The land of glaciers and volcanoes, geysers and waterfalls. The land of black beaches and hot springs, year-round swimming and midnight golf. A land where nature’s beauty abounds in its purest, natural, most unadulterated form. The country with the second highest life expectancy and one of the highest standards of living in the world. “Velkomin” and welcome to the island country of Iceland. A country so beautiful should have some amazing food too. I learned that Iceland is known world over to have some of the tastiest lamb and the freshest seafood. RC partner and friend, Sigrun, offered to help us understand the nuances of this cuisine and had some interesting facts to share on her home cuisine.
It was interesting when Sigrun explained that due to its climate and geographical location, traditional Icelandic cuisine included only very basic items. The cuisine was mainly meat-centric since the terrain and the climate made it very difficult to grow fruits and vegetables. The staple diet included lamb, fish, bread and dairy products. Much of the food was traditionally stored and preserved for long durations, with taste being determined mainly by preservation methods such as pickling, smoking or drying. Over the years, Icelandic cuisine has evolved and today Icelanders eat a very modern diet. However, as a tribute to traditional Icelandic cuisine and their culture, every year in the month of January and February, Icelanders celebrate the mid-winter festival Porrablot with a traditional meal – Porramatur. Porramatur is a selection of traditional Icelandic food including meat, fish and dairy products that have been cured with traditional fermentation processes and dried for several months. One of the common dishes in a Porramatur is the hákarl – a form of fermented and dried shark meat. Most dishes of the Porramatur have a characteristic sour taste due to the fermentation processes, and to the modern Icelander, Sigrun explains, Porramatur mainly represents the strangeness and peculiarity of traditional Icelandic food. The dishes of the Porramatur are served with rye bread and traditional Icelandic schnapps, Brennivín, also called “black death” and considered the country’s national alcoholic beverage.
A typical meal in modern day Iceland would include boiled fish, potatoes and bread. Skyr, a type of strained yogurt, is a popular part of the Icelandic diet and is also used for cooking. Modern Islanders snack on dried fish and attribute their longevity of life to the merits of the raw fish they eat. Icelanders take pride in the quality of their lamb and seafood. They say their lamb is the tastiest and tastes “different” from lamb everywhere else in the world since theirs are allowed to roam and wander freely in the open. Gourmet lamb dishes are very popular and integral to modern Icelandic cuisine. Sigrun was happy to share one of those delicious recipes with us.
Oven roasted lamb with sugar brown potatoes (serves 8) www.replicaforbest.co.uk
Lamb c.a. 2-2.5 kg
Put some olive oil on the meat and spice with rosemary, salt and pepper. Cook in oven for 90 minutes at 250ø F. Take out of oven and put on grill. Let meat stand on the table for 15 minutes before putting lamb back into oven for 10 minutes.
For the sauce:
250 gr. mushrooms
« l. cream
1 pack Boursin cheese with black pepper
1 tablespoon meat stock
Salt
Pepper
1 tablespoon Cognac (optional)
Fry the mushrooms in a pot, put the cheese in to melt and finally add the cream. Season the sauce with the meat stock, salt, pepper and Cognac.
Red cabbage
Red cabbage
1 green apple
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
200gr sugar
« cup Ribena juice (concentrated blackcurrant juice)
« cup water
Salt
Put all together in a pot and boil at low heat for 1 « -2 hours.
Sugar brown potatoes
1kg potatoes
150g sugar
2 tablespoons butter
« cup cream
Boil the potatoes and peel the skin off. Melt the sugar in a pan, put the butter in and melt. Stir the cream in and lower the heat before you put the potatoes in the pan. Serve lamb with sauce replica breitling Aeromarine , red cabbage and sugar brown potatoes.
That’s delicious. Lamb with sugar brown potatoes tastes and smells heavenly. Thank you Sigrun for the lovely dish.
As you travel the world, Yummy yum travels with you to explore the secrets of some of the world’s tastiest and most intriguing cuisines. We’ll see you once you are back with more of those lip smacking delicacies. Until then, Bon Voyage and Bon Appetite!!
AUTHOR’S BIOGRAPHY www.replicaforbest.co.uk
Niranjana Neelakantan Gupta is an EC Partner. A home-maker, Niranjana is enjoying exploring the cuisines of the world and introducing friends and family to some of the yummiest dishes from across the globe.
