Reykjavík Grapevine


Reykjavík Grapevine - 20.04.2018, Blaðsíða 6

Reykjavík Grapevine - 20.04.2018, Blaðsíða 6
Iceland’s food culture has been blossoming over the past few years. Fine restaurants have moved be- yond churning out the same “Nordic fusion” plates, and the varieties of street food have also expanded. Un- fortunately, there is still one glaring omission: corned beef. For the unfamil- iar, there is no corn in corned beef. It’s a salt-cured beef brisket, so named because it is packed inside large-grain “corns” of salt, which tends to turn the meat pink. It became wildly popular in Europe after the Indus- trial Revolution because of its tendency to stay unspoiled for a very long time. Since those olden days, it has become a staple of delicatessens across North Amer- ica and Europe; so much so, that certain sand- wiches cannot be made without it. The Reuben, for example, is com- prised of corned beef, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and Thousand Island dressing on rye. Any other kind of meat and it’s not a Reuben, it’s some lesser, inferior sandwich. The absence of corned beef is es- pecially perplexing when one consid- ers traditional Icelandic cuisine. Like corned beef, foods such as saltfish, or any part of the lamb, cow or pig soaked in whey (súrmatur) were also created so as to last a long time without spoiling. Unlike súrmatur, corned beef actu- ally tastes good. Comedian and former Reykjavík Mayor Jón Gnarr once speculated that the reason why Icelanders love junk food is that colonial times culturally condi- tioned us to enjoy eating garbage. The culture has been shifting for a long time now, but corned beef still remains some- thing else missing in Iceland. PF Corned Beef After a two-year break, whale hunting conducted by Hvalur hf. will resume again this summer. MBL reports that the company has been granted a quota of 161 fin whales to hunt this summer, up from the 155 fin whales they were allowed to hunt the last time they went whaling, in 2015. “Medical purposes” The aim of the hunt is to develop nutri- tional supplements for the anaemic from the meat, to make gelatin from the bones, and to use the whale blubber for unspecified medical purposes. As reported, Hvalur hf. had taken a break from whale hunting both last year and the year before. Kristján Loftsson, the head of the company, told reporters that this pause w a s d u e t o largely bureau- cratic reasons, but that has not been the only obstacle he has faced. The hacktiv- ist movement A n o n y m o u s has also gotten involved, with a persistent c a m p a i g n a g a i n s t t h e hunting of fin whales which has shut down government websites for hours at a time. Anonymous has pledged that the cyber attacks will continue until whaling ends. Whales are getting smarter The domestic market for whale meat is so minuscule as to be non-existent, and public opinion has been increasingly against whaling as well. Today, most Icelanders are against the hunt- ing of endan- gered fin whales, and only about 50% support the hunting of the more abundant minke whales. Furthermore, w h i l e w h a l e h u n t e r s h a v e been having a hard time find- ing whales in F a x a f l ó i B a y, whale watching groups have been find- ing a plethora of whales, leading one to wonder if the whales are savvy enough to avoid hunting ships, and to instead swim near whale watching boats. Whale Hunting To Begin Again In Iceland Just when you thought this story was over. Words: Paul Fontaine Photo: Skari First T EMPL A R A SUND 3 , 101 RE Y K JAV ÍK , T EL : 5711822, W W W.BERGSSON. IS BREAKFAST FROM 7 LUNCH FROM 12 The seas aren't safe for whales around Iceland “The aim of the hunt is to develop nutri- tional supplements for the anaemic from the meat, to make gelatin from the bones, and to use whale blubber for unspecified medical purposes. ” Words: Phil Uwe Widiger A : Did you ever wonder why, after hiking in Iceland, you wake up the next day with a red nose, shoulder or other body parts? Somehow, these nasty sunburns seem to occur faster than in other European countries and often carry an unpleasant itch with them. We asked Helgi Rafn Hróðmars- son, aka The Cosmic Chemist, why the sun in Iceland seems to be so fatal. Briefly, this can vary greatly from person to person because your skin type plays a major role. Whether the skin is oily, dry, fine, or if you're touched by fire, your proneness to sunburns varies . The second point you need to con- sider is the climate. In colder cli- mates where the air is drier, the skin is more easily dehumidified which in case of sunburn could lead to more itchy burn effects. But is the impact of the sun stronger in Iceland than in mainland Europe? In humid climates, you feel hotter because water is a very effective vessel for transporting heat be- cause of its high heat capacity. So, for an island surrounded by water often ensconced in winds, feel- ing hotter in comparison with the mainland of Europe can make sense. I would be careful about direct com- parisons with individual countries though. The ozone layer evolves over each hemisphere in different ways so on particular days, it can be slightly thinner or thicker. But generally, it won't kill you to cough up the extra bucks and additional 5 minutes and apply the sunscreen. ASK AN Astrochemist Q: What is it with all the sunburns in Iceland? 6 The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 06 — 2018 MISSING IN ICELAND

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