2013-05-21T07:57:50-04:00 Heimir Jónasson http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/author/index.php?author=heimir-j Copyright 2008, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc. HuffingtonPost Blogger Feed for Heimir Jónasson Good old fashioned elbow grease. tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1344178 2012-04-19T08:45:22-04:00 2013-03-26T06:53:14-04:00

Heimir Jónasson http://www.huffingtonpost.com/heimir-j/
Our chef of the day at the beautiful waterfall is local Þorgerður Guðmundsdóttir. Her family lives near the waterfall and she grew up there. For her, cooking is not something that you can plan too much in advance, it is something you just do. Today she is making a meat soup from a recipe belonging to her grandmother.

She prepares the food in her kitchen under the Eyjafjöll mountains at the Volcano. The view outside her kitchen window is stunning. A waterfall called Drífandi plummets down the mountain with grace whilst Þorgerður is inside cutting her veggies. The dog of the house, Garún knows that something is in store. She waggles her tail as the smell of meat soup fills the air. Unfortunately she will not be joining us!

Þorgerður is a farm girl through and through; her parents and grandparents were farmers. This recipe from her grandmother is something that she has learnt by heart and she instinctively knows the right measurements of each ingredient. Cook from the heart- this is the Icelandic way. That´s what my mother does, along with many other Icelandic mothers.

In front of Seljalandsfoss waterfall we found the perfect location for Eldhús and whilst setting up we listened to the soothing sound of the 200 ft. waterfall.

Two of our dinner guests, Horst and Beate Ulich, had already arrived and were waiting in the car park. They had lost count of the number of times they have been to Iceland and in all likelihood they know Iceland better than most Icelanders.

We heard from Sagi Chaitas and his friend Itay from London who were waiting in a gas station in Hvolsvöllur waiting for further instructions. I guided them to the direction of Seljalandsfoss and our beloved Eldhús. As they neared us the other guests and I chatted away. Horst and Beate first visited Iceland twenty years ago and have never looked back- they know the country inside out. This was their second time in Iceland this year and they have a trip planned in September. Talk about big time fans!

As Þorgerður showed up with her meat soup we saw a small car approaching Eldhús. The other half of our guests were here - Sagi and Itay. Now for the meat soup!

Þorgerður served all the guests and Lárus, our surprise guest of the day, started to tell stories. Lárus is a farmer in the area and knows the Icelandic sagas word for word. Or almost. His stories go down well with the crowd, as does the meat soup.

After dinner Þorgerður brings out a surprise dish- fermented shark with Brennivín which is a strong Icelandic spirit. I gave words of warning to the guests but everyone tried it anyway. It went down well with no frowns. Sagi said the shark tastes like blue cheese, which isn't a bad compliment for something that is fermented.

On this note we said goodbye to our new friends and headed on to our next location, which is still a surprise! Until then, ta ta.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1371940 2012-03-22T06:23:32-04:00 2012-05-22T05:12:01-04:00

Heimir Jónasson http://www.huffingtonpost.com/heimir-j/
Anyway, I didn't want to take it off- even in the summer when the sun was shining. Maybe this is the reason why today I am totally bald? I had a bad habit of nibbling on the chin strap and my mother would always say, "Don't eat the wool Heimir darling- we wear the wool and eat the meat."

Anyway, that was long ago and today we are definitely not eating the wool, but we are indeed having lamb for dinner. We have two chefs today- Ægir is the chef from Satt Restaurant at Natura Hotel and Fannar is the chef from Vox Restaurant at the Hilton Nordica Reykjavik Hotel.

Ægir is preparing the lamb, but first we have a wonderful starter made from arctic char prepared by Fannar. They are both really nice guys and they make jokes all the time, so we have a lot of fun.

Our guests for the day are Tarek and Cicely from New York who heard about our Inspired by Iceland campaign on a radio show and immediately wanted to visit Iceland.

Also on board are two bloggers from the United States- Andrew and Erin. It's everybody's first time in Iceland, which is exciting. Tarek and Cicely had already been to the Blue Lagoon on their trip and were very excited to see Jökulsárlón- the glacier lagoon at Vatnajökull. Andrew and Erin have just arrived this morning, so Eldhús was their first event on the agenda- not a bad one, if I may say so.

