Icelandic cooking, recipes and food

Today is Shrove Tuesday. This day is called Sprengidagur (Bursting Day) in Iceland. This is the last day before Lent, and during the time when Icelanders still observed the fast, it was the last day on which meat could be eaten until Easter. The origins of the Icelandic name for this day are uncertain, but today it is generally taken to mean "eating until you feel like you're bursting". Split pea soup and salted mutton has been the traditional meal for this day since the 19th century. Recipe: 2 l water 500 g lamb meat or mutton, preferably salt cured, or salt pork if lamb/mutton is not available 200 g yellow split peas 1 tsp salt 500 g potatoes 1 onion 500 g carrots and rutabagas, cubed/sliced 3-4 slices smoked bacon (optional) (I use a lot more) Soak the peas for time indicated on the packaging (or use peas that don't require soaking). Bring water to the boil. Cut onion into chunks and add to the water with the meat and peas, and cook for about 1 hour....

As with some of the other recipes on this blog, this is fairly recent, no older than 20th century and probably originated in Denmark. The soup is made with the kind of sweet fruit or berry concentrate that is meant for mixing with water for drinking. Because the concentrates come in different thicknesses and need different amounts of water for mixing to the right flavour I am not giving exact measurements. The soup can be made with different types of concentrate, but the Icelandic version is often made with mixed fruit concentrate. When I say concentrate, I am not referring to the pure concentrated juices you can buy frozen or canned, but the sweetened stuff that is halfway to being syrup because of its sugar content, but I have no doubt that if pure juice concentrate were to be used it would yield a delicious soup. I suggest trying it with strawberry, raspberry, cherry or pomegranate concentrate, or some other red or reddish juice. If pure unsweetened concentrate is to be used, I sugg...

This soup is among the oldest recorded Icelandic recipes. It's sweet-sour taste is unusual for fish-based soups. Traditionally, the recipe is given for halibut, but you can also use salmon, trout, wolf-fish or lumpfish, or other fatty fish. 1 1/2 kg fresh fish with bones, cut into pieces to fit in the pan 1 1/2 litre water 2 tbs white vinegar 2 tsp salt 2 bay leaves 50 g flour 100 ml cold water 1/2 lemon 20 prunes 1-2 tbs sugar 200 ml water potatoes parsley If the prunes are dry, soak them in water for an hour or so, or cook them in a little sugar-water with the zest of the 1/2 lemon until soft. Keep them whole. Put water, salt, vinegar and bay leaves in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the fish. skim off the scum when the liquid boils again. cook the fish until it loosens from the bones. Strain the cooking liquid into another saucepan, leaving a little in the pan with the fish to keep it moist. Mix together the flour and cold water into a smooth paste. Bring the strained coo...

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.

Crowberries grow all over Iceland and can in fact be found in many areas in the subarctic and temperate zones, including Denmark*, Alaska and northern Canada (according to Wikipedia, they are also found in the Andes). They are well worth picking because they make delicious jelly, a good drink concentrate**, taste good fresh with skyr, and then there is this soup: 1/2 to 1 kg crowberries, well ripened 1 litre water 1 cinnamon stick 2 tbs potato flour or cornstarch 100 ml cold water 100 g sugar, or to taste Pick over the berries, removing any under-ripe berries and other unwanted objects (may include twig pieces, leaves, moss and spiders - that is assuming you didn't go to Vínberið*** and buy the berries already cleaned) and clean under running cold water. Cook the berries in the water with the cinnamon stick for 20-30 minutes. Strain and re-heat to boiling. Mix potato flour/cornstarch and water into a paste. When the soup boils, stir in the paste and let boil again. Ad...

I loved cocoa soup and cocoa pudding when I was a child. The soup would be served with zwieback that we would crumble into coarse pieces into the bowl and then we would eat the soup while there was still some crunch left in the zwieback. On special occasions cocoa soup would be served with whipped cream and then it was like thick cocoa, only you ate it with a spoon. It was wonderful to come in from the chill of a winter's morning and sit down to some hot cocoa soup for lunch. Cocoa pudding was poured into a large bowl prior to serving, sugar was sprinkled on top to prevent a skin from forming, and then we would eat it warm or cold. I never liked it much cold, preferring cold chocolate pudding made with Royal pudding mix, served with whipped cream mixed into it so it looked marbelised. My mother never used cinnamon but sometimes she put a little bit of vanilla essence into the soup. 2 tbs baking cocoa 2 1/2 tbs sugar 250 ml water 1 cinnamon stick or vanilla pod (optional) 1 litre m...

