the gelatin sheets in cold water for 5-10 minutes and lightly whip the large portion of cream. Mix together the skyr, sugar and vanilla seeds. Heat the small portion of cream, and cool slightly. Squeeze the water out of the gelatin and dissolve in the heated cream. Mix carefully into the skyr mixture and then fold in the whipped cream. Pour into small mousse forms or individual serving bowls and freeze. Serve with fresh fruit and fruit sauce. Here is a strawberry sauce that’s good with skyr mousse: 150 g / 5 oz. fresh strawberries 50 g / 2 oz. s...

For centuries, Icelanders ate skyr mostly as it was, perhaps with some milk or water stirred in to make it go down more smoothly. In latter times it has usually been thinned with milk, sugar has been added and it has been served with cream or milk. If the season is right there might be bilberries or crowberries stirred in. If the skyr was the main course, a piece of rye bread with butter, or perhaps a piece of blood sausage or liver sausage would often be served on the side. Or it might be mixed 50/50 with cold porridge and served with cream. But there are many other ways to serve or use it as an ingredient. I like it with half-and-half and brown sugar or maple syrup. The wife of the Icelandic president has declared that she loves it with honey. Some sprinkle muesli on it. Others prefer fruit. You can get all sorts of flavours from the factory, besides the plain. The ones I can remember off the top of my head are: Strawberry Blueberry Strawberry-blueberry Peach Vanilla Raspberry Banana...

It gladdens my heart to know that people have actually used my skyr recipe with edible results. I got this (through my LonelyPlanet account) from Ivan: “This is just to report my skyr-making attempts in England. I brought some skyr back from both my last trips to Iceland. The first time was subject to all sorts of over-heating disasters, and finally came to an end when I spilt it all over the hall carpet. The most recent attempt (from skyr brought back in summer 2005) was much more successful. I was using the junket-rennet, which is not ideal, and does not really give the right texture, but I was definitely making something with the right kind of taste and which people wanted to eat. I kept it going for 6 months, and then suddenly it stopped working, so I must have done something to kill it.” So you see: it can be done. The starter is always taken from the last batch of skyr and I think in Ivan's case it probably got weaker every time until it finally died. I have been told the sky...

29 shops in the Whole Foods Market chain in the Mid-Atlantic states are now offering Icelandic skyr (vanilla and blueberry flavors, with strawberry and unflavoured coming soon), cheeses and lamb. Icelandic chocolate (Síríus Konsúm) will be available soon, and fresh Icelandic fish will be available in the fall. The Icelandic exporter expects to start selling the same products in Whole Foods Markets in the North-east USA, including Boston and New York, in September. Source: Morgunblaðið

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.

The Viking settlers are believed to have brought the knowledge of how to make skyr with them from Norway, and may have developed it further after settlement. Since that time, the knowledge of skyr -making has been lost in Scandinavia. Skyr looks like thick yoghurt, and the taste is reminiscent of it. But skyr is actually a type of fresh cheese. Because it is made with skim milk, the fat content is very low, allowing it to be eaten with cream and sugar without too much guilt. It is also an excellent source of calcium. Making it takes time, but it's well worth the effort. Skyr is not widely available outside Iceland (it is sold in limited amounts in some speciality shops in the USA), which can make it hard to produce in other countries. The reason for this is that in order to make skyr , you need skyr . There is a special bacteria culture that gives skyr its taste and texture, and the best way of getting the bacteria into a new batch is by mixing a portion of prepared skyr into...