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Carnival in Icelandic

There is also carnival in Iceland. With lots of sweet donuts and cream puffs, thick pea soup with salted meat on Shrove Tuesday and children dressed up in wild costumes on Ash Wednesday - when Lent begins.

If you want to get through the carnival season with Icelandic culinary delights, you will find lots of recipes for Rose Monday balls (" bolludagsbollur ") here on the blog. On Tuesday you can then eat " saltköt og baunir " and start Lent full of vigor from Wednesday , you can, for example, follow my “Iceland diet”, do a “Skyr diet” or maybe even eat a predominantly vegan diet for 7 weeks - well, how about it?

Rose Monday

Rose Monday is “ bolludagur ,” or “ ball day ,” when you eat as many sweet donuts and cream puffs as you can.

Originally they were probably rolls that were chopped up and then prepared with milk and butter. This custom probably came to Iceland at the beginning of the 19th century due to Danish influences.

In the middle of the 19th century, these became "fasting dumplings", using the same dough as for sweet Christmas bread (with spices and raisins and, if desired, lemon peel/orange peel), which was then baked in small portions on the hotplate rubbed with butter. Later, the raisins and the lemon peel/orange peel were left out and little rolls were baked, which were then spread with butter and jam.

You can find a recipe for classic bollur based on Jólabrauð dough here on the blog.

Then came the “balls” of yeast dough, which were then prepared more elaborately with lots of cream. You can of course also find the recipe for these gerbollur með hindberjarjómi (yeast dough balls with raspberry cream) here on the blog.

Nowadays it is mainly choux pastry that the “ bolludagsbollur ” is made from. There are no limits to your imagination, you can really let off steam!

You can also find various recipes for this "bollur" on choux pastry here on the blog, e.g. for small vatnsdeigsbollur simply with cream and jam, or for more elaborate versions such as vatnsdeigsbollur með karamellufyllingu (= choux pastry balls with caramel filling) or here this version of choux pastry with a filling of strawberry cream with almonds , jam and lots of chocolate.

Vatnsdeigsbollur

Vatnsdeigsbollur með karamellufyllingu

My Bolludagsbollur 2021

Shrove Tuesday

And if you haven't burst on Monday, you can continue eating on Shrove Tuesday. Carnival Tuesday is called “ Sprengidagur ” in Icelandic, meaning “ Demolition Day ”. It's about "eating until you burst." There is evidence that it was already customary in Iceland at the beginning of the 18th century to celebrate the "Night of the Great Feast" on this day before the Christian Lent until Easter began.

Traditionally, mainly meat was eaten on Shrove Tuesday, especially hangikjöt, i.e. smoked lamb, because meat was no longer eaten during Lent. And it would be a shame not to eat everything first so that nothing goes to waste!

By the end of the 19th century at the latest, smoked lamb was no longer eaten, but rather salted meat, i.e. fresh meat that was preserved by salting.

Saltkjöt og baunir , i.e. thick pea soup with salted meat, has been considered a classic dish in Iceland since then.

Ash Wednesday

Everything is still not over on Ash Wednesday (“ öskudagur ”).

The traditional "children's holiday" in schools in Iceland used to be Rose Monday, where children dressed up, paraded around town and played practical jokes. However, until the beginning of the 20th century, this custom increasingly shifted to Ash Wednesday.

So if you see children dressed up in wild costumes on Ash Wednesday in Iceland - don't be surprised, that's part of it!

Lent

Then Lent begins, the “ langafasta ”. Traditionally, this was a time of inner contemplation; people did not eat meat until Easter, and some also fasted on fish and/or milk and dairy products.

Here on the blog in 2018 I presented my “ Iceland Diet ” with a weekly plan for Lent. It was about a long-term diet that is intended to lower blood fat and blood sugar levels as much as possible and to counteract cardiovascular diseases, obesity and diabetes in the long term.

In 2020 I had a Skyr diet for Lent on the blog, as conscious and high in protein as possible. You can of course also find the corresponding recipes here on the blog.

Last year in 2022, I focused on vegan dishes during Lent, i.e. either classic dishes that have always been vegan (such as many cinnamon rolls, Flatbrauð or this green pearl barley salad , which my youngest loves dearly). ..

... or classic Icelandic dishes that have been “veganized”. These vegan Sörur here, for example, are relatively easy to prepare - and I think they taste simply brilliant! And not just me!

So you see - a lot of material to let off steam to your heart's content, if you want! Have fun with it! But for now, of course, have fun at Carnival!

[Translated from here.]