Icelandic local delicacies are very limited and to our surprise, Icelanders joke that hots dogs are their national dish! But when you are in Reykjavik standing in a queue of their famous hot dog stall you kind of start believing it!
Traditional farming is very difficult on this volcanic island considering the geological, geographical challenges. This island is mainly made of volcanic lava rocks and has a thin layer of soil so you can’t even see naturally grown tall trees here. Even the blueberry plants growing in the wild are so small and growing near the ground like creepers. Since Vikings settled here some 1,100 years back they brought livestock with them. And since then farms in Iceland are mainly animal farms where they keep sheep, cows, chickens, horses, etc. During summer, farmers leave their animals on highlands where they graze on a long spread, mostly an uninhabitable part of Iceland. So then you understand how this hot dog became their so-called national dish.
Hydroponic Tomato Farm
Our first culinary stop was Fridheimar, a farm to fork concept restaurant based inside hydroponic tomato farm greenhouse, where you get to taste everything made out of tomatoes. Started in 1986, these greenhouses are heated with geothermal energy up to 20-25 degrees. As they are using lights for growing vegetables, the farms are now producing year round, even during winter when the sun is out only around 4 hours. Humidity, temperature, lights, window operation, etc is controlled by computer programs. Theis climate control computer system helps them to operate farm energy efficiently. For example, when the sun is out and given required lighting to the farm, this system switches off lights. Photosynthesis of plants is enhanced by using carbon dioxide produced from natural geothermal steam.
Bees
Apart from all these Eco-friendly features of Fridheimar farm, their natural pest control technique is notable. They use mirid bug Macrolophus pygmaeus imported from Holland, which eats all insect pests in Icelandic farmhouse. They also use bumblebee from Holland, these bees pollinate tomato plants.
World’s best Tomato Soup
Efstidalur- Cattle Farm
Rustic Farm to Table at Efstidalur
Our next stop on this culinary trail was Efstidalur farm. This is a 3 generation family run cattle farm. You can stay in the guest house of this family farm, have meals in their restaurant or just drop in to see the farm and taste their farm to table skyr and ice creams! It’s a great place to take kids as you can cuddle calves and can have ice-cream while watching the cows from glass windows of the restaurant! I loved the rustic charm of the ground floor sitting area.
Whey and Skyr
The ice cream is freshly made from cow milk from the farm. Same goes with skyr, it is Icelandic delicacy made out of milk which is cross of yogurt and cheese. But on this farm, some interesting information unfolded in front of us. During skyr tasting, the farmer served us some clear water like a drink and told us it’s whey. While making skyr whey is separated and Icelandic people are drinking this whey since generations! Skyr is a great addition to breakfast and whey tasted good too! If you mix skyr and whey, you get skimmed milk!
Watching Calves from Restaurant