Harðfiskur

Harðfiskur is an old Icelandic tradition:

According to reports from the Middle Ages, the Icelanders are said to have exported their "dried fish" as a specialty as early as 1300, particularly to Spain and Italy. The "riches of the island of Iceland" therefore consisted of "dried fish" that were collected in such quantities by the inhabitants there would say that the fish mountains were “bigger than houses”. Well, Sebastian Münster, the chronicler of the “Cosmographia”, who died of the plague in Basel in 1552, had never been to Iceland himself, and his authors also gave him some other bears (such as the story that ground harðfiskur was used as flour in Iceland). Substitute would be used), but the large quantities of dried fish exported still seem credible - it is still an important export commodity for the island today.

As for the substitute flour story - in Iceland today Harðfiskur is still popularly spread thickly with butter and then eaten, perhaps the medieval visitors simply misunderstood this and thought that Harðfiskur was a type of Icelandic bread.

For the Harðfiskur, the fish that was caught and killed was caught and scrubbed/scraped vigorously, then the head was removed and the fish was usually filleted. The fish fillets were then briefly dipped in brine and then hung up to dry in an airy place - the wind will drive away any flies! The duration of the drying time depended on the wind, the air temperature and the humidity. The dried fish fillets were then "softened" with a hammer or a noodle knife (in the interests of the later eaters' teeth!) and then eaten with butter.

I was told that the Harðfiskur that you can buy in the store these days is usually manufactured industrially and in appropriate heating chambers.

Incidentally, stockfish and harðfiskur are not the same thing, although they are often confused - stockfish / dried fish is not filleted and dries more slowly, and it also needs to be beaten a lot more before it is soft enough to be safe to eat.


By the way, the fish that you can still admire as a tourist to Iceland on huge racks in the uninhabited expanses of the Reykjanes peninsula are not filleted Harðfiskur, these fish are only gutted here, but dried with their heads in the country's fresh air - both in the summer as well as in winter.

For many Icelanders, their Harðfiskur is a kind of snack, like chips or popcorn in this country, traditionally thickly spread with salty butter, but there are also various recipes, such as braised Harðfiskur with potatoes or fish mousse with crabs.

Harðfiskur is high in protein, vitamins and iron and is therefore particularly popular as a light provisions on strenuous hikes.

[Translated from here.]