8 Best Food From Iceland
Searching for the best food from Iceland to enjoy while you visit? Keep reading.
If you’ve tried the world’s most sophisticated cuisines and think nothing new can impress you, head to Iceland, a foodie’s paradise. Since the island of Iceland is remotely located, locals had little choice but the seafood and the lamb they brought along from the continent and were breeding for survival. Strangely, it occurs that food from Iceland is the world’s healthiest and tastiest, thanks to the island’s unique climate.
Make it to the island to taste it yourself. But before you go check out the top eight food from Iceland items to munch on or wolf down (the cold climate makes you famished) in Iceland.
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Best Food From Iceland
In This Post
Smoked Lamb
Known as Icelanders’ favourite Christmas dish, smoked lamb is one of the best dishes to try out while in Iceland. It is soft to chew, good for your health and truly yummy, making it synonymous with the Christmas mood.
If served for lunch or dinner as a hot dish, it comes with cooked potatoes, white béchamel sauce, peas and pickled red cabbage. As a cold snack, it can be put in between two slices of bread and eaten as a sandwich.
Lamb Hot Dog
Icelandic lamb hotdog is prized by locals and foreigners alike. It is not just a mouthwatering bun with lamb sausage, it has also given rise to one of the local attractions: a hotdog stand in Reykjavik’s port district, Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur. It has cooked super tasty hotdogs since 1936.
Note that the real Icelandic lamb hotdog is served on a warm bun with raw white onions, brittle-fried onions; and must really ooze with ketchup, remoulade (herbs, mustard, capers and mayonnaise), and brown mustard.
Lamb Soup
Known to Icelanders as meat soup (the lamb was the only meat you could come by in the past), it is arguably Iceland’s national dish. It is cooked from organic, free-range lamb, and the only vegetables that the Icelanders could grow in their kitchen gardens in the past, such as potatoes, onion, and carrots.
Keep in mind that this is the best dish to keep you warm throughout the freezing-cold Icelandic winter, and is a great example of the best food from Iceland.
Atlantic Cod
Cod, along with salmon, is the island’s main fish staple and is a great example of food from Iceland. Even if you may have tried cod elsewhere, Cod in Iceland is not the same. Here, what is served in almost each and every Icelandic restaurant is the Atlantic cod, which means it has consumed the world’s healthiest seafood and reached an immense size. Also, the North of the Atlantic is home to fewer predators that can prey on it, so it is fairly abundant and cheap.
Keep in mind that many Icelandic eateries serve the catch-of-the-day cod, making Iceland one of the best places to eat fresh cod. Also remember that Matur og drykkur, a Reykjavik traditional-Icelandic-food restaurant, is one of the best places to try cod-head, a centuries-old dish, which is truly delectable.
Langoustine Soup
This lobster soup is one of Iceland’s topmost delicacies. It is so prized due to the fact that the small lobster so beloved by Icelanders is caught in the wild of Southern Iceland, one of the most bio-diverse and clean fishing areas.
The lobster will surprise you by the tenderness of its soft & juicy meat, whereas the soup itself is somewhat briny and cream-like. Keep in mind that it must be eaten with either toast or a slice of baguette.
Arctic Char
One of the world’s most ambrosial freshwater fishes, the Arctic char is caught in the limpid waters of the island’s rivers, lakes and streams. Iceland is the world’s largest producer of fish and is known for its quality.
Closely related to salmon and trout, the char tastes buttery and is slightly sweet. It can be grilled, broiled, barbecued or smoked, and must be eaten with mushrooms, vegetables, fries or whatever is your side-dish of preference. Keep in mind that the Arctic char meat is super-healthy and is what makes food from Iceland truly unique.
Icelandic Salmon Soup
One of the most delicious soups in Iceland is Icelandic Salmon Soup. It is a great treat for you to sip on during your trip to Iceland to get energized for trekking on its vast network of hiking trails. It is cooked from pound salmon with butter, carrots, heavy cream and dill. Note that is one of the dishes making food from Iceland so much appreciated by the gourmands from the world over.
Fish Stew
Known as possibly the tastiest food from Iceland, the history of this dish highlights the unique Icelandic mentality. Centuries ago the idea was to bring together all the leftover ingredients from all other dishes and mix them in a truly heavenly stew for all the family to take delight in the warm feeling that envelops you from the inside.
This choice example of food from Iceland is today made up of cooked and mashed Atlantic cod, flour, potatoes, onions, milk and is jazzed up with pepper and salt.
Iceland is one of the best countries to go to eat healthily and take delight in the unique dishes such as Arctic char, Iceland’s only signature dish. Don’t forget that Iceland is not just the great food from Iceland but also scenic vistas of the sea, volcanoes and its stunning highlands and lowlands.
Also keep in mind that its capital, Reykjavik is a one-of-its-kind gastronomic destination, which is known as the Paris of Scandinavia. Pack up and go on the treasure hunt for Iceland’s culinary jewels.
Love,
SSW
