eg tala ekki islensku - Part 2 (+ Kichadi Fast prediction)

And, now, more about Iceland...

Tastes different

In my last blog entry, I mentioned how great the tap water in Iceland was. I just finished my stash of Icelandic tap water last night, fearing that it might become stale if I left it bottled up for too long. I savoured it like fine wine and tried to memorize the flavour: slightly sweet, very smooth, untouched by chlorine.

Our food experience in Iceland was similarly excellent. We ate fresh seafood until we feared the onset of gout. Lobster was readily available at all restaurants but their small size surprised us; the lobster tails were no longer than 4 inches. Of course, fish was also a staple of the local menus as was lamb, which I ordered repeatedly. Three highlights of our eating frenzy were:

1. Sandholt bakery on Laugavegur - their pastries and smoked salmon sandwiches were a comfort to us on our first wet and cold day in Reykjavik

2. Bæjarins beztu pylsur - a hot dog stand by the waterfront that has served Bill Clinton. The sausage itself is a blend of pork and lamb. Toppings included remolaði, a mayonnaise-based sauce with sweet relish, and fried onions.

3. The Sea Baron - owned by a former fisherman, various seafood shish-kebabs are grilled on demand. This was where we ate Minke Whale and realized that whale tastes like steak. It was a revelation because we had expected whale to taste like fish, or the standard fallback, chicken. The lobster soup was also very flavourful.

To the horror of many, we made a point of eating at the only McDonald's in Reykjavik, located in Kringlan Shopping Centre, one of only two malls in town. Kringlan was like any other suburban mall, catering to teenyboppers and their parents, and our McDonald's meal was similarly underwhelming in taste. What did thrill us was the gender specific packaging; only the nutritional information for women was displayed (see photo at the top). We could only speculate that if a male consumer buys a meal, then he gets the male packaging with corresponding nutritional information. Inefficient and fascinating.

Obviously, I broke my weekday vegetarian routine while in Iceland. In an attempt to make up for my vacation, I will be undergoing the Kichadi Fast for a week. This diet sent friends on a meat frenzy after a mere three days but prompted them to change their eating habits nonetheless. I am going to speculate that I will be able to last the seven days and be a ray of sunshine throughout.

Bitchy blog entries about Iceland to come.