Most of the time, I subsisted off hotel breakfasts and hotdogs. The breakfasts were a mixture of traditional Icelandic items and what you would find at a regular hotel. I would always go for rye bread with butter, and they always had jams that you could spread on to as well. Tomatoes seem to be popular in Iceland, as they were served at every hotel my group stayed at. I always made sure to get a few slices onto my plate; it’s hard to eat enough vegetables when you’re traveling! Another thing I made sure to get was the skyr, which is a type of strained yogurt. Sometimes it is mixed with cream, although I liked it with a thicker, unmixed consistency. Whenever we stopped at a convenience store, I would always get a few cups of skyr.
Probably the most famous Icelandic dish is its hotdogs, known as Pylsur. The hotdogs consist of a lamp and pork sausage (sheep outnumber humans in Iceland), with both crispy and raw onions for toppings. Condiments include Pylsusinnep, a mustard-based sauce as well as regular ketchup. I brought a bottle of Pylsusinnep back home with me to make my own Icelandic hotdogs (though I had to throw it out when the power went out). Hotdogs are sold in stands around Reykjavik and convenience stores, and were pretty cheap, only being around 3 to 5 dollars.
We had a few dinners that were paid for by the program. The first was at Hotel A, where we were served lamp, potatoes, and salad. It was pretty tasty. The second dinner was at Sæta Svínið, where we were served a platter consisting of smoked puffin, lamb tataki, cured arctic char, and horse tartare. I was excited to eat the puffin and the horse, as I had never eaten these animals before. Overall, each dish was tasty and I wanted more. In our last day in Iceland, I went with a smaller group and we explored Reyjkavik. We stopped at 101 Reykjavik Street food and got Plokkfiskur – fish stew. It actually had more of a mashed potato consistency, but was hearty and tasty nonetheless.
The one thing I didn’t like was the licorice! It was just too salty for me. Licorice flavored candy seemed to be everywhere, and it was a flavor I hadn’t really tasted before. Still, it’s always interesting to see candy from other cultures than your own. I really liked Hraun – lava shaped chocolate wafer bites and Appelsin, orange crush soda.
Overall, the food was a mixture of both traditional dishes, based on what they had available back then, and new items made possible by industrialization. I certainly enjoyed tasting my way through Iceland.
Swanson School of Engineering 