Swanson School of Engineering

Throughout the course of the week, we have expanded out pallets to traditional Icelandic food. As of last night, we have had:

–          Puffin

–          Horse

–          Atlantic char

–          Lamb in many different forms – head including

–          Skyr before and after adding sugar and milk

–          Rúgbrauð – rye bread baked in the ground near geothermal vents

–          Flatkökur – flat rye bread baked on a scorching hot pan.

–          Hangikjöt – smoked lamb meat (combined with flatkökur is a traditional Christmas snack)

–          Harðfiskur – dried fish

–          Smjör – butter 

–          Hákarl – fermented shark 

–          Hraun – a chocolate treat

It’s safe to say we are trying as much as possible before going back to the states, as I try to do whenever and wherever I travel. All of these dishes came around because of the resources that they had at hand. Icelandic people did not have much money, and it was very frigid for crops, so they had to work with what they had. 

Last night I tried Icelandic horse, and it was my favorite out of all the meats we had tried. It was tender and tasted light, despite it coming from a mighty horse. The puffin, surprisingly, was my least favorite; the texture was similar to liver, and I couldn’t easily get past that. These tastings put into perspective just how desperate they were for food. They are very unique meats that you wouldn’t think to have unless you truly had no other option. But nonetheless, it was delicious.