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If you love food and are looking to broaden your taste horizons towards northern latitudes, you absolutely must get down to The Icelandic Pantry at
Borough Market now for the final two days of their residency, the last day being Saturday 10th October.
The Icelandic Pantry is a collection of 14 artisan producers from all over Iceland who have brought their wares to our own fair capital.
There are lots of opportunities to taste before you buy and really get to know the people that make the products.
Before we go any further we want to reassure you that
The Artisan Food Trail is still very much focussed on British food and drink producers. This post is about one of our outings where we have an opportunity to meet new people, spread the word about what we do and hopefully pick up a few useful pointers on the way – a learning experience for all businesses involved.
You may or may not know that we are lovers of Iceland, having been to the country repeatedly since 2001. During that time we have seen the nation’s food culture change radically.
The Icelandic Pantry’s organiser and owner of
Búrið in Reykjavík, Eirný Ósk Sigurðardóttir has been following
The Artisan Food Trail for some time and we are very flattered to learn that she has found it an inspiration.
As a result, we were invited to the special drinks reception last night and can say that we had a most enjoyable time. It was really good to talk to Eirný and also Áslaug Guðjónsdóttir (project manager, food, fisheries and agriculture of
Íslandsstofa – Promote Iceland) about what we do and why we do it. Not only that but also to find out about them too.
We got to speak to many of the producers who are so enthusiastic about what they do, which is always exciting for us.
We were so impressed with the produce on offer that we bought rather a lot! Oops! But we know it is worth every penny.
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These are the producers:
Hundastapi – Mutton fillet cured in salt, dill and spices
Sólsker – Variety of line-caught fish including smoked trout, ocean perch and mackerel, also cod roe and mackerel pâté
Hvannarlamb (Ytri Fagridalur) – Angelica-seasoned lamb
Íslandus – a beverage made from farm-direct whey, berries and herbs
Móðir Jörð – Pickled and lacto-feremented vegetables
Rabarbía – Handmade rhubarb brittle, jams and jellies
Omnom Chocolate – Handmade bean-to-bar organic fair-trade chocolate
Ósnes – Marinated herring based on an old family recipe
Seglbúðir – The farm’s own fresh lamb, cured mutton, smoked and dried meat.
Sandholt Bakery –real artisan bread, handmade cakes and pastries – try a just-cooked kleina, an Icelandic twisted doughnut, while you’re there!
Bjarteyjarsandur – Double-smoked mutton which is soaked in homemade blueberry syrup and Icelandic mutton sausages.
Saltverk – Flaky Icelandic sea salt available in several varieties such as birch smoked, liquorice, arctic thyme and black lava.
iCan – Arctic foie gras: fresh cod liver smoked over beech wood
Búrið – A cheese shop in Reykjavík but will is showcasing its angelica products; jams, chutneys soup concentrate, seeds and tea. They also have Iceland’s famous dairy product Skyr.
We hope you can make it along – just mention that we sent you!