Today Eldhús is at the corner of two of the most important shopping streets in Reykjavik: Laugavegur and Skólavörðustígur. Here in the centre of Reykjavik there are some really interesting shops showcasing Icelandic design and outdoors gear and many of Iceland's best restaurants. The nightlife is colourful and the clubs are open long into the night (or morning, depending on how you look at it)!

What I find most interesting in Reykjvik is the food, music and design- you just get a sense of the freshness, creativity and energy in these areas. The country is crowded with creative talent making new and exciting things. This is why I feel so lucky to have been able to explore Icelandic food over the last 12 days with Eldhús.

Back to the dinner- "Gjöriði svo vel!" which translated into English means "it's time to start!" The plates are on the table and the food looks amazing. The starter of arctic char has been beautifully prepared by Fannar and is mixed with fresh Icelandic root vegetables. Whilst enjoying the arctic char the smell of the lamb starts to fill the room and Tarek starts telling us how excited he is to try it, saying, "My mother always cooks lamb and it is one of my favourite dishes". Tarek's family comes from Morocco and when it comes to lamb his mother is the master chef!

Knock, knock, knock. It's the neighbours Kristína and Gauti Þeyr, wondering why there is a small wooden house next door to them. In Iceland this is very typical - you don't call ahead first to announce that you're coming, you just drop by. When you arrive you might add, "Do you have a few drops?" which is a hint that you would like a cup of coffee. We went one better and offered Kristína and Gauti Þeyr a glass of wine - thanks for dropping in guys!

We decided to end our fine evening in Eldhús by walking to the next bar to have one last drink before going to bed. Our guests have a long day ahead of them tomorrow and there is so much for them to see and experience over the coming days. As for me, I'll take Eldhús into the garage and do a little bit of this and that with it. I'm looking forward to going on the road with it again, hopefully very soon. "Tarek - how was the lamb?" I asked. "Amazing- but I can't tell my mom!" he replied.
]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1371936 2012-03-22T06:19:17-04:00 2012-05-22T05:12:01-04:00

Heimir Jónasson http://www.huffingtonpost.com/heimir-j/
It's a different day for Eldhús. We have been out and about in nature for most of its journey, with no one around. Now we are surrounded by people, so again and again we have curious faces at the windows. We parked Eldhús with the door facing the hot dog stand. This meant that there were people standing in front of Eldhús eating their hot dogs. They thought this house had been put up for them to walk into to have a nice hot dog inside. But this was reserved for our guests of today, Jesper and Mette from Denmark and Alistair from Ireland.

"Denmark - oh my god, are we going to show them how to eat hot dogs?" In the minds of Icelanders, Denmark is the country of hot dog stands. And Jesper, who is a candidate for the National Congress in Denmark, will probably be experienced in eating hot dogs. Politicians usually are. Well, at least the politicians in Iceland eat a lot of hot dogs. They sometimes come walking over from the parliament building around the corner and have a hot dog at Bæjarins beztu.

Mette is a teacher and has been supporting Danish teachers in Iceland for a few months, but when they're not visiting Iceland, they live in Vamdrup near to Kolding in Denmark. Danish hot dogs are longer and the bread is served on the side. Mette claims they are the best hot dogs in the world (this was, of course, before she tried what we had to offer). What Mette and Jesper didn't know was that we had called on Magnea, a charming 17-year-old hot dog seller, the fourth generation to man this family-owned hot dog stand. After Jesper had eaten his third hot dog, we were relieved. He obviously loved them! What a relief! Maybe we can open up an Icelandic hot dog stand in Copenhagen one day.

Magnea told us the hot dog stand will be 75 years old this year. When it started, the hot dogs were served with a glass of fresh milk and no bread. Now we eat it with fried and raw onions, ketchup, mustard and remoulade. We call it having a hot dog "with everything" or like we say in Icelandic "eina með öllu". Alistair had a hot dog with everything just like Mette and Jesper and liked it very much. Alistair is a different kind of traveller, he likes to travel when fewer tourist are around. He's hitchhiking around Iceland and sometimes takes the bus. He wants to see the northern lights and will probably see them tonight as they have been very visible the last couple of days.

