Obituary: Svavar Pétur / Prins Póló

Svavar Pétur Eysteinsson (1977 - 2022)

The Icelandic artist Svavar Pétur Eysteinsson, also known by his stage name “Prins Pólo”, has died at the age of just 45.

The man with the golden crown as his trademark...

Well-known musician and artist

Svavar Pétur came from Breiðhólt, a district of Reykavík. He studied graphic design and, in addition to his work as an experimental artist, performed very successfully as a singer-songwriter, band musician and solo artist. His works with references from his song lyrics are also very popular and well-known in Iceland.

Is it too late to get another coffee?

Svavar Pétur had already been diagnosed with terminal esophageal cancer in 2018. He fought the illness until the end and continued to work creatively as a painter and musician, had another exhibition in the summer of 2022 and released a new album.

A pioneer of vegan Icelandic cuisine

Svavar Pétur was also a pioneer of vegan Icelandic cuisine and developed and marketed vegan sausages (" bulsur ") made from regional Icelandic ingredients (pearl barley, beans, tomato puree, etc.) and the pearl barley chips " Bopp ".

A few years ago we visited Svavar Pétur and his wife Berglind on their farm Havarí in Berufsjörður, where the family ran organic farming and a culture and tourism center with a café until 2020, and interviewed the two about their "bulsur".

The couple were flexitarians themselves, but lived primarily “plant-based.” It was important to them that the food consisted of fresh ingredients, if possible organically produced or from high-quality regional cultivation, freshly prepared and without preservatives or other additives. They also took this approach with their vegan sausages.

Berglind told us very clearly about the first beginnings of vegan sausages in her home kitchen ("some of them didn't smell good at all!") and the practical difficulties in the further development and production process.

We were also able to try the vegan sausages on site in Havarí - with mashed potatoes, pickled radishes, currants, fresh kale and pickled beets. Definitely very tasty - we also have very fond memories of the food!

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Christmas is coming, only 3 months to go...

Our Christmas book is published

Just in time before the Christmas season starts, our new book is published. It’s a book about Christmas in Iceland.

You can learn a lot about Icelandic Christmas traditions, e.g. about the 13 Yule Lads, about the terrible Christmas Cat, about the lights in the cemeteries, about how Icelanders celebrate their patron saint on December 23rd, about the Christmas flood of books, the fireworks sale for New Year`s Eve, the bonfires, which are lighted at the end of the Christmas season, and much more.

And you will also get many recipes of Icelandic Christmas cuisine. From cookies, confectionary and pastries through drinks like Christmas beer and mulled wine to complete main courses and desserts typical for the holidays.

“Yummy Iceland at Christmas Time – Recipes and Traditions” is the ideal gift for everyone, who’s interested in Iceland and who loves cooking and baking.

It is available at Amazon, either as hardcover in premium quality, as paperback, or as a Kindle version. 

More about it here.

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Sheep Round-up

In Iceland, especially in valleys, you often pass large, circular buildings that look like an eye or a cut cake from above. The buildings are mostly made of wood or metal - they are "réttir", where the region's sheep are distributed to the farms in the autumn after they have been driven from the high pastures.

The sheep drive is always a special local event in September in Iceland - people come together, often the relatives and friends who now live in the city come, and together the sheep are driven down from the high pastures and finally into such large pens like this one near Hveragerði sorted by farm. And when the work is done, people often talk, eat, sing and celebrate for a long time.

However, many of the sheep go straight to the slaughterhouse after the rounding.

Icelandic cuisine has many delicious dishes made with lamb and mutton. You can of course also find corresponding recipes here on the blog, for example for the traditional meat soup (kjötsúpa), a leg of lamb from the oven, many stew dishes such as lambakjöt með curry or fried hearts, not to mention the classic sheep's head (svið).

By the way, lamb is also used in making the classic Icelandic hot dog sausages!

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Bláberjagrautur

Blueberry porridge

You can still collect the last blueberries, so I have a nice recipe for a fruity blueberry porridge for you...

Ingredients for 2 servings

500 ml water
200 g fresh blueberries
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 pinch of ground vanilla
50 g sugar
30 g potato flour


Preparation

Collect the blueberries and then wash them thoroughly.

Then put the blueberries in a large pot with the water, cinnamon and vanilla and heat until everything has a nice uniform color.

Then add the sugar and stir (add a little more sugar if necessary, depending on your taste).

Mix the potato flour with a little cold water.

Then add the mixture to the pot, bring to the boil and stir gently, then let it cook for about 2 to 3 minutes.

Then remove the pot from the heat and let the blueberry jelly cool slightly.

Traditionally, blueberry groats are eaten cold and served with fresh milk, AB-mjólk, sour milk or cream.

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Croissant brauðréttur

Croissant bread dish

Bread dishes ("brauðréttir") are quite popular in everyday Icelandic cuisine. Here I have a recipe that doesn't use toast but croissants - for a delicious bread dish for a leisurely breakfast.

The dish can be prepared very well the evening before and then covered and left in the fridge overnight. The next morning you take it out of the fridge so that it comes back to room temperature, preheat the oven in the meantime and then put the food in the oven.

Ingredients for 4 persons

4 croissants

4 slices of cheddar cheese

1 tsp butter

2 eggs

200 ml cream

100 ml milk

1/2 tsp coarse sea salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp dried thyme

80 g Brie

6 slices of ham

1 tsp butter

Preparation

Cut the croissants open and top with the cheddar cheese, then close them again.

Butter a fireproof dish and place the croissants in the dish.

Cut the ham and brie into small pieces and distribute as evenly as possible over the croissants.

In a bowl, mix the eggs with the cream, milk and salt, pepper and thyme and pour the mixture over the croissants.

Add a little more dried thyme over the croissants, cover the pan with aluminum foil and let it sit in the fridge overnight.

The next morning, preheat the oven to 350 °F (180 °C) upper and lower heat and leave the croissants at room temperature in the meantime.

Bake the tin with the aluminum foil at 350 °F (180 °C) upper and lower heat for 20 minutes.

Then remove the aluminum foil and bake for another 10 minutes at 350 °F (180 °C) upper and lower heat until the dish has turned nice and golden brown.

Then serve immediately.

[Translated from here.]