Our delicacies are made primarily of lamb, dairy and fish, and many of our recipes date back to ancient Nordic times. The emphasis of all Icelandic cooking is on quality, and our chefs are constantly concocting new creations made of the finest ingredients – all of which are produced here in Iceland.
Starting March 11th and through the 17th, you can find traditional Iceland fare in Boston as part of our Taste of Iceland event. World-renowned Icelandic Chef Thorarinn Eggertsson will be serving up his specialties at Rustic Kitchen in Boston as well as the British Beer Company in Framingham and Walpole (see the full Taste of Boston schedule here). Chef Eggertsson is famous for incorporating a mix of experiential dining and hints of molecular gastronomy into his menu, and is known to feature ingredients sourced locally in Iceland, such as gray duck, reindeer and salted cod. His restaurant Orange, located in Iceland’s capital of Reykjavík, made its way onto Condé Nast Traveler‘s prestigious 2009 Hot Tables List, which referred to Chef Thorarinn as “mad genius” and Orange as “packed with playful surprises” and “fun-through-dining.”
Please see below for some traditional Iceland recipes. Give them a try, send us your pictures, and we’ll post them on the blog! And don’t forget, if you like what you taste, make sure you make it to Rustic Kitchen or the British Beer Company starting this week to try Chef Eggertsson’s menu yourself.
Happy Eating!
Traditional Iceland Recipes:
Icelandic Pancakes
Small, round, thin and sweet, they are either rolled up with sugar or wrapped into squares filled with jam, often blueberry, and whipped cream. The recipe for these pancakes dates back to the 18th Century and they are supposed to be very thin. In fact, according to legend, experienced housewives made pancakes so thin that they could read the daily newspaper through them! They are traditionally served with coffee in the afternoon.
Ingredients:
1 1/4 tbsp butter
1 cup of flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp of sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups milk
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
Directions:
- Melt the butter in a saucepan and leave to cool
- Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl then add the sugar and salt
- Add 1 1/4 cups milk into the bowl and stir until there are no lumps in the dough.
- Add the eggs and the remaining 1 1/4 cups of milk along with the vanilla essence.
- Finally add the melted butter and stir until the mixture is light and thin.
- Heat a frying pan on medium heat and add a little bit of butter or oil if necessary to prevent the dough from sticking to the surface of the pan.
- When the pan is hot, pour about half a ladle of dough into the pan and distribute the mixtures as quickly and evenly as possible.
- When the pancake is dry on top, it is time to flip it or if you are not feeling that adventurous simply turn using a spatula.
- When both sides of the pancake have a golden color, it is ready
- Sprinkle sugar, add whipped cream and jam and enjoy!
Plokkfiskur
Fish has always been a staple of the Icelandic diet and plokkfiskur was created to make the most of leftovers. It is a deceptively simple yet satisfying dish that combines the fish with milk and potatoes. For this recipe you may use cod, halibut or any white fish. Serve with rye bread.
Ingredients:
1 1/4lbs cod, halibut or haddock
1 1/4lb potatoes, boiled and peeled
1 white onion
12 oz milk
2 oz butter
3 tbsp flour
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons chives, freshly snipped to add color, flavor & garnish
Directions:
- Skin, bone & break up the fish into flakes.
- Roughly chop potatoes & finely chop onion.
- Slowly heat milk in a saucepan almost to a boiling point.
- While the milk is heating, in a medium to large sized non-stick saucepan, melt butter & saute onion over medium-heat until soft. Do not allow it to brown.
- Sprinkle flour over onion, stir well & cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Gradually add warmed milk, stirring continuously. Simmer for 3-4 min, stirring often.
- Add flaked fish & stir briskly to break up the fish flakes completely. Season liberally w/salt & pepper.
- Add potatoes & stir gently. Cook over low-heat till heated through.
- Spoon into 4 bowls & sprinkle ea serving with 1/2 tbsp chives. Serve hot w/dark rye bread & butter.
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