Reykjavík Grapevine - 07.04.2017, Blaðsíða 6

Inner Workings
NEWS Last Tuesday, Reykjavík
Mayor Dagur B. Eggertsson held
a press conference wherein he
introduced a draft of the city’s new
housing plan. As to be expected,
guest accommodation services
such as Airbnb have had a major im-
pact on how Iceland’s capital will
address its growing housing crisis.
At this conference, Dagur told re-
porters that the city had originally
planned to build 700 new apartments
over the next five years. However, the
current tourism boom
has swallowed up a lot
of available accommo-
dation, necessitating a
change of plans. Now the
city plans to build some
1,250 new apartments
a year just to meet the demand.

Airbnb having an impact
This news will likely come as little
surprise to anyone looking to rent
an apartment in Reykjavík. As the
Grapevine covered previously, in
“Four Ways That The Tourism In-
dustry Is Eating Itself,” anywhere
from 50% to 75% of available hous-
ing in downtown Reykjavík is already
claimed by Airbnb postings. Amongst
these, the vast majority comprise
not single rooms but entire homes.
The city’s plan hopes to amend
and alleviate this situation. Thou-
sands of apartments are either al-
ready being built or being planned,
and thousands more are current-
ly under review for renovation.
TYPES OF NEW HOUSING PLANNED
Not all housing is created equal
However, not all of these apartments
will necessarily be intended for ev-
eryone. According to the plan, 1,340
of these apartments will be student
housing, 450 will be for
senior citizens, 100 will
be specially made for
disabled people, and 600
will be under the auspic-
es of social services, for
low-income households.
As such, there is still a lot of un-
certainty regarding how quickly
these new apartments can and will be
built. Whether Reykjavík will be able
to provide housing for its residents
at a pace that accounts for the tour-
ism boom still remains to be seen.
Once upon a time,
you actually had a
plethora of choices
when it came to fried
chicken in Iceland.
There was Crown
Chicken in Akureyri
(gone), Chester
Fried Chicken at
Nóatún (long gone)
and the greatest
fried chicken in the
world, Popeyes. This
bastion of homestyle
sides that included
biscuits and “dirty
rice” was situated in
Kringlan’s food court,
where Domino’s now
stands, doling out
their bastardised
version of “pizza.”
Today, if you want
real fried chicken
in Iceland, your
choices are either
the chicken place
at Suðurver, or any
of the gazillion KFCs.
And who knows how
long that Suðurver
place will stay open.
Can they weather the
storm against the
All-Powerful Colonel?
Only time will tell. One
thing’s for certain,
and it’s this: your fried
chicken choices are
severely limited in
this country, and it’s
for that reason that
Popeyes is missing
(and missed) in
Iceland. PF
City To Ramp Up
Housing Efforts
Guest accommodation forces
Reykjavík to change its plans
A: “No, it’s not and never has
been. Traditionally, shark was
buried in sand for six to twelve
weeks to allow it to ferment prop-
erly. No urine (human or other-
wise) was involved in this process.
Today, we cut the shark up into
5-10kg pieces and box it up for six
to nine weeks. After this we hang
the meat up for about three or
four months. So, again, no urine
is used. A lot of different cultures
and countries have different ways
of preserving their food. The only
difference with fermenting shark
is that because it is poisonous
when raw, you have to make sure
you remove the poison, too, which
takes longer, and therefore inten-
sifies the flavour.
“The urban myth of using
urine to ferment the meat may
have come about as a joke or sto-
ry when people drank a little too
much Brennivín, or perhaps from
the smell of ammonia from the
shark itself.
“A lot of tourists say that it is
the most disgusting food they
have ever eaten, but I think there
are much worse foods out there!”
So you will be pleased to know
that there is no urine involved in
the making of Iceland’s most fa-
mous delicacy. It’s just the natu-
ral, tasty, ammonia-infused fla-
vour of fermented shark. Mmm!
We asked Guðjón Hil-
dibrandsson, head of the
Bjarnahöfn Shark Museum in
Snæfellsnes. If you have a ques-
tion about Iceland that you
would like answered, email us
at ask@grapvine.is and we will
find the most suitable expert in
the field in Iceland to resolve
your conundrum. JS
ASK AN…
Expert
Q: “Is human urine
still used during
the process of
fermenting shark?”
Words:
Paul Fontaine
Share this article:
gpv.is/bnb05
Dagur B. Eggertsson, Mayor of Reykjavík
“50 to 75% of
available down-
town housing is
now Airbnb."
Popeyes
WHAT'S MISSING IN ICELAND
First 6The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 05 — 2017
Man vs. Shark
Popeyes the poultry-based fast-food franchise
is not to be confused with the Australian
acrobatic buskers of the same name.
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Price: 6.400 ISK
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www.bustravel.is
info@bustravel.is
+354 511 2600
Northern Lights Bus