Reykjavík Grapevine - 07.10.2016, Page 51

Hverfisgata 12 · 101 Reykjavík
Tel. +354 552 15 22 · www.dillrestaurant.is
Lífið er saltfiskur
#109 Dill is a Nordic restaurant with its
focus on Iceland, the pure nature and
all the good things coming from it.

It does not matter if it’s the
ingredients or the old traditions, we
try to hold firmly on to both.
There are not many things that make
us happier than giving life to old
traditions and forgotten ingredients
with modern technique and our creative
mind as a weapon.
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F R E N C H O N I O N S O U P
I c e l a n d i c Í s b ú i c h e e s e , c r o û t o n s
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M O U L E S M A R I N I È R E S
s t e a m e d m u s s e l s f r o m B r e i ð a f j ö r ð u r
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F I S H O F T H E D A Y
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E s t . 2 0 1 2R e y k j a v i k
51The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 16 — 2016 Research
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It's well known that the more time
you spend in a certain culture, the
more it breaks into you, shifting
the delicate notions and beliefs of
your mind and heart. For example,
after only a month in Iceland, I am
having second thoughts about my
crusade against liqorice in choco-
late, and now realise it’s just an
acquired taste. So, for the sake of
globalisation studies, I decided to
see what Iceland has done with
that trusted comrade of broke stu-
dents, that consolation for workers
in a hurry, and the reason for oc-
casional regrets and meat sweats:
the hot dog.
In order to fulfill this quest, I
went out into the world in search
of answers to the age-old question:
“What do you get on your
Icelandic hot dog?”
Possible options:
√ Ketchup
√ Mustard
√ Remoulade
√ Fried onion
√ Raw onion
Information on about 22 variet-
ies of hot dog prepared and eaten
in Reykjavík was obtained. This
extensive research led us to the
amazing discovery that each of the
ingredients were present in 86%
of these bread-embraced sausage
snacks. None of the toppings were
favoured over others or discrimi-
nated against—or, to look at it
another way, all toppings were fa-
voured and discriminated against
to the same extent. The most
peaceful country in the world is
also the land of justice, I’d say.
The only exception is lamb. All
of the hot dogs contained traces of
lamb meat. They do not give you
the freedom to decide if you want
to have the taste of this happy her-
bivore sitting on your tongue for
the rest of the day. Because this is
Iceland. Get used to it or go home.
In order to continue the task
with this high level of scientific
rigour, I next decided to carry
out a survey, and to compare the
answers of two groups: the lovely
people on the streets of Reykjavík,
and the staff of the Grapevine.
From this robust sample size, we
were able to conclude that the gen-
eral public (those within 50 feet
of our office, standing adjacent
to the hot dog stand), 90% of the
time, live their life to the fullest
by taking the option of having
everything on their hot dog. The
Grapevine, on the other hand,
are a bunch of picky pickers, who
frown upon such things as ketch-
up and remoulade, and rarely dare
to mash all of the presented vari-
ables together. But that’s okay. All
hot dog eaters are beautiful.
So now you know: the true ice-
landic hot dog has it all. Lamb meat
included. Find your apple ketchup,
break out the mayo-cousin remou-
lade and go for it. Do not try to shy
away from the distinctive taste of
the moor-roaming animals by add-
ing two layers of that sweet, brown
mustard. Embrace it, be brave, and
maybe you’ll move a step closer to
finding your inner Icelander.
If you’ve read through all of
the above, I congratulate you and
thank you for your heartwarming
loyalty, dear reader. And now—to
the hot dog stand!
The Results
In the Grapevine office:
√ Everything: 5
In various combinations
√ Ketchup: 8
√ Mustard: 9
√ Remoulade: 8
√ Fried onion: 9
√ Raw onion: 9
The obvious winners among the
condiments were mustard, fried
onion and raw onion, which were
used on nine separate hot dogs.
Only five people went for hot dogs
with everything.
Outside the Grapevine office:
√ Everything: 10
√ Ketchup, remoulade : 1
The Anatomy Of An
Icelandic Hot Dog
“One hot dog with happy meat
and everything, please!”
Words SIGNE SMALA Photo ART BICNICK