For some people, adventure means hanging off a plane or cliff diving. For me, adventure comes in the form of trying new foods! My self rules: the more adventurous the food, the better health I need to be in — can’t really be trying unfamiliar foods with a cold, lack of hearty appetite, etc. — and it’s okay not to be in love with all foods. Just at least try a little bit! Also, very important: when trying wild game or more unusual foods, you want the preparer to be on top of his game (if that’s not too terrible a pun!).
I was very happy to be hosted to experience the bounty of Iceland done up in gourmet ways at Reykjavik’s 3 Frakkar. Chef Úlfar Eysteinsson is famous for his ideas with traditional foodstuffs.
The restaurant is very convenient if you are staying at Hotel Holt — it’s around the corner, slightly up a hill. The atmosphere is bistro-like, so casual attire is the way to go.
At the urging of RoCK, I tried a dish that even the native Icelanders are veering away from, one of their most ancient recipes: fermented shark. Potted fermented shark was the main way Viking preserved the meat, though some food anthropologists say that other preservation methods were available to them. They liked it! Fermented shark is one of the most challenging foods out there. You eat a bit on a toothpick with a cold shot of Brennivin, an anise-like schnapps sometimes called “Black Death”. One might really need a full bottle of it: Anthony Bourdain pronounced fermented shark one of the absolutely grossest things he ever ate. How did I find it? I flung my toothpick across the table in outrage! RoCK delved into it more deeply, encouraging me to chew some more, to release more of the ammonia flavors. Um, no thanks. That’s another thing: as it sits on the table, the smell develops enough to knock you out of your chair.
Then, I tried little tastes of things on an appetizer plate:
Reindeer pâté with lingonberry syrup: it was a stronger, country pâté, rich and still accessible.
Smoked puffin – those fat little birds that resemble penguins: the flavor was tasty, like smoked beef, but the texture got to me. They are very, very fatty and their mouth-feel is quite gelatinous.
Next, was dried minke whale. This is a complete different variety of whale than pilot whale, which I had tried the week before in the Faroe Islands. Before digging in, I was wound up like a top, not being a fan of pilot whale. However, I knew that it was a different type. I kept in mind that some type of whale had been approved of by the predecessor of the USDA and other dignitaries as tasting either like venison or pot roast. I sampled dried minke whale. It was moist, not dried as hard as jerky. It had a sweet herb flavor, very pleasant!
After that, I was relieved and eager to try raw whale sashimi. If nobody told you differently, you’d think it was the reddest, most flavorful tuna sashimi you ever had. I finished the portion!
Salmon gravlax was nicely cured, sweet salmon with fresh dill and dill mustard sauce. Salmon sashimi was perfectly clean, sweet and fresh.
The next course was orange roughy (normally on the menu as halibut) with lobster and lobster sauce. The lobster – Iceland’s lobster is smaller than a North American lobster – was tender and sweet. So was the fish! The sauce was creamy without being overly rich.
I also tried pan-fried salted fillet of Cod (baccalá) with cashew nuts, raisins, tomato and apple. I really appreciated the artistry of the flavor combinations, almost anciently Mediterranean in nature. The fish has a salt coating, onion flavor and great, flaky texture.
Next, I tried what they call cod “chins” gratin and what we call cod cheeks gratin. The cheeks are firm, more muscular than the filet. It reminds me of chicken thigh. It’s very meaty and rich with fat pockets.
The next course also was outside my culinary experience: Horse tenderloin with my choice of sauce, béarnaise. I would describe horse as being like a grilled filet mignon. If you like those cuts of very lean beef, horse is something you would like as well. It had a mineral char, was very tender and cooked medium-well. The medium-well or well done bits were the best — I can’t imagine Mongolians eating it raw, like they did in Eastern Europe and Asia! The béarnaise sauce was lemony and rich, but not gloopy.
I did not try — but they have on the menu — roasted “seabirds” which are born from a Tiffany blue eggshell.
Dessert was a refreshing lemon crème brulee made with Icelandic skyr yogurt. It had nice sugar crunch with fluffy texture.
Luxe & Down-Home Cuisine/Culture/Travel/Style 