It was a good day at the hot dog stand, we can continue being proud of our hot dogs after this experience. In my opinion there should be certain restaurant rules in Reykjavík for tourists.

Tourists should not be allowed to visit any restaurant before they have gone to Bæjarins Beztu - it is such an important stop in Iceland's food culture. Even Bill Clinton found this an important address to go to on his visit to Iceland one day. He didn't want "eina með öllu" he just wanted one with mustard. Since then you can go to Bæjarins beztu and say "one Clinton please!" and you will be served a hot dog only with mustard. I think that's ruining a good hot dog. Maybe Clinton should just stick to McDonalds.

Our last stop with Eldhús will be tomorrow in Reykjavík on the corner of the main shopping street and we will not be having a burger.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1371926 2012-03-22T06:08:08-04:00 2012-05-22T05:12:01-04:00

Heimir Jónasson http://www.huffingtonpost.com/heimir-j/
Garðar, the youngest member of the Icelandic culinary national team and chef at one of Reykjavik's best fish restaurants, Fiskifélagið, is our chef today. He has decided not to take the easy option in cooking tonight's dinner. He starts building a stone grill on the beach to prepare a common ling, a fish that Icelanders don't usually cook.

"People just don't know how to cook ling and for some strange reason it is exotic to them. The fish can be up to 1.2 m long and has a great taste, especially grilled," Garðar says. As he runs from Eldhús back to his natural grill on the sand, I hurry to get the house ready for today's guests at the black beach. I have to set the table, put the pictures on the walls, heat up the room and turn on the oil lamps. I can't stop looking out to the ocean at the cliffs and the glaciers- what stunning scenery.

Suddenly I see four people approaching, walking up the beach. Right on time. I'd better call my surprise guest and ask him to get ready to show up! There is a knock on the door.

Our four hungry visitors- Tristan, Nick, Michelle and Carla have found their seats at the table in Eldhús. "Skál" we say as four glasses of white wine are raised high above the table. At this moment I see two riders in the distance heading for Eldhús. What a fantastic scene to see the horses outside. I am afraid that they may start eating the turf roof so I take a position between them and my precious little house. Jóhannes is there with his 14-year-old daughter Birta to show our guests Icelandic horse to make the experience complete! Jóhannes explains the four different gaits of these famous horses. They are particularly famous for their unique gait called a "tölt". Jóhannes tells us that a good rider can hold a full glass of beer steady sitting on the horse in tölt without spilling any at all!

Jóhannes and Birta sit down with us and Jóhannes starts telling our guests about life on the horse farm. His farm is beautifully located between two waterfalls and above is the mighty Eyjafjallajökull volcano. Jóhannes is a member of a choir which reminds me that there are three things in every village in Iceland: a choir, a swimming pool and a golf course.

Nick, Tristan, Michelle and Carla all want to experience the Blue Lagoon before they leave the country. That is where we are heading tomorrow. Maybe we will see each other there again. The daylight seems to be slowly losing its battle against the darkness. It is the time of the magic hour. There will definitely be northern lights in the sky tonight. ]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1356207 2012-03-18T04:32:43-04:00 2012-05-17T05:12:02-04:00

Heimir Jónasson http://www.huffingtonpost.com/heimir-j/
So, tonight we took our Eldhús here and when you look out of the window you only see blue water. This blue water is our direct connection to mother nature. It comes from the sea and deep, deep below us.

The sun is shining on the blue water. The house is ready for guests, it is warm and cosy inside and we have just turned on the oil lamp that usually gives it the final touch. And there they are, two very friendly and charming women from the UK Heather and Kathy. Accompanying them, Astrid a warm smiling person from a little village close to Mainz in Germany. Astrid blogs about food under the name Arthurs Tochter for those who would like to follow her writing.

