Many people have visited Iceland for its spectacular nature, but now visitors have the opportunity to explore its delicious secrets. On this new seven-day escorted tour of southwest Iceland, visitors take in the extraordinary nature and geology of Iceland while experiencing the traditional culinary heritage of the country. Catching a fish from the pollution-free waters to be prepared and served back to you in a gourmet restaurant, baking bread underground using heat from hot springs and imbibing on a specialty cocktail served while bathing in the unique Blue Lagoon are just some of the culinary morsels on offer. For more information or to book: www.icelandtotal.com/sensational-iceland
Posts Tagged ‘food’
TASTE-SATIONAL ICELAND - A NEW CULINARY JOURNEY
Friday, June 11th, 2010TASTE OF ICELAND COMES TO TORONTO
March 17-20
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
Can’t get to Boston or Iceland anytime soon? Toronto will be the next best thing later this month. After one thousand years and counting, Icelandic culture is still very much alive, and now it’s coming to Canada. Torontonians can once again experience the Icelandic lifestyle during A Taste of Iceland, the country’s captivating cultural festival, from March 17 to 20.
Hosted by Iceland Naturally and in collaboration with Toronto’s Drake Hotel, this four-day event provides a chance to learn more about this beautiful country and its people with a variety of events including free live performances, film screenings, Icelandic food offerings and art.
For instance: Chef Thorarinn Eggertsson, also known as Chef Thor, owner and head chef of Orange in downtown Reykjavík, will design the menu at the Drake and cook on-site to inspire Toronto-area foodies with his unique Icelandic dishes and exquisite cuisine.
Icelandic musician Mugison and his band will play at Drake Underground on March 19 and 20 at 10 p.m. (Drake Hotel, 1150 Queen Street West). Admission is free. Country Wedding will have a public screening on March 18, at 6:30 p.m. at Cumberland Four Theatre (159 Cumberland Avenue). Reykjavik Rotterdam will be shown at 8:10. Admission for both screenings is free.
Icelandic artist Hrafnhildur Arnardottir’s latest installation, Haunted, will be on display at the Drake from March 17 to 20. (http://www.shoplifter.us/haunted.php) Her work has been shown at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, where she currently resides, along with other major cities across the United States and worldwide. Icelanders enjoy a sophisticated European lifestyle based on age-old traditions. They make their own food from fresh ingredients, design their own clothes, write their own books, make their own music and perform their own plays. View the complete schedule and see what it’s all about. (For more information: http://www.icelandnaturally.com/news/archive/nr/126).
BOSTON HOSTS TASTE OF ICELAND
March 11-17
Friday, March 5th, 2010
Our Boston friends surely are tired of baked beans and clam chowder by now. To liven things up this month, and to celebrate Icelandair’s nonstop service between Boston and Reykjavík, comes a Taste of Iceland. The event features the best of Icelandic music, cuisine and films through a series of ongoing special promotions in and around Boston from March 11-17, 2010.
A Taste of Iceland, a multi-day cultural program, will include a variety of public events, such as live musical performances, Icelandic culinary tastings and a film festival.
On March 11, for instance, are free screenings of two recent Icelandic hit films. Country Wedding (6:15 pm) is a comedy of errors set in the beautiful Icelandic countryside. This will be followed by Reykjavik Rotterdam, (7:45 pm) an award winning crime thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Location: Kendall Square Cinema (1 Kendall Square, Cambridge).
A Taste of Iceland is presented by Iceland Naturally, in cooperation with Icelandair, Icelandic USA, Inc., 66° North, The Blue Lagoon, Icelandic Glacial, Rustic Kitchen, British Beer Garden, Kendall Square Cinema, Middlesex Lounge, The Middle East and T.T. the Bear’s Place. With that many players in the game, there is guaranteed to be something for everyone. (For more information: http://www.icelandnaturally.com/taste-of-iceland-boston/nr/162)
WE’VE GOT YOUR FOOD, WE’VE GOT YOUR FUN February 24-28, 2010
Tuesday, February 9th, 2010
The annual Iceland Food and Fun Festival will be held in Reykjavik, February 24-28, 2010. Chefs from the USA, Canada and Europe will be teamed up with the most prestigious Icelandic chefs and given the finest Icelandic ingredients to create their masterpieces. Each team will prepare 1 lamb dish, 1 fish dish and 1 dessert. These meals will be served at the finest participating restaurants across the city of Reykjavik until the grand judging. To close the weekend’s festivities, a gala awards event will be held on February 28 featuring a recap of Food and Fun 2010 and the top chefs of the year. Learn more at www.foodandfun.is
THORRABLOT IS NOT FOR THE MEEK
Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010
Reality television just can’t get enough of strange foods. From shows like Man V. Food and Bizarre Foods, to Fear Factor challenges, if it crawls, slithers, or is the part of the animal usually tossed away, it’s fair game. The Vikings knew this 1,000 years before the first cathode ray tube ever flickered.
The ancient Viking midwinter tradition – named for Thorri, a month in the old Icelandic calendar – was originally the feast of sacrifice involving the blood of oxen and goats. Contemporary celebrations – which visitors can experience at many restaurants – involve dancing, singing, drinking, and eating traditional Norse specialties (so far, so good), but are combined with eating singed sheep’s head, pickled rams testicles, and putrefied shark that has been buried for three months or more (certainly not for the meek). There’s puffin on the menu as well – nothing like eating the national bird so long as it’s cooked in a good sauce. Just don’t expect it to taste like chicken. Celebrations begin January 22 through most of February.
