“The dinner we had in the Meeting the Icelanders experience was one of the best meals we had on the trip. The food was spectacular – so fresh and prepared perfectly! The ingredients were all locally sourced. The fish was just caught by her father and the lettuce fresh from the greenhouse … It was all so, so good. And it was also just wonderful to enjoy a well prepared meal with nice and interesting people.” 
Sara – USA.

I am addicted to travel. I love seeing new places, meeting new people and dining different and exotic food.

When I was younger I was fortunate to live in a couple of places while studying. The most amazing people I met on these stays were the locals who invited me and sometimes my friends to stay with them for some days, or for an evening, having dinner. I am forever thankful to these people for giving me the precious experience of dining with the locals.

Therefore in the memory I remember being at peoples houses, helping with preparing dinner, tasting new things and hearing the history of the food, the recipes, sometimes coming from the grandmother or great grandmother of the family. Both in Austria and in Brazil i even received a cooking book from the area so I could try the recipes at home.

Sometimes interesting stories came along.

In Iceland I heard the story of the woman who always cut the leg of lamb in two before putting it in the oven on a Sunday afternoon.

She never thought about it that much, but when her daughter asked her why she was doing that all these years, she replied ” my mum always did and so did my grandma”. The story unfolded when the grand mother reviled the secret.

When she was young, in the beginning of the 20th century,  making dinner in the kitchen with her mum, they used to not have a big enough pot for the lamb, for it to fit in entirely, so her mum had to cut the leg of lamb in two.

Many years later when she moved with her children and husband to a new house, with big enough pots, she continued cutting the leg of lamb in two and that is where this tradition in the family began.

I am sure that for this family the lamb would taste entirely different if not cut in two so I guess they continued the tradition, until this day.

In Iceland organic spices from the Icelandic flora have been used in cooking for centuries. It is not a secret that growing spices in Iceland can be hard because of the weather and conditions, even though people have been growing vegetables and other delicious food products using the geothermal  heating, the cheap energy, to warm up green houses for growing things.

The Icelandic flora is amazing and the smell, colors and possibilities of it endless. In recent years companies and individuals have been exploring and investigating the strengths and the possibilities of the Icelandic flora in medicine, cosmetics and food.

For some of my friends over there, collecting eatable mushrooms is one of the tradition of the family when summer is almost over.

I visited my friend this summer who lives on the country side close to Reykjavik, surrounded by a forest, her partner has been growing for years, and a salmon river in her back yard. In this area organic production has started on the nearest farms where entrepreneurs have seen and tested on their own skin how organic products both taste better and make you feel better.

I had a lamb for dinner at my friends house, as one does a lot when visiting Iceland, with freshly picked herbs from the mountain next to her (she took a little walk to get them for the dinner). This was enjoyed with products from her own green house and from the organic farm next door.

After that day I was feeling totally relaxed, physically tired after our walks that day. Breathing deep because of all of the fresh air and feeling warm inside because of an amazing company.

This is what I love about Iceland. It´s personal and the people are warm and inspiring. The air is fresh,  the nature is right there and the weather changes constantly. Gives a lot of spice in life in a short time.

The local partners of Iceland Unwrapped by helgastina are people with different backgrounds and interests but all are enthusiastic to receive you and give you an experience of a lifetime.

It is an exciting way to get to know Iceland and Icelanders.

More information  – helgastina.com