flipHarðfiskur með smjöri (Dried Fish with Butter)
Harðfiskur með smjöri (Dried Fish with Butter)
Why this dish? Without grain to make bread for centuries, Iceland turned dried fish into its 'bread of the sea.' Light, durable, full of strength, harðfiskur accompanied every journey — the kind one slipped into a bag before setting out, just as Vigdís crisscrossed her island to meet her people.
Strips of cod, haddock, or wolffish dried in the wind until brittle, eaten shredded with a generous layer of butter.
Here is the true bread of our island: fish dried in the wind from the open sea, hard as bark yet so nourishing. We would beat the strips against a stone to soften them, then tear them by hand before spreading a good layer of butter. I always carried some for the road — nothing sustains a traveler better. Chew it slowly, and you will taste the sea itself.
- •Cod, haddock, or wolffish — whole fillets (material for drying)
- •Cold, salty coastal wind — several weeks (natural drying)
- •Butter — as much as desired (fat accompaniment)
Harðfiskur með smjöri (Dried Fish with Butter)
Strips of cod, haddock, or wolffish dried in the wind until brittle, eaten shredded with a generous layer of butter.
Why this dish? Without grain to make bread for centuries, Iceland turned dried fish into its 'bread of the sea.' Light, durable, full of strength, harðfiskur accompanied every journey — the kind one slipped into a bag before setting out, just as Vigdís crisscrossed her island to meet her people.
Here is the true bread of our island: fish dried in the wind from the open sea, hard as bark yet so nourishing. We would beat the strips against a stone to soften them, then tear them by hand before spreading a good layer of butter. I always carried some for the road — nothing sustains a traveler better. Chew it slowly, and you will taste the sea itself.
Ingredients (period version)
- Cod, haddock, or wolffish — whole fillets (material for drying)
- Cold, salty coastal wind — several weeks (natural drying)
- Butter — as much as desired (fat accompaniment)
Ingredients
- Harðfiskur (Icelandic dried fish, in a bag) — 100 g (base)
- High-quality semi-salted butter — 50 g (fat accompaniment)
Method
- If drying yourself: cut very thin fillets of white fish, lightly salt them, and hang in a cold, dry, well-ventilated place for one to several weeks until hard and brittle.
- Briefly beat the dried strips to soften the fibers.
- Tear the fish into bite-sized pieces by hand.
- Spread a thick layer of butter on each piece just before eating.
How it was made : Harðfiskur is one of Iceland's oldest foods: fish was dried in the wind without salt or fire, and it literally served as bread in a land where grain was scarce. A trade commodity, it kept for months and nourished fishermen and travelers.
The contemporary twist : As a chic appetizer, presented in strips on a slate board with a whipped butter flavored with Icelandic sea salt.
Sources : Nanna Rögnvaldardóttir, Icelandic Food and Cookery (2002)
Vigdís Finnbogadóttir · Charactorium