CRAVE A BIG MAC ON VACATION? DON’T COME LOOKING AT US
Friday, November 6th, 2009
Iceland is set to lose all three of its McDonald’s locations, all in Reykjavik. Frankly, it always puzzled us why people would want a Big Mac anyway, what with world class gourmet restaurants on every block, the freshest seafood on the planet, and the water – don’t get us started on how crisp, clean and pure the water is.
The cratering of the Icelandic economy, paired with the expense of importing nearly every single ingredient on the menu – packaging, meat, vegetables, cheese – forced brothers Jon and Magnus Ogmundsson to close their franchises, despite a big run on Big Macs during the closing days. Don’t ask us why, but the media is fascinated with Iceland – this story made worldwide news.
Iceland already had the third priciest Big Mac on the planet, behind Norway and Sweden, and the need for a further price hike effectively swung a wrecking ball into the Golden Arches. They plan to re-open the locations under a new name – how’s this guys: McEinar’s? or McThor? They’ll use local ingredients, so keep an eye out for an Egg McPuffin on your next trip.
INTIMATE LUXURY CRUISE SHIP SAILS FOR ICELAND
Thursday, October 29th, 2009
Tired of those mega-cruises on floating cities? Here’s an idea for experiencing Iceland on a more intimate ship: an eight-day voyage aboard the all-new Le Boreal, a sleek 264-person yacht slated to launch next May. The 466-foot Le Boreal, available through Tauck World Discovery, is a ship small enough to provide a truly intimate cruise experience yet large enough to provide amenities usually found only on large cruise ships. There are six decks, and each of the ship’s suites and staterooms will be outward facing. What’s more, 95 percent of all accommodations will have private balconies.
Departures are scheduled for July 22nd and 29th, 2010, and the cruise, which circles half the country, begins and ends in Reykjavik.
Guests will experience ancient frozen glaciers and active fiery volcanoes, and view wildlife on the island of Grimsey and barren sulfur fields at Namaskard. They’ll also journey north of the Arctic Circle, south to Reykjavik, and sample the warm thermal waters of the Blue Lagoon. Finally, they’ll visit the site in 930 AD of the world’s first democratic parliament (Thingvellir National Park; a UNESCO World Heritage Site), and they’ll see the youngest island in the world, Surtsey Island, which was formed by volcanic action in the 1960s.
Included in the price of the new Iceland cruise are all shore excursions, meals, gratuities, wine with dinners, nightly cocktail hours and much more. From $5,790 per person, plus air. For more info. call 800 788 7885 or click here.
THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE DOME
Wednesday, October 21st, 2009
Tour guides are often asked about the building with the dome roof that sits on top of Öskjuhlíd hill overlooking Reykjavík Airport. It’s a must-see during any visit to the capital city. It’s called Perlan in the mother tongue, or the Pearl, and was built in 1991 as a monument to Iceland’s ever-flowing geothermal waters. Indoors and outdoors, there are art exhibits, musical performances, and fountains that spurt water like geysers. Above six vast water tanks, a viewing platform offers telescopes and multilingual-recorded commentaries, plus a coffee bar and an ice-cream parlor.
The crowning glory is a revolving restaurant under the glass dome where a famous Christmas buffet is served from November 19 through December 30. It’s all you can eat – free range lamb, the freshest cod you ever tasted, delicious reindeer pate, all kinds of amazing, richly decadent desserts (bring your elastic waistband pants), the works – for about $63 per person (less midweek; lower children rates available). The restaurant rotates slowly, providing every seat with a view of the entire capital city.
On the Pearl’s fourth floor, within the Gourmet Shop, lies the Christmas Shop. There you can find all kinds of Christmas related items: statues of the Icelandic Yule Lads based on Brian Pilkington’s drawings, Christmas tree decorations, handcrafted Icelandic Christmas artwork and lots more. For the child in us all. (Take a 360 degree tour right from your desktop at: www.perlan.is)
THE BEST OF REYKJAVIK
Friday, October 9th, 2009
Recently the folks at the English-language Reykjavik Grapevine devoted an entire issue to the best of everything in the capital. The newspaper worked hard compiling a list for readers to read, verify, distrust, totally disagree with, argue over, send in angry rants about and generally enjoy. It’s totally unscientific and heavily contestable and should be read as such: for entertainment purposes only. We still hope it serves as some sort of guideline to enjoying the fair city.
The list includes the Best burger, where to go for ice cream, eat Indian or Thai food, where to take a date, eat French fries or enjoy the best seafood (now there’s one to argue about). It even includes advice on the best bar for a wild night out on the town.
Before you leave, log on here: http://www.grapevine.is/Features/ReadArticle/Feature-Best-of-Reykjavik
SEATTLE ENJOYS A TASTE OF ICELAND, SEPT. 10 - 13
Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009
Seattle will host a Viking invasion and celebrate Icelandair’s new nonstop service between Seattle and Reykjavík with A Taste of Iceland! The event, which includes Icelandic music, cuisine, film and academics, comes to town from September 10 to 13. Commemorating this unique occasion and celebrating Seattle’s new direct link to Iceland, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels has proclaimed September 9 to 14, 2009 as Iceland Days in Seattle.
A Taste of Iceland, a multi-day cultural program, will include a variety of public events, such as a live musical performance, Icelandic culinary promotion, a film festival and a presentation about Iceland’s dedication to sustainable fisheries. A Taste of Iceland is presented by Iceland Naturally, in cooperation with Icelandic USA, Inc., Icelandair, 66° North, The Blue Lagoon, Reyka Vodka, Icelandic Glacial, KEXP, the University of Washington, Ray’s Boathouse, The Crocodile and The Varsity movie theater. (For more information click here www.icelandnaturally.com)
