Soðinn saltfiskur

Boiled salt fish

A nice solid Icelandic recipe - typically Icelandic with only a few ingredients, namely salt fish, potatoes, carrots and suet.

If no salt fish is available, it is best to use fresh cod, but then add 1 to 2 teaspoons of salt to the cooking water. The tallow can also be replaced with butter - or crackling fat.

Thanks to the salt fish and the tallow, this dish tastes intense and spicy in its original form, even without any other spices.


Ingredients for 4 persons

800 g salt fish
2 liters of water
600 g carrots
600 g potatoes
2 Tbsp tallow


Preparation

Place the saltfish in cold water in the refrigerator overnight, changing the water several times if possible.

The next day, wash the fish thoroughly, clean it and cut it into fairly small pieces.

Heat the water in a large pot, add the chopped saltfish and simmer over low heat with the lid open for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, peel the carrots and potatoes, cut everything into pieces...

...and add it to the water with the fish and let it cook until the potato and carrot pieces are soft (cooking time for fish and vegetables about 30 minutes in total).

Melt the tallow in a pan...

...lift the fish, potatoes and carrots out of the water, drain and toss briefly in the rendered suet,...

...then serve straight away.

[Translated from here.]

Saltfiskur

Salt fish

For many Icelanders, fish was and is their livelihood, literally. The Icelanders even almost went to war for their fish and their fishing rights - in the so-called "Cod Wars" between 1958 and 1976 between Iceland and Great Britain it was about the expansion of Iceland's fishing limits from 3 nautical miles to now 200 nautical miles. Iceland was able to prevail against Great Britain.

The Icelanders prefer to trust in their cod rather than in God...

If you are interested in the cod wars, we recommend the corresponding exhibition at Sjóminjasafn, the maritime museum in Reykjavík - I actually found it very interesting when I visited it last year (albeit more by chance).

Once the fish has been caught, the second step is to make it last as long as possible. Salting is one of the oldest methods of preserving fish. And drying - sometimes both are combined - then you get dried salt fish.

In Iceland, cod ("Þorsk") is usually used for salt fish.

Salt fish are so-called "hard-salted fish products" made from beheaded and gutted fish. Fish with a salt content of over 20% in the fish tissue water (water content below 54%) are referred to as “hard salted”.

The structure and color of the fish / fish fillet is basically not changed by salting, the taste is also "specific" - just very salty to very, very salty. It is therefore important to water the fish thoroughly before preparation, if necessary even to soak it in water overnight.

Dried saltfish can be used in cooking like fresh saltfish - although it must always be placed in cold water for 3 to 4 hours before preparing the dish to replenish the water that has been removed from the fish during drying.

This week I would like to introduce you to three different salt-fresh dishes that I tried on site during my last stay in Iceland:

- Boiled salt fish

- Oven baked salt fish

- Saltfish lasagna

In Germany you can sometimes get salt fish in Turkish or Spanish grocery stores. It is also possible to prepare the dishes with fresh cod - but then the dish must of course be salted accordingly!

Icelandic salt fish - with skin of course!

[Translated from here.]

Súkkulaðiostakaka með skyri

Chocolate cheese cake with skyr

On Sunday, May 14, 2017, Iceland will also celebrate Mæðradagur - Mother's Day. I've already prepared a tart... now I just have to let it sit well in the fridge!

Ingredients

300 g chocolate cookies
140 g butter
1 Tbsp cocoa
1/2 tsp salt
100 g brown sugar

200 g cooking chocolate
500 g cream cheese
350 g vanilla skyr
150 g brown sugar
1 tsp ground vanilla
1 pinch of black pepper
150 ml sour cream
5 eggs

100 ml whipping cream
100 g dark chocolate
some chocolate decorations, if desired


Preparation

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


For the cake base:

Melt the butter.

Crumble the chocolate cookies thoroughly...

...and mix with the melted butter, cocoa, salt and brown sugar.

Line a springform pan (approx. 24 cm in diameter) with baking paper and pour the biscuit crumb mixture into the pan and carefully press it firmly onto the base.

Bake at 350 °F (180 °C) upper and lower heat for about 15 minutes, then remove from the oven and let the cake base cool slightly.