This is a luxurious relative of rye bread soup. 300 g dark rye bread 1 litre water 700 ml dark malt ale, Guinness for example (Icelanders use Egils Malt) Brown sugar 100-200 ml cream Finely chop the bread and soak in the water overnight. Cook over low heat until completely dissolved, stirring occasionally. Press through a sieve, put back in the saucepan, thin with the ale and mix well. Bring to the boil, stirring constantly. Add brown sugar to taste and cook for 5 minutes. Serve hot with whipped cream as a dessert.

This is actually a classic recipe that has by now become international, but since it is mushroom season here in Iceland I thought I would show one way of using all those delicious wild mushrooms that are cropping up all over the place. While I usually use instant packet soup as a base when I make creamy soups for myself (and then work a little kitchen magic so as to make it into something you would never suspect wasn't made from scratch), it is well worth the effort to make soup from scratch. Here's a recipe for mushroom soup: 200 g fresh mushrooms. Wild mushrooms are best, but you can use button mushrooms too and still get a very good soup. 50 g (2 tbs) butter 1 1/2 litre meat stock (you can use vegetable stock as well, but the flavour will be slightly different) – or try mushroom stock if you can get some 1 small onion or leek 100 ml cream Salt, pepper Brush the mushrooms gently to remove any dirt. Chop half of them very finely, and do the same with the onion. If the remainin...

This is a very healthy, nourishing soup. Iceland moss ( Cetraria islandica ) is very versatile. In spite of the name, it isn't a moss at all, but a lichen. It's used in cosmetics (especially creams and ointments), medicines and nutritional supplements (it is an excellent remedy for coughs and digestive problems), and as food. In the past it was also used for colouring wool. Iceland moss also grows in other northern countries, but as it is very sensitive to pollution, it is not much harvested. It tastes very bitter when used in teas and infusions, but cooking it in milk, like in this recipe, removes most of the bitterness. This soup is very nourishing and tasty. It is up to you if you choose to actually eat the moss or just use it as a flavouring (it gets a bit slimy when cooked). I sometimes get this at my grandmother's. She also makes a cough syrup with Iceland moss, which tastes extremely bitter in spite of it being saturated with sugar, but it is the best cough remedy I ...

This was a very popular soup in my home when I was little. Every time I taste elbow macaroni in sweet milk, it brings back childhood memories. 1 1/2 litre milk 60 g elbow macaroni 1/2 litre water 1 1/2 tbs sugar 1 12 tsp salt cinnamon sugar Cook the macaroni in the water as indicated on the packet. Add the milk, sugar and salt and heat to boiling. Skim and serve with cinnamon sugar. The mother of one of my friends calls this "englaballagrautur" which translates as "angel dick soup" - I suppose because it's white, sweet and the elbow macaroni kind of look like little penises.

I'm back after taking a break from blogging to finish my master's thesis. Today's recipe is for a soup that I like very much. The nights have turned cold and this soup might have been invented for cold nights, as it's wonderfully warming. Think of egg-nog, but without the alcohol. The original recipe includes raisins or prunes, which I prefer to leave out. Serves 5. 1 ¼ litre milk 2 tbs flour 1-2 eggs 1-2 tbs sugar or brown sugar vanilla essence to taste Break the egg(s) into a bowl or soup tureen and whip with the sugar until light and frothy. Mix together flour and 200 ml cold milk into a smooth paste. Bring the rest of the milk to the boil. When the milk boils, add the flour/milk mixture and bring it back to the boil. Cook on low for about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and pour slowly into the egg/sugar mixture, stirring constantly to prevent curdling. Add vanilla flavouring to taste. Sprinkle sugar on top to prevent a skin from forming. Serve immediately. The ori...

