Carnival in Iceland
I myself grew up Mainz, which is a carnival hotspot in Germany. I actually go to the local carnival parade every year with the kids, and of course I dress up well - according to German carnival tradition.
Er einhver spes dagur?
When we posted the photos of the parade, an Icelandic friend of ours was surprised. "Er einhver spes dagur?" he asked. "Is there any special day?"
Carnival in Iceland is nowhere near as special as it is in many regions in Germany. During the Reformation in Iceland in the mid-16th century, the importance of carnival to the people declined and almost disappeared. Only a few traditions remained:
On Shrove Monday it's bolludagur and you eat a lot of carnival doughnuts, on Shrove Tuesday it's Sprengidagur and you eat so much thick pea soup with salted meat until you burst, and on Ash Wednesday, öskudagur, the children parade through the town in costume.
Dressing up at Maskadagur
Until 1900, it was also common in Iceland for children to have school off on Shrove Monday and parade around town in costume. However, this custom was moved to Ash Wednesday towards the end of the First World War. Only in Ísarfjörður and the surrounding area did it continue to be customary for children to dress up in costumes on Monday, bolludagur, and go from house to house in the evening with songs and games - Rose Monday is also called "maskadagur" here, i.e. "mask day".
Culinary traditions surrounding Carnival in Iceland
In the Grágás, the old Icelandic collection of laws that was in force until the country was annexed to Norway in 1262, there were precise regulations as to when one was allowed to eat what food before and during Lent. So you were no longer allowed to eat meat two days before the start of Lent.
Bolludagurinn
However, in historical sources from the 13th century, for example in the Sturlunga saga, it is said that Lent was initiated on the last two days before Ash Wednesday with "fasta við hvítan mat", i.e. with "fasting with white food" (= dairy products). Around 1700 it became common practice to chop up bread or rolls, mix them with milk and butter and eat them. Later, the tradition of “bolludagur” developed from this.
While people first ate rolls soaked in milk, by the 19th century it became common practice to make small rolls from the same dough that was used for Jólakaka (= Christmas cake), although usually (unlike at Christmas) no raisins were used.
Later, these “rolls” were baked from yeast dough and served with cream and jam.
Afterwards, pastries made from vatnsdeig (literally "water dough", in German "choux pastry") became common - now often real works of art made from cream, pudding, fruit, chocolate, etc.
Recipe for bolludagsbollur
Of course, you can also find various donut recipes for bolludagur here in my blog, for example for the traditional version with the Jólakaka dough.
... for "bollur" made from yeast dough with raspberry filling....
... or for various choux pastry bollur, such as this one with caramel filling and a little lava salt ...
... or this one with strawberry cream and almonds .
Sprengidagurinn
The Sprengidagur, also called Sprengikvöld, is found in a tradition from 1735 as the "Evening of Explosions". Here in the evening there was a sumptuous feast with lots of meat and side dishes and people basically ate until they burst, hence the name.
While people used to eat mainly smoked lamb on Shrove Tuesday to get rid of it before meat consumption was banned during Lent until Easter, since around 1850 it has been customary to eat saltkjöt og baunir, i.e. thick Icelandic pea soup with salted meat, on this day.
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