On the first night in Iceland we ate Italian food in a sleepy village on the northern Atlantic coast.  Though it was past 10 the first restaurant we looked into was full and we were moved into a subsidiary.  Both restaurant are owned by an Icelander named Olaf who is clearly a key player in the Skagafjordur Italian food industry.  The pizza was well done, though I was slightly disappointed not to eat something more traditional.

In Holar we eat in a restaurant in the main university building or else bring lunch to the sight with us.  In the evening their is a choice of fish and meat based dishes.  The fish is lovely and very fresh but hunger usually drives me to the meat.  The lamb here is some of the best I have ever had.  The food is very solid feeling like it is in many cold countries and is prepared with high carbohydrate side dishes like rice and potatoes.  This is exactly what you need at the end of a cold day digging.

On Thursday evening we ate raw shark and drank an Icelandic spirit named Brennivin.  In order for the shark to sterilize and mellow enough to become edible it is necessary for it to be buried in the ground for up to 3 months before eating.  The experience was risibly foul;  shark smells pungently of rotting fish and has a tough, slightly bristly texture which makes it difficult to eat quickly so that the taste can linger. Indeed, it was so awful that one of the members of the group was forced to throw it up into a sink.  Margret told me that Icelanders do not eat raw shark and that it is used mainly to solicit funny reactions from foreigners.

Naturally, I drank to forget.  Fortunately the Brennivin, which is made of cumin and tastes of mild aniseed, was lovely.  We all drank rather more than might have intended and returned home the traumas of the recent past merrily forgotten.

We have also eaten another Icelandic delicacy; a beaten, desiccated fish.  Though I am not sure what sort of a man would do this to a fish it is surprisingly yummy.  The taste is very fishy and it feels a good bit tougher than fresh fish and it goes well with butter.