It's rhubarb season, so here is a recipe to try. Rhubarb grows in abundance in almost every vegetable garden in Iceland, right alongside the potatoes. In the summer, it is mostly used for soup and grautur (compote). It is preserved mostly as jam, but it also freezes well, and tastes excellent when preserved in syrup. There are many homes where rhubarb soup/ grautur is eaten throughout the winter. It is also good for desserts (especially pies and compotes) and chutneys, and it makes excellent wine. My mother used to make rhubarb compote about once or twice a month through the summer when I was little, but after my brother decided that he didn't like it, she hardly ever makes it anymore. 3/4 litres water 3-3 1/2 tbs potato starch/cornflour 250 g rhubarb 100 ml water, cold 200 ml sugar Wash the rhubarb and chop into small pieces. Drop into cold water and bring to the boil. Cook until the rhubarb pieces separate. Add the sugar and thicken with the potato starch. Don...

It's almost blueberry season in Iceland, so here is a recipe to try. What we call bláber (blueberries) in Iceland are actually the related bilberries. Either bilberries or blueberries can be used in this recipe. Bilberries in the wild: 250 g blueberries or bilberries, fresh or frozen 1 + 3/4 litre water approx. 150 g sugar 30 g potato starch or cornflour 100 m cold water Drop the berries into boiling water and cook on low until they burst, 3-5 minutes. Mix together potato starch/cornflour and cold water into a smooth paste. Add sugar to the soup and stir until melted. Thicken with potato starch/cornflour mix. Serve and enjoy. -Use more thickening mixture to make a blueberry pudding. Pour into a bowl before it stiffens and sprinkle sugar on top. Serve warm or cold with milk or cream (or half and half).

I sometimes make this delicious fish soup. It's especially warming on a cold winter's evening. Serves 4. 4-5 potatoes , diced 1 medium onion, diced 2 tbs olive oil 1 litre water 1 tbs fish bouillon 1 sprig thyme or basil (optional) 2 garlic cloves, pressed 8-10 sun-dried tomatoes, sliced into finger-wide slices 2 carrots, julienned 1 tsp lemon juice 400-500 g white fish or 250 g white fish and 250 g shrimp, lobster/crab and/or scallops optional: broccoli, cauliflower, celery, chives, parsley Fry the potatoes and onion lightly in the oil (use a deep saucepan or soup pot). Add the water, fish bouillon, thyme, garlic and sun-dried tomato slices*, and cook for about 10 minutes. Add the julienned carrots to the soup. If you are using broccoli or cauliflower, slice broccoli stalks and cut cauliflower into small florets and add with the carrots. Cook for approx. 5 minutes. If using, julienne the celery and cut broccoli heads into florets and add. Adjust the taste with salt and pepper ...

Thriftiness is a strong trait in many older Icelanders, especially the generations that were born before World War II. Everything had to be used up, and throwing away edible leftovers was considered criminal. This thick soup is one way of using up bread leftovers and crusts. Recipe serves 5.   200 g rye bread or assorted bread leftovers. Must be at least half rye bread. 1,25 l water 2 tbs raisins OR 4 prunes 1 tbs orange marmalade (optional) 6 slices lemon, OR orange/lemon zest OR a cinnamon stick 2-3 tbs sugar 100 ml cream, whipped Soak the bread in the water overnight, or until the crusts are soft. Purée (use a blender if you have one) and cook on low for 1 hour. Add the raisins, lemon slices and sugar and cook for about 10 minutes more. Serve warm with whipped cream. Recipe translated from Helga Sigurðardóttir's recipe book Matur & Drykkur ", Mál og Menning, Reykjavík, 1986 (1947).

This is a classic Icelandic dish, a relative of Irish stew. Many, many Icelandic home cooks have a recipe for this soup. No two are the same, and most are not really recipes, but general guidelines. It is very hard to put down a measured recipe, since the ingredients available will vary, and so will the taste, mood and inclination of the cook. The following is one variation, which I have tried to make as authentic as possible. The measurements are not meant to be taken too seriously, and should be varied according to taste and availability of ingredients. I have marked the absolutely necessary ingredients with an asterisk (*). These are only necessary for authenticity – part of the fun is coming up with your own preferred recipe. Cooking time: approximately 60 minutes. Preparation time: 10-15 minutes. Serves 4-6. 1 1/2 litre water (less if you want a stew)* 500 g lamb or mutton pieces on the bone* 1/2 medium onion sliced or coarsely chopped* 100 g white cabbage, head h...