For anyone interested Here is a list of the some of the food that I had on my Iceland trip.
Skyr a mixture of yoghurt and low-fat curd blended with fresh fruit. I can get this at Wegmans here at home but it isn't nearly as good.
Hakarl putrefied shark. Ok I only tasted this. Greenland Shark which has been buried in gravel for months, washed by the tide and hung to dry in the outdoors. Smells and tastes like ammonia.
Smoked Puffin: I am ashamed to admit this. Dark meat which tasted fine. Served with baby root vegetables.
Gravlax: appetizer of raw salmon cured in salt, sugar and dill and served with a dill and mustard sauce. The one I had was accompanied by thinly sliced radishes and caviar. I loved this so much that I ordered it more than once.
Fish: I had Arctic Char, Turbot over pureed lentils, Grilled and Baked Salmon (of course I didn't have to ask if it was farm raised or wild), and Plaice. All were very good.. Preparation was usually quite light and lovely.
Lamb: I usually don't eat lamb, but I had Medallions cooked rare and very tender.
Icelandic Meat Soup: A kind of vegetable soup with lamb meat cubes. Available at restaurants at major tourist sites. Very good.
Foamy Mushroom Soup: Don't know much about this except it was mushroom soup and it was foamy instead of liquid. Very tasty.
Creamy Lobster Soup: Very nice, but the lobster tails floating in it contained over-cooked meat. Maybe they were for decoration and not meant to be eaten.
Potatoes: Many entrees were accompanied by plain boiled potatoes or sautéed baby potatoes. For some reason they were delicious and needed no extras to enjoy.
Barley: I had an appetizer with barley, broccoli and herbs which was very nice.
Sandwiches: Combinations of veggies, sliced eggs, some with ham on nice rye or grain bread are available prepackaged at various locations such as gas stations.
Desserts: I didn't have many desserts, but did have Blueberry Ice Cream, Ice Cream whipped with Strawberries and mixed with little hard candies, Apple Crisp, Oatmeal Cake.
Hot Dogs: Everything I read said that the Icelanders love Hot Dogs and that they would be available everywhere. I am not a fan of Hot Dogs, so I didn't go looking for them. The most famous stand is near the harbor in Reykjavik and always has a line of people.
Food in Iceland
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I would let myself be tarred and feathered, my finger and toe nails removed with pliers, have boiling oil poured over me, and other wonderful things before that putrid shark would ever cross my lips.
Now, I can see that perhaps 600 years ago, one had to eat things like that, especially in a climate like Iceland, but they don't have to do that anymore, and why they still eat that, that, that, vile flesh, is just beyond me, and I don't care about "tradition". Tony Bourdain would agree with me and Andrew Zimmern wasn't wild about it either. LOL