Gourmand Weekend in Reykjavík

May contain traces of advertisement.*

Mid of June in Reykjavík

In the last two years my better half had visited Iceland in June for hiking and had participated in the celebrations for the Icelandic National Holiday on June 17th. This year I wanted to see these celebrations, too. So we decided to visit Iceland for this weekend, and my husband wanted to go hiking afterwards on his own, while I travelled back to Germany.

Actually we had planned to spend a quiet weekend in Reykjavík: Arrival on Friday evening. Take a walk through the city on Saturday, take a bath in one of its pools. And on Sunday we wanted to go to the celebrations for the national holiday.

But then my husband had the idea to ask some restaurants, whether they would invite us for a meal, when we write about them in our blog. In the past we already had written about Icelandic restaurants. Why not extend this section?

We selected restaurants of different kinds, restaurants, which we had heard good things about, from which we had seen great food fotos or which sounded interesting for any other reason. We hadn't expected any reaction, but in fact we got a lot of invitations:

So we got the possibility to try 6 different restaurants within this weekend. Different kinds of restaurant. Meet many interesting people, who love and live Icelandic cuisine. And my husband could try two further restaurants after his hiking tours.

We had a really great weekend in Reykjavk: Of course we participated in the celebrations for the national holiday.

And we also found some time to go swimming in Suðurbæjarlaug in Hafnarfjörður.

But our main focus was: Visiting restaurants.

On Friday evening we had our first dinner. It was great. We could fall asleep at the end of the day of arrivel - exhausted, but well-fed and happy.

On Saturday we started with swimming in Hafnarfjörður before we had our breakfast in a book cafe.

For lunch we went to Grandi Mathöll, the newly opened food hall in Reykjavík. It is located in an old fish cannery at the old harbour of Reykjavík

Dinner was served for us in a dignified restaurant in a historic house of Reykjavík. This is also a location for many cultural events, and we got not only piano music to hear, but also a guided tor of the house. 

On Sunday we were busy because of the national holiday. When it started to rain in the afternoon, we luckily had an invitation for coffee and cake in a cat cafe.

At our dinner we met a TV chef in person. He was not only cooking in his restaurant, he had also had an own show in Icelandic TV and written a cook-book, which I had often used.

On Monday I flew back, but my husband went on a hike. In the evening he visited a geothermal bath with connected restaurant. Bath and restaurant have openen a few months ago, just next to the biggest hot spring of Iceland. So my husband could relax in the spa, before he got a great dinner.

After the hiking week, on his las evening in Iceland, my husband was invited for a 7-courses meal in Reykjavík. A great end of the trip. 

Reports about our experiences with all these restaurants will follow within the next two weeks. I'm just writing on them. 

* Legal note:

Formally this article can be graded as advertisement, since we had been invited for the meal. Anyhow, we have chosen only restaurants, which we had heard good things about and which we estimated as interesting. Accordingly we're really delighted, and if we fall into words of praise, these are meant honestly.


[Translated from here.]

Þrír Frakkar hjá Úlfari

"3 coats at Úlfar"

May contain traces of advertisement.*

On the first evening of our gourmet weekend in Reykjavík we were invited to Þrír Frakkar. The restaurant is located on Baldursgata, less than 500 meters from Hallgrímskirkja. "Þrír Frakkar" means "3 coats" - but unfortunately I don't know why the place is called that. I should have asked...

The restaurant has been run by chef Úlfar Eysteinsson and his family for almost 30 years.

I first noticed it on a German television program when there was a report about the restaurant and the good, typical Icelandic food there, and shortly afterwards when we had a holiday apartment two streets away and passed Þrír Frakkar, I recognized it with joy.

When we arrived at 7 p.m. as agreed, the dining room was still quite empty, but then it quickly became full. Later, guests had to be put off because there were no more free seats, but they really tried to do whatever was possible and the staff remained very nice, friendly and committed even in the most hustle and bustle. Overall, there were a lot of tourists there, but also locals.

When eating, we were advised by the very friendly, very cheerful waitress, who found almost everything particularly tasty, but ultimately recommended two fish dishes to us.

As is often the case in Iceland, the starter was fresh bread with butter.

My husband then decided on " grillsteikt þorskflök á mildri sinnepssósu ", i.e. grilled cod fillet in a mild mustard sauce. The waitress recommended the dish to us because of the mustard sauce with three different types of mustard (white, brown and black mustard). And she was right - we've never had such a good mustard sauce before, it was absolutely amazing! The cod was very nice too - but the sauce was really brilliant.

I chose " pönnusteikt fersk skata með rjómalagaðri sítrónu dill sósu", i.e. pan-fried fresh skate in creamy lemon-dill sauce .

Icelanders usually eat their stingray fermented at Christmas as “kæst skata”. This is fermented rotten ray with rendered kneaded fat that you hang out until it gets blue hair. An absolutely intense olfactory experience, to put it that way.

It was actually the first time I saw fresh rays on the menu at Þrír Frakkar - and then I really wanted to try them. And I have to say - when fresh, rays taste incredibly delicious. The sauce with it was nice, but comparatively "harmless", but the fish was a real poem and definitely recommended, I think.

We were actually quite full after the main course, but we were so pleased with the dessert menu that we shared a portion of Skyr Brulée . It tasted very tasty, especially with the fruit sauces on the side.

Afterwards we were really full in a very pleasant way.

At a glance:

The menu is truly "typically Icelandic", just as you would expect: starters include hákarl, grilled whale meat and smoked puffins. The main courses are dominated by fish and seafood (e.g. char, cod, halibut or wolffish), but there is also horse meat, auks, whale meat and lamb.

