7 special things to eat in Iceland
Volcanoes, glaciers, whales, the Northern Lights: there are plenty of reasons to go on holiday to Iceland. But when it comes to food, there isn’t all that much to experience. Or is there? These seven local traditions show that things are slightly different.
Go for a drive, eat ice cream
How did Iceland actually get its name? Perhaps because Icelanders absolutely love ice cream. They even have one word for ‘driving around to get ice cream’. The word ísbíltúr is a combination of two words. The first part is ísbúð, ice-cream parlour, and the second is bíltúr, Icelandic for ‘going for a drive in the car’. Put them together and you know: they’re off to get ice cream.
No golden arches in Iceland
Is that a recommendation or a warning? Either way: you won’t find a McDonald’s anywhere in Iceland. The fast-food chain opened a restaurant in 1993, but it didn’t last long. In 2009, the place closed and no new one has ever opened. Can’t live without fast food? There is Taco Bell and KFC, but Ronald McDonald isn’t welcome here.
Famous cuisine? Sausage in a bun
Of course Iceland has rich culinary traditions, but the most popular dish these days is… the hotdog. You can buy them everywhere: at petrol stations, cafés and roadside restaurants. The best hotdogs are served at Baejarins Beztu Pylsur, where even Bill Clinton and Kim Kardashian stopped for a sausage in a bun. Their famous hotdog comes with fried onions, sweet mustard, raw onion and homemade ketchup.
They drink beer on 1 March
We have King’s Day, the Irish have St Patrick’s Day and Americans celebrate 4 July. Great story, complicated tradition, but really all these holidays are an excuse to drink beer—lots of beer. Icelanders don’t beat around the bush: they simply have a national Beer Day on 1 March. On that day, they celebrate the lifting of the national prohibition on beer, which had been in place since 1915, on 1 March 1989. That calls for a drink!
Grocery shopping in Iceland is incredibly expensive
If you’re going on holiday to Iceland, fill your backpack or wheeled suitcase with tins of tuna, crackers and instant noodle soup, because prices there are astronomical. Or are they? According to the website Reisvormen, it’s not too bad. The site’s reporters went on holiday with a cardboard box full of crisps and taai taai (we’re surprised too), but they never touched their supplies. The supermarket had Dutch prices, and eating out was also affordable. They say it has something to do with the crisis.
Local delicacy: fermented shark
Catch a shark and cut off its head. Bury it on the beach, fill the opened stomach with sand and cover it with heavy stones. Leave it to ferment for six to twelve weeks, dig it up again and hang the meat in the shed to dry for another six months or so. Cut it into cubes and serve with toothpicks. Sound good? It does if you’re Icelandic, because this is hákarl, the local delicacy. Fermented shark smells strongly of ammonia, has a penetrating (rotten) fish flavour and is washed down with a large shot of akvavit.
Throw your bread in the deep fryer
Another delicacy: kleinur, deep-fried pastries. They look a little like doughnuts, but are less sweet. The dough contains cardamom, which gives the pastries a wonderful aroma. The outside is deliciously crisp and crunchy, while the inside is soft and fragrant. Eat them hot from the fryer with a glass of milk, although a cup of coffee is perfectly fine too.
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