For a moment I thought diamonds are forever when I saw Kathy she looked an awful lot like Shirley Bassey...It's the sisters first time in Iceland. Kathy is more of the adventurous type of the two says Heather. Heather won a trip to Iceland in connection with the Inspired by Iceland campaign and here they are. "My son couldn't come. He has always dreamt of coming to Iceland, but since he wasn't available I offered for Kathy to come with me and here we are"

Today the Head Chef from the Blue Lagoons restaurant "Lava" is making the evening unforgettable. Viktor focuses mainly on fish since his restaurant is only 10 minutes drive from one of Iceland's most important harbors, Grindavik. He is eager to let us try all kinds of different starters and all of a sudden our table is covered in steam from his specially prepared blue lagoon water bowls. On top of them our delicious array of seafood starters seem to float in the air.

For our mains we enjoyed a rarer treat; Icelandic beef and catfish in rub seasoning - the fresh catch of the day at Grindavik harbour. Lastly we we're treated to Vik.

Astrid had enjoyed the Blue Lagoon earlier that day, Kathy and Heather plan to visit it on the weekend as a last treat before they head home. Firstly they plan to take in the golden circle; A trip to Gullfoss, Geysir and last but not least Thingvellir, where the oldest parliament of this world was established.

Today the sky was blue and the water was blue. It was a blue day. But our little party, in our little house was anything but blue.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1355189 2012-03-17T05:37:45-04:00 2012-05-17T05:12:02-04:00

Heimir Jónasson http://www.huffingtonpost.com/heimir-j/
"There is more salmon in this river, then the whole population of Iceland". Johannes who is our surprise guest and a professional in the art of catching salmon is tells us. He tells us many stories about catching a salmon and from what he says it seems to me that it is much easier to catch a salmon in Ranga river then it is for a local to find a date in a bar in Reykjavik. The Ranga river does happen to be one of the top salmon rivers in Iceland though.



Today (15th March) we have the most beautiful day of Eldhús' journey so far, the sun is shining, there is no wind, blue skies, and a clear view at Hekla volcano and our famous E15 (Eyjafjallajökull) volcano. What a day! Yesterday (14th March) we had a snowstorm which temporarily put the fire out in Eldhús and then we get a day like this where I have to face the fact that I forget to bring the sun block with me on the trip.

Our guests today are two lovely couples from the UK, Paul and Eileen and Andrew and Louise. Neither couple has been to Iceland before. They are so excited because they were driving in the snowstorm the day before and they tell me that it "was an amazing adventure." It's funny but this happens a lot with tourists. When they come to Iceland they love it when they have an unplanned adventure like this, I thought it would scare them away.

Outside the house we met Johannes with his fishing gear in tow, he started showing us the technic how to catch a salmon. The salmon season starts at end of June although it differs between rivers the season is a total of three months. He shows us a spot in the river where 700 salmon were caught in one season! I glanced across to our guest Paul and saw that his eyes where glowing. I think he must have been thinking that he'd like to come back here one day to catch some salmon himself. You see Paul is the adventurer of the group he dives and loves to paraglide as well. Paul's wife Eileen told us she was never scared of him doing these extreme hobbies, she goes along and assists him.

"You won't have a better fish than the wild salmon of Ranga river. You don't really need anything but the salmon, a bit of salt and some good butter. That's it" says Haraldur, the chef of hotel Ranga restaurant. I often walk down to the river early in the morning before I start my shift and sit on the bench down by lake. He told me he sometimes sees the salmon jumping out of the water and this really inspires his cooking. It makes him feel challenged to serve the salmon in many different ways and to be creative with the fresh ingredients from the famers in the local area and this is exactly what he did for us today. Smoked salmon, laxtartar, raw salmon and then just on the pan with butter and salt served with root vegetables. It was absolutely delicious.

It is time to get going but before I go I want to thank Paul and Andrew for keeping me entertained with their funny jokes and to Eileen and Louise for being great company. It was great to meet you and I feel I've made great friends in you all. Have fun at the Blue Lagoon before you leave.