When we were there, a starter cost on average around 2,350 ISK (just under €19) and a main course cost on average around 5,100 ISK, the equivalent of around €40 (as of June 2018). The dessert cost an average of 1,380 ISK, just under €11.

Þrír Frakkar is normally open during the week for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2:20 p.m. and in the evenings from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.; on weekends the restaurant is only open in the evenings from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m.

* Legal notice:

Formally this article can be graded as advertisement, since we had been invited for the meal. Anyhow, we have chosen only restaurants, which we had heard good things about and which we estimated as interesting. Accordingly we're really delighted, and if we fall into words of praise, these are meant honestly.


[Translated from here.]

Nammikaka með karamellusósu

Sweet cake with caramel sauce

If I had expected you today, I would have cake... and since I'm expecting my husband today (back from Iceland - we're picking him up at the airport this afternoon), I baked cake. However, I baked the cake yesterday because it tastes best when it has been left to sit for at least a day.

Strictly speaking, this cake is actually a Súkkulaðihnetukaka með karamellusósu, i.e. a chocolate and nut cake with a layer of caramel sauce. But I got to know it as Nammikaka, i.e. as “Sweet Cake”. And he's actually pretty cute. But also pretty tasty!


Ingredients  

200 g dark chocolate
130 g margarine
3 eggs
400 g brown sugar
150 g flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground vanilla
2 Tbsp whipping cream
100 g walnuts



Preparation

For the base, first preheat the oven to 350 °F (180 °C) upper/lower heat.

Melt 100 g chocolate with 70 g margarine in a water bath.

In a large bowl, beat the 3 eggs with 300 g brown sugar until fluffy.

Add the flour, salt and ground vanilla.

Finally, add the liquid chocolate margarine mixture and mix everything thoroughly.

Place in a springform pan lined with baking paper and bake in a preheated oven at 350 °F (180 °C) upper and lower heat for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, for the glaze/sauce, heat the remaining 60 g of margarine with the remaining 100 g of sugar in a small saucepan and simmer for one or two minutes.

Then remove the pot from the heat, let it cool briefly and then stir in the liquid cream.

Crush the walnuts.

After 15 minutes of baking, take the baked base out of the oven and sprinkle with the walnuts.

... and pour the caramel sauce over it.

Bake again at 350 °F (180 °C) upper and lower heat for about 20 - 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, grate the dark chocolate.

As soon as the cake comes out of the oven...

...sprinkle directly with the grated chocolate so that it melts nicely.

Store the cake in a cool place and let it sit for at least a day.

Then cut the cake into pieces and serve with coffee.

[Translated from here.]

Berjaskyrís "Áfram Ísland!"

Berry Skyr Ice Cream “Forward, Iceland!”

The World Cup starts on Thursday and Iceland will be there for the first time. The Icelandic team's first group game is on Saturday, June 16, 2018 against Argentina. We keep our fingers crossed for the Icelanders and shout “Áfram Ísland!” and of course I have already prepared suitable food - ice cream lollies in the national colors!


Ingredients

450 g vanilla skyr
2 bananas
1 Tbsp honey
125 g raspberries
125 g blackberries

blue food coloring, if desired


Preparation

Puree the vanilla skyr thoroughly with the bananas and honey.

Then puree the raspberries and blackberries in two separate containers.

Mix half of the skyr-banana mixture with the blackberry puree and also 1/4 of the skyr mixture with the raspberry puree. Leave the last quarter unchanged.

I wasn't quite happy with the "blue" color of the blackberry mixture, so I mixed some blue food coloring with 1 tablespoon of powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon of water and stirred the whole thing into the blackberry-Skyr mixture to color it.

Then fill the different colors in layers into the corresponding ice cream molds:

First spread half of the blue mixture into the ice cream molds...

... let it freeze a little so that the colors don't mix, and then put half of the white mixture on top, let it freeze again, then the red mixture and let it freeze again, do the same with the remaining white mixture and the remaining blue mixture.

Carefully push the wooden sticks into the frozen ice cream.

Then let the ice cream solidify in the freezer for at least 6 hours, preferably a little more.

Then pour warm water over the outside of the individual molds for a few seconds and then carefully pull the individual ice cream sticks out of the mold.

Bon appetit - and: Áfram Ísland! Huh!

[Translated from here.]

Skyrbaka með kanil

Skyr dessert with cinnamon

I love cinnamon, in pretty much every situation and even without Christmas - so this recipe for a refreshing skyr dessert with lots of cinnamon is just right for me, even in the high summer temperatures here in Germany!

Ingredients

100 g flour
100 g oat flakes
100 g brown sugar
50 g butter
1 tsp cinnamon
1 pinch of baker's ammonia


400 g cream cheese
200 g powdered sugar
1 tsp ground vanilla
2 tsp ground cinnamon
500 g vanilla skyr
500 ml whipping cream

1 tsp cinnamon


Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350 °F (180 °C) upper/lower heat.

Knead the flour with the oat flakes, sugar, butter, cinnamon and baker's ammonia to form crumbles.

Place the streusel in a suitable baking pan and bake in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes.

Then take it out of the oven and let it cool down well.

Whip the cream until stiff.

Mix the cream cheese with the powdered sugar, vanilla and cinnamon.

Fold in the vanilla skyr.

From the whipped cream put 5 tablespoons aside for decoration.

Mix the remaining cream into the remaining cream.

Spread the cream on the base.

Arrange the remaining cream on top of the cream using a decorative syringe or something similar.

Dust the remaining cinnamon over it.

Let the Skyrkaka sit in the fridge for at least 2 hours and then serve well chilled.

[Translated from here.]