Learning to Cook Icelandic Food

When we were in Iceland, I was quite curious to learn how to cook Icelandic food, even if it was only a few dishes. After doing some research, I contacted Salt Eldhús, and they kindly offered to have me participate in a class as their guest.

One of the things that really attracted me to this particular cooking class was that they focus on using local ingredients. The owner and instructor for Icelandic food (they also teach other cuisines) Auður even goes so far as to drive for hours during the summer to pick blueberries herself rather than just buy them in the supermarket.

Once I arrived and saw the layout of her kitchen and the amazing view, I knew I was in for a real treat.

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The menu we would be preparing included a salad, main dish, and a dessert. We were given a lovely folder containing the recipes so we could re-create the dishes at home, and the folder contained some handy conversion charts for those not familiar with metrics. This came in quite handy when I went to re-create one of these dishes while in Mexico.

Auður walked us through each process and made sure we learned how to improve our chopping and other cooking techniques. As we prepared the food, she talked to us about the various ingredients, how they’re made or used, and what we could use to substitute for Icelandic foods we might not be able to find outside the country, like Skyr.

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The class takes a few hours, and she serves some wonderful wine with the meal. It’s a great time to not only eat the delicious food you’ve prepared but to get to know her and your fellow classmates more.

Check out this amazing food!

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Tip: Don’t trust Google Maps to find the class by the business name. For some reason they keep trying to lead people to the former location. Instead, search for the address of Þórunnartún 2 and that will bring you right to her doorstep. The school is located in a large building, but there is good signage to let you know where to go.

Like with most cooking classes, don’t eat much for breakfast beforehand. You’ll want to make sure you have plenty of room for the amazing dishes you’ll be preparing.

As mentioned above, they offer classes in other cuisines as well. These are taught by local top chefs, so they’re worth checking out if you’ll be in the city long enough to partake.

I definitely would recommend this class to learn how to cook Icelandic food. And you won’t even have to eat any fermented shark.

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