Next we have to serve dinner cooked by Vík at the black beach tonight. As white and beautiful as our location was today, everything will be black tonight. I wonder what delights the next chef will serve us at the black beach.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1347009 2012-03-15T08:36:47-04:00 2012-05-15T05:12:01-04:00

Heimir Jónasson http://www.huffingtonpost.com/heimir-j/
Berglind has lived at the farm since she met her husband Guðmundur Guðmundsson many years ago; a seventh generation farmer at Núpur. His father Guðmundur Guðmundsson, also a farmer, recently died at 89 years of age. He was a tall, handsome man that won many medals for wrestling. Berglind grew up in Reykjavík but claims she was never a city girl. She likes the capital better when she is not there.

As we drink coffee in Berglind's kitchen she starts to bake bread. I ask her if this is something she does often, to which she replies, "there are always many people passing through here. These days we are building a new house for our cows, so there are many carpenters around. They really like my bread."

Baking four or five loaves of bread each day is common for Berglind and she knows her grandmother's recipe by heart. Each batch is different and while we talk she makes bread with muesli and then another batch with nuts and cinnamon.

Generally there is always something home grown for dinner. They have fresh milk from the cows as well as beef and sometimes Icelandic lamb. In the summertime they grow potatoes, carrots and cabbage and they even have an impressive grapevine. "We eat everything we grow unless the snails, the sheep or the dog get to it first!" she says whilst making blueberry jam from blueberries she picked herself.

Driving over from Reykjavik to join us for dinner were four young Americans. Brian Charlton, Nick Bonadies and Mel Kobran are from Washington and Shannyn Kobran is from New York. All are first timers in Iceland. The food on the menu was typical Iceland and fortunately our guests were very adventurous!

There was blood sausage and liver sausage, wind dried cod and sea wolf and fermented shark with Brennivín, which is a strong Icelandic liquor. Just something to get rid of the taste of shark! But that's not all- there was also rice pudding with cinnamon sugar and raisins and homemade bread with blueberry jam.

I remember my mother used to cook blood and liver sausage every Saturday afternoon. In those days this was exactly the time we watched the English football league on TV. They would always show last week's game. Yes, I am that old. So English football always reminds me of blood sausage! Anyway, back to Berglind.

It was obviously not the first time that Berglind had been a hostess. Everyone at the small table inside Eldhús is all ears as she tells us about the food served. More stories follow - like the one of the volcanic eruption that made her land look like something from the moon. As I said before, a real farmer. She makes her own sheep paté and she also does her own liver and blood sausage. Our guests try everything and like it all! Although it's safe to say the shark is an acquired taste. If I had to choose I would say that the blueberry jam was everyone's favorite. The dried fish was also popular- they called it fish jerky.

It felt appropriate after such a nice dinner to visit the cows that brought us the creamy milk for the rice pudding. Berglind takes us through the daily routine and gives us an insight into the life of a farmer in Iceland. It is hard work. But the food is always excellent!

I have to say goodbye but first I have one thing to add: tomorrow will be fishy...]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1341961 2012-03-13T12:48:34-04:00 2012-05-13T05:12:02-04:00

Heimir Jónasson http://www.huffingtonpost.com/heimir-j/
A few minutes later the house was parked at the end of the dock where it was supposed to be and I suddenly realised what a strange location it was. There was nothing except the huge waves of the ocean hitting the rock wall on one side and the spooky ghost museum on the other. Well, I guess my guests are supposed to be inspired by Iceland after having dinner in Eldhús and for that it's the perfect location!

"I will definitely not be serving them with mussels - we don't have them here at the south coast. I only want to serve them with ingredients that are produced here around Stokkseyri," says today's local volunteer Robert; a very down to earth, warm and gentle guy. He grew up on a farm and loved the freedom that came with being around the animals, particularly in the summer when it is practically light around the clock. Robert is the Chef and owner of the restaurant "Við Fjöruborðið" in Stokkseyri. They are famous for their lobster and the lobster sign at his restaurant scared Ben, one of our guests

"Oh, I hope they're not serving lobster in Eldhús", Ben remarked as we walked past the restaurant on our way to Eldhús. To get to the point: we served Ben lobster.

