Rabarbarabaka með smjörbökuðu rúgbrauði

Rhubarb casserole with toasted rye bread

Rhubarb with Rúgbrauð is a pretty popular combination in Iceland.

I recently presented the Rabarbarakaka með rifnu rúgbrauði, the “rhubarb cake with plucked rye bread”, here in the blog. This recipe is less of a cake and more of a dessert - I would say: Icelandic Rhubarb Crumble. And I found it really delicious!

Icelandic rye bread ("Rúgbrauð") is a very special specialty that's hard to find in other countries. It's quite sweet and fluffy. For this recipe, I brought a portion of Rúgbrauð from Iceland to Germany!). Normally you either bake it yourself - or you replace the Rúgbrauð with pumpernickel. Pumpernickel is firmer and drier and has a slightly grainier structure, but the result is fine if baking yourself is not an option.

Ingredients

500 g pumpernickel
50 g butter
200 g brown sugar
500 g rhubarb


Preparation

Preheat the oven to 200 °F (100 °C) upper/lower heat.

Carefully chop the rye bread/pumpernickel with a grater.

Melt the butter in a large pan and add the breadcrumbs.

While constantly stirring, add the sugar and stir until it has dissolved.

Then place the mixture on a baking tray lined with baking paper, spread it carefully and bake in a preheated oven at 200 °F (100 °C) upper and lower heat for about 15 minutes.

Remove the tray from the oven and let the bread mixture cool down a bit.

Place about half of the rye bread crumbs in a fireproof shallow baking dish and press gently.

Wash the rhubarb, peel it and cut it into approx. 2 cm long pieces.

Then spread the rhubarb pieces over the bread mixture.

Then spread the remaining rye bread crumbles over the rhubarb.

Set the oven to 300 °F (150 °C) upper and lower heat and let the Rabarbarabaka bake for about 30 minutes until the rhubarb has become nice and soft.

Then serve the whole thing with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

[Translated from here.]

Ofnbakaður saltfiskur

Baked salt fish

Honestly - this Baked Bacon Wrapped Saltfish is my personal favorite of the saltfish recipes I tried this week. We'll definitely have it more often!

Due to lack of availabilty, I had to replace the salt fish by fresh cod seasoned with salt.


Ingredients for 4 persons

2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
300 ml milk
1 cm fresh ginger
1 pinch of pepper
2 stalks of leeks
800 g salt fish
12 slices of breakfast bacon
100 g cheddar cheese


Preparation

Melt the butter in a saucepan.

Add the flour and mix everything into a thick dumpling.

Add the milk in small portions, stirring constantly, and bring to the boil briefly.

Grate in the ginger...

...and season with the pepper. (With salted fish it is not necessary to add salt to the sauce, the fish is salty enough!)

Wash and clean the leek and cut into thin rings.

Place the chopped leeks in an ovenproof, shallow baking dish and pour the sauce over them.

Wash the saltfish thoroughly, cut it into slices approx. 2 cm thick and wrap the individual pieces with the bacon.

Place the fish packets on the leek...

...and bake in a preheated oven at 350 °F (180 °C) upper and lower heat for about 15 minutes.

Then take the dish out of the oven briefly, sprinkle with the grated Cheddar cheese and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes.

Traditionally, the oven-baked salt fish is served with potatoes and fresh salad.

[Translated from here.]

Saltfiskur-lasanja

Saltfish Lasagna

Salt fish is usually cod, which is salted in large quantities to make it more durable. Dried salt fish used to be mainly an export item in Iceland and was traded with Portugal and Spain.

However, dried salt fish is now also available as food in Iceland. Basically you can use it like fresh salt fish, you just have to soak it in cold water for 3 to 4 hours beforehand.


Ingredients


800 g dried salt fish
3 Tbsp butter
4 Tbsp flour
500 ml milk
1 cm fresh ginger
1 pinch of pepper
2 stalks of leeks
8 lasagne plates
100 g grated cheese


Preparation

Soak the dried salt fish in cold water for about 3 to 4 hours, then rinse well and drain thoroughly.

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the flour and mix everything into a thick dumpling. Then add the milk in small portions while stirring constantly and bring to the boil briefly. Grate in the ginger and season with the pepper. (With salted fish it is not necessary to add salt to the sauce, the fish is salty enough!)

Wash and clean the leek, halve it and cut it into thin slices.

Also cut the salt fish into small pieces.

Place about a third of the leek in a shallow, fireproof baking dish, scatter the chopped fish over it and cover with a little sauce.

Place the first part of the lasagne sheets on top and layer the leek-fish sauce over them again, then add the lasagna sheets again and the leek-fish sauce over them again.

Finally, place the lasagna plates on top again, spread with the remaining sauce and cover with the grated cheese.

Bake in a preheated oven at approx. 350 °F (180 °C) upper and lower heat for approx. 30 minutes.

The lasagna is ready!

[Translated from here.]

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.]