What could possibly be wrong with a “Food and Fun” festival? Doesn’t the title itself sum
up all you really need in life? What in the world could be better than an entire festival celebrating food
fun?
Well, I’m going to lose a handful of you when I mention where it is being held: Iceland.
The 5th annual Icelandic Food and Fun Festival kicks off on February 22nd,
in the capital of Reykjavik. A number of local chefs participate in the festival where they are limited to
preparing dishes made solely from Icelandic ingredients. This doesn’t mean plate after plate of arctic cod
either. Iceland has a unique culinary heritage
which only a cold, North Atlantic island can give rise to. Now, here’s the part where I will lose even more
of you. Iceland is well known for maximizing their limited food resources and creating such wild dishes as
smoked puffin, dung-smoked lamb, sheep heads, pickled ram testicles, and their most famous culinary masterpiece, rotten shark meat that has been left to decompose for six months
and traditionally downed with Brennivín, a
potato-based schnapps drink more commonly referred to as Black Death.
But don’t let this scare you off. Reykjavik has wonderful restaurants and I ate quite well while visiting there a
few years ago. The food is unbelievably fresh (except for the shark) and the quality outstanding. Very few
restaurants even offer the above mentioned culinary um… challenges.
As for the Food and Fun Festival, you should still go. I guarantee that you will love the food and definitely have fun as well—despite
the festival being held during winter in a country located just below the Arctic Circle that has very odd food customs
indeed.