Ben is from Boston like Marin, Keith and Betsie. The other two guests joining us today are Dave and Jacqueline from Canada. Keith and Betsie plan to travel to the West coast tomorrow (my favourite part of Iceland) and want to go ice fishing. The high mountains and deep fjords there are both extreme and beautiful and people live in complete isolation. The toughest people come from the West.

Why do I always talk so much? Let's have Dinner guys! "This lobster soup is a 20-year-old recipe," Robert told us as he began serving the starter. After the lobster soup he gave us a taste of Icelandic lamb fillet and used a special earthquake beer for the sauce from the local micro-brewery in the neighborhood.

Finally Ben got his main course: a bowl full of delicious lobster! And you know what? He loved it! We talked about many things including politics and life in Iceland. We discussed the special bond between Canada and Iceland and the fact that 15,000 Icelanders moved to Canada between 1870 and 1914 due to poverty and starvation and here we were sitting with full stomachs! Also, did you know that only 50 years ago, people didn't see any value in lobster as they didn't know how to cook it and it was thrown away? I think I may have seen a tiny little smile in Ben's eyes.

Well, time to move on again. To Ben, Marin, Keith, Betsie, Dave and Jacqueline- thanks for a great evening and good luck on your travels around Iceland!

Next stop: Seljalandsfoss.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1338890 2012-03-12T10:14:27-04:00 2012-05-12T05:12:01-04:00

Heimir Jónasson http://www.huffingtonpost.com/heimir-j/
Today we're at Reykjavík's Árbæjarsafn, a museum that preserves old houses. Eldhús is so small compared to the other houses here; it looks like it is visiting grandpa and grandma. There was a time when some Architects had the urge to fill Reykjavik with concrete houses and had no feeling for beautiful old wooden houses like Eldhús and the rest of the houses here at the museum. Some brave people started fighting for preservation of those houses in 1942 and for that, we thank you!

The first of our guests to arrive is Amanda Meyer, a nurse and Kerry Huss, a project manager, all the way from Seattle. They are very excitedly 20 minutes early. "We have been following each and every move of Eldhús on the Internet since the first day you announced it and we just had to get a seat," says Amanda with the brightest smile I have seen since the smile on my father's face the day I was born. "A glass of cold white wine?" I offer - "Yesss!" Wow - this woman is like the boiling water in Geysir - what a powerful, happy person. I want Amanda as my nurse the next time I have to go to a hospital, I can't think of anyone being sick or unhappy around her.

Then suddenly, it was one o'clock and our next guests, a couple from London; Patrick and Martina Spetlova Austin, arrived. Martina is a clothing designer and Patrick a graphic designer and a musician. Last to arrive was our special guest of the day, Hekla, a young Icelandic woman. Some name she carries, I thought. What happens if I place a woman named after our most active and famous volcano, next to our "Geysir-guest" Amanda? I decided to take the risk during today's lunch and hoped that our little Eldhús wouldn't explode.

Our chef today is Gunnar Gislason, a chef at one of Reykjavik's exclusive restaurants, Dill. Today's dish is a twist from Iceland's most traditional Christmas dinner of smoked lamb. Gunnar takes the raw smoked lamb and slices it thin like a Parma ham, then dries it and serves with a special old traditional flat bread that is baked directly on the stove with a yoghurt dip on the side. We had raw scallops from Breiðafjörður bay with pickled seaweed and sea salted hazelnuts. Every ingredient in this dish is from Breiðafjörður bay, except the nuts, but they are salted using salt made from the sea there. Finally, we had a salted and fried pork belly with baked plaice and Jerusalem artichokes with burned butter and hay-smoked oil. I've never had meat and fish served as one dish before, but it was extraordinarily good.

Gunnar tells us that this is what drives him as a chef. Using our ancestors' traditional methods of preparing food and give them a modern twist so he is able to serve it in a first class restaurant.

Now it was Hekla's time to surprise them, she looked so amazingly charming with her big accordion. She played some old waltzes and a famous camping song that Icelanders like to sing when they go camping.