For the filling:

Meanwhile, for the filling, melt the chocolate blocks in a water bath and then let it cool down a little.

To make the cheese filling, first whisk the cream cheese with the vanilla Skyr and the sour cream.

Then add the sugar, vanilla and black pepper and stir.

Then add the eggs one at a time and fold in carefully.

Finally, add the melted chocolate and mix everything until a uniform mixture is formed.

Then pour the mixture onto the cake base in the springform pan...

...and bake at 325 °F (160 °C) upper and lower heat for approx. 90 minutes. The cake is ready when nothing sticks when you test it with a stick in the middle of the cake.

Then turn off the oven, do not open the oven (!) and let the cake cool in the switched off oven for about 1 hour. Then let it set in the fridge for at least 1 hour before carefully removing the cake from the tin.

For the glaze:

For the chocolate layer on the cake, heat the cream in a small saucepan, break the dark chocolate into small pieces and let it melt in the cream. Then stir thoroughly.

Let the icing cool briefly and then carefully spread it on the cheesecake. If you like, decorate with chocolate or something similar to taste.

Chill in the refrigerator overnight and serve well chilled the next day.

[Translated from here.]

Skyr bananasplitt

Skyr banana split

Bananas are popular and common in Iceland, most of the time the first thing you see when you enter a supermarket in Iceland is a large rack full of bananas.

This recipe actually uses banana skyr, which is easily available in Iceland. However, not in other countries - so you have to make do with vanilla Skyr and pureed banana. But it works too!

I made the original Icelandic version on our first evening in Iceland, when we were pretty exhausted after the flight and all that, but I still wanted to quickly prepare something delicious, typically Icelandic. It was really nice, even though I don't really like peanuts and peanut butter.

Ingredients for 2 people

250 g vanilla skyr
1 Tbsp peanut butter
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1 pinch of coarse sea salt
2 banana
2 tsp coarsely chopped, salted peanuts
2 tsp dark chocolate shavings


Preparation

First put the vanilla skyr in the blender with the peanut butter, maple syrup, sea salt and a banana and puree thoroughly. (Original: Mix the banana skyr with the other ingredients.)

Carefully cut the (second) banana in half lengthwise and place each on a plate.

Gently spread the skyr over the two portions.

Garnish with the chopped nuts and dark chocolate shavings and serve immediately.

PS:

Here's a photo of how the picture of the Skyr banana split was taken - at the end of April in Reykjavík, and it's storming and snowing outside.

[Translated from here.]

Klumpkaka

Block cake

I thought the name alone was so great with this “Klumpkaka”! And it's delicious too - and keeps really well.

Ingredients

200 g margarine
200 g brown sugar
5 eggs
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cardamom
100 g raisins
100 g currants
50 g lemon peel
300 g flour
1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp oil for the mold


Preparation

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

Mix the margarine with the brown sugar until fluffy.

Then separate the eggs and stir the egg yolks into the margarine-sugar mixture one at a time.

Add cinnamon and cardamom and stir.

Add the raisins and currants, as well as the lemon peel, and mix everything in carefully.

Add flour and baking powder and mix the dough thoroughly.

Beat the egg white until stiff and carefully fold it into the remaining dough.

Grease the baking pan very thoroughly, pour in the finished dough...

...and bake in the lower third of the preheated oven at 350 °F (180 °C) for about 60 minutes.

Let the cake cool in the tin and then carefully remove it from the tin.

Bon appetit!

[Translated from here.]

Laxapaté með reyktum lax

Smoked salmon salad

Ingredients

300 g cream cheese
3 Tbsp sour cream
1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
1 pinch of black pepper
1 organic lemon
500 g smoked salmon
1 avocado
2 spring onions
1 tsp chopped dill


Preparation

In a large bowl, mix the cream cheese with the sour cream, season with the sea salt and pepper. Grate the zest from the lemon over it.

Cut the smoked salmon into thin strips.

Wash and clean the avocado and spring onions and carefully cut them into small pieces.

Add the chopped smoked salmon, avocado and spring onions to the sauce.

Carefully squeeze out the lemon a little, pour 1 to 2 tablespoons of lemon juice over the salad, add the chopped dill and mix everything thoroughly.

Serve the smoked salmon salad with rye bread as a starter.

[Translated from here.]