Reykjavík Grapevine - 05.06.2015, Blaðsíða 57

Sushi Samba
Þingholtsstræti 5 • 101 Reykjavík
Tel 568 6600 • sushisamba.is
Our kitchen is open
17.00–23.00 sun.–thu.
17.00–24.00 fri.–sat.
Amazing
7 course menu
A unique Icelandic Feast
Starts with a shot of the Icelandic
national spirit “Brennivín“
Puffin
Smoked puffin with blueberries,
croutons, goat cheese, beetroot
Minke whale
Minke whale with tataki
Arctic charr
“Torched“ arctic charr with parsnip
purée, fennel, dill mayo
Lobster
Lobster cigar with chorizo, dates, chili jam
Reindeer
Reindeer slider with blue cheese, portobello,
steamed bun
Free range icelandic lamb
Lamb with coriander, pickled red cabbage,
fennel, butternut squash purée, chimichurri
And to end on a high note ...
Icelandic Skyr
Skyr panna cotta with raspberry sorbet, white
chocolate crumble, passion foam, dulche de leche
6.990 kr.

FOOD
FOR THE SOUL
cially in the USA,” he explains. “Tastier
speciality beers are gaining quite a big
proportion of the market. The market
here in Iceland is changing, too. Before,
even if we wanted to make something
new, people only wanted strong, pale
lager. They were most interested in the
strength."
Prohibition on
beer in Iceland was
only lifted in 1989,
meaning that Ice-
land’s beer history is
quite short. “There
wasn’t any profes-
sional brewing be-
fore then,” Baldur
explains, “but bak-
ers were allowed to
brew to maintain the
yeast for the bread,
so they made some
kind of beer. Even
after 1989, there
were only six beers on the market. But
since the year 2000, interest has been
increasing in other types of beer. We
saw it first with our seasonal brands,
like the Easter and Christmas beer.
Most of the beer bought at those times
is seasonal. People are more open now,
always looking for something new.”
With Einstök becoming an estab-
lished international brand, and demand
in Iceland continuing to grow, Baldur is
optimistic about the future. He walks
us out of the factory, enthusing about
possible new recipes. “We always like
to try out new things,” he says. “At the
moment we’re close to maximum pro-
duction capacity, so it’s more difficult
to try things out. But the Einstök Arctic
Berry was a newer one, and we’re now
also making Juniper Bock.”
Indeed, the fu-
ture seems gener-
ally bright for the
Einstök brewmaster.
“We’re hopefully go-
ing to continue to
expand,” he contin-
ued. “We’re optimis-
tic for the growth
of Einstök, and that
might mean we have
to expand the plant
further, get new
equipment, and im-
prove our process-
es.”
As we leave the
brewery, we see kegs upon kegs roll-
ing out of the factory, and get an idea
of just how much Einstök beer is being
made here. It seems that with Baldur’s
recipes and expertise behind the brand,
Einstök’s viking invasion of the Ameri-
can market is set to continue with
aplomb.
Flights to Akureyri for this interview
provided by Air Iceland, book flight
at www.airiceland.is or call +354-
5703000
“The process is the same,
but the raw materials of
Einstök are very differ-
ent. There were many in-
gredients we’d never used
before—wheat malt, oats,
orange peel, coriander,
different yeast, American
hops... the hops have a
very special flavour.”