Patrick and Martina came to Iceland first and foremost to relax. They had spent a night at the Blue Lagoon and driven to nature pearls like, Gullfoss, Geysir and Thingvellir but their journey had come to an end and they were flying back tomorrow. Amanda and Kerry on the other hand had many things to explore and during lunch they got great tips for restaurants and adventurous places to visit.

As we said goodbye, Hekla started playing and Amanda got everyone dancing outside our little house. Thankfully, the house was still in one piece. What a great day. Thank you guys!]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1337422 2012-03-11T08:26:11-04:00 2012-05-11T05:12:03-04:00

Heimir Jónasson http://www.huffingtonpost.com/heimir-j/
My brother spent his summers on one of those islands as a kid. He told me he once saw a killer whale throw a seal meters in the air, like in ice skating when they throw their female dancers in the air. But this was not dancing, he was playing with the seal before having it for dinner. Today though we are not having dinner - we are having lunch.

Our chef of the day is a local named Sumarliði Ásgeirsson. He's originally from Reykjavík but after meeting a nice girl from Stykkishólmur he decided to settle there. It's a place that is known for great seafood especially mussels, which is his dish of the day. While he sets up his gas stove I notice our guests out the window so I'd better finish setting the table.

This fine Friday, we welcome five guests, four girls from Australia; Courtney, Tamarra, Rosa and Connie plus one American; Todd Clancy from Atlanta, Georgia. There are a young crowd that were willing to take a day off their schedules in Iceland for a bit of an adventure in the west of Iceland. Todd had been before but the girls were here for the first time. Mostly hoping for a chance to see the northern lights but also two of them wanted to go to a rave with DJ Tiesto. Interesting choices, I wonder if we get them to dance after lunch.

Sumarliði was fast getting his specialty together, mussels in a cream sauce with root vegetables and herbs. On the side he served a nice bread bun to dip into the sauce and as the guests found their seats the chef told them all to "dig in."

Everyone was ecstatic to get seafood as they all admitted that they do not get much seafood in their hometowns. Todd said that good mussels are really rare in Atlanta so it's a good thing they came to Stykkishólmur, a place us Icelanders like to think of as the mussel capital of Iceland.

Sumarliði brought a second portion of mussels to the table that disappeared like the first one, while drinking coffee the group said that they intended to see more of the west this same day. The white peaks of the mountains glistened on this fair day so the group was in for something special. Courtney, a lively one, said she had a new slogan for Iceland that I feel is good to close with: "Iceland. More than a volcano." ]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1334962 2012-03-09T12:03:39-05:00 2012-05-09T05:12:02-04:00

Heimir Jónasson http://www.huffingtonpost.com/heimir-j/
Tonight's chef is Hrefna Saetran who is one of Iceland's most talented cooks, as well as a local television celebrity and the owner of two restaurants in Reykjavík. Hotel Budir has offered Hrefna the use of their kitchen to prepare tonight's dinner. It was great to see her face light up when she first entered Eldhús; there was real magic in her eyes! We discussed the murder mystery that we had both taken part in solving at Hotel Budir one dark night some years ago; it's strange how people like to play such games and tell each other ghost stories when they're at this place. It even inspired Jules Verne to write his novel Journey to the Centre of the Earth, and the story took place here in this very spot inside the Volcano.

As soon as Hrefna left the house to get on with the cooking there was a knock on the door. We were delighted to see the four friendly, smiling faces of our guests. Before we knew it we were all sat at the kitchen table in Eldhús enjoying a glass of wine. Tonight's guests are John and Sandra who are on their fourth visit to Iceland and Mick and Jan who are first timers. They all seemed to have a soft spot for Iceland, and when we asked John why he likes to come here so often he replied that it is because Iceland is probably his favorite place on earth. "It's so different to other places. There's no place like it," he said.

Soon Hrefna returned with tonight's lamb dinner and we could smell it straight away, delicious! But you can't serve lamb without explaining the quality of the Icelandic lamb to your guests! Icelandic lamb is free range; the lambs are born in early Spring and spend their short lives roaming free, often very high up in the mountains. During late August and early September the lambs are gathered from the mountains and then in some mysterious way they end up on our plates (we have talked about enough scary things in this blog post so I won't go into that). As a boy of twelve years old I was sent to a remote farm on the west coast to work over the Summer and the farmer and his wife paid me with two lambs at the end of my stay. I was a happy boy returning back to school that autumn, a little sunburned from my adventures.

Hrefnas dish was well prepared and only needed the final touches in the Chef's corner in our little house. The dish was lamb chops with duck served with potato comfit and greens and topped off with a pungent lamb sauce. Not food for aliens - that's for sure. I think bon appétit is in order!

Our overwhelming surroundings were a perfect setting for Eldhús, and we were Joined by two lovely couples from England. John Swindale and his wife Sandra are from Bristol and Mick Hazzeldine and his wife Jan are from South West of England (Exmoor to be precise). With the snowy mountains on one side and the unruly sea on the other, the wind battered the outside of our house but inside the guests enjoyed their meals.

At the last bite a nice smell of coffee filled the house and a common dislike for cod liver oil and a shared love for TV cooking programs brought laughter to the table. A good time was had by all in the house and the food was delicious. Thank you to everyone for a lovely evening.

Next stop: lunch in Stykkishólmur...]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1332448 2012-03-08T13:23:21-05:00 2012-05-08T05:12:02-04:00

Heimir Jónasson http://www.huffingtonpost.com/heimir-j/
Today is the first day of the 12-day journey around Iceland with our little red house of food - Eldhús. We want to invite tourists to experience Icelandic dinner in a typical Icelandic grandma's kitchen in special locations around the country. Four Spanish people showed up for the dinner on the first night: Marta, Orestes, Pepe and Paula. We thought it would be appropriate to surprise them...

Our special guest for the evening is Pétur Ármannsson, an Architect and Scholar who specialises in corrugated houses. He joined us for dinner and explained just why there are so many corrugated houses in Reykjavik. It was really interesting - even for me as an Icelander - to hear that this corrugated iron was the poor man's building material. It was used to build sheds or barracks in the early days. Later Pétur told us that this material had great significance as it helped to protect homes from fire, which meant that it had great value in the old days. And don't forget that it rains horizontally in Iceland sometimes so houses needed to be protected from leaks. Foreign architects are totally surprised when they see one of the most beautiful old churches in Reykjavik is built from this material.

On every location there is a local volunteer cooking for the guests and tonight's Chef was Bjarni, who is the Chef of Harpa's kitchen - the new Reykjavik concert hall and conference center. Bjarni chose to cook fried salted cod with fish tongues and cheeks. Fish tongues and cheeks! This reminds me of my grandfather. It was his favorite dish. I remember sitting in front of him in my mother's Eldhús in 1972, watching him eating this strange food I could not imaging eating myself. "This is the best part of the fish you can cook", he said. He knew the quality of the food and I was young and stupid and of course didn't listen. I was staring at his big nose instead and he had this typical huge tobacco nose. Regularly a brown drop fell from his nose on the dish and at that point I hid my face in my hands: "Grandpa - your nose ..."

Tonight the focus was not on anyone's nose. I was busy watching my Spanish dinner guests enjoying the meal and describing it as so fresh and delicious with a unique taste. "The fish is so pure and fresh - it has a special taste that I have not experienced before", said Marta.

Today fish tongues and cheeks is one of my favorite dishes. You can find this dish in the best restaurants in Reykjavik and of course in Eldhús - The Little House of Food.

We were all laughing about the fact that we were sitting in a tiny little house floating on the pond in the middle of Reykjavik. "It feels so much like home, and the salted cod is a typical Christmas eve dinner in Spain", Marta says laughing.. "This is really expensive food in Spain - 24 Euros per kg!"

We had a great time tonight in Eldhús and we got very sentimental in the end. We all felt like we had a special bond. So of course we thought, let's be a bit Icelandic, let's not talk too much about it, let's just do it. So we all hugged and cried and no, I´m not joking. It was just a wonderful two hours and I am looking forward to meeting the next group of people coming to Eldhús tomorrow.
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