Reykjavík Grapevine - 19.11.2018, Síða 45

Tasting The
Landscape
Faroese restaurant KOKS is a fireworks
display of culinary invention
Words: John Rogers Photo: Timothée Lambrecq
“It’s not far,” says the driver, with
a smile, as myself, a photographer,
and three older couples clamber
into the back of a high, rugged 4x4.
The car bounces off down a rough
dirt track, leaving the car park and
Route 40 behind as we speed out
across the sandy shore of the wide,
glittering lake of Leynavatn. The
car shakes as we plunge through
the shallow waters at the shore-
line, sending foamy plumes shoot-
ing overhead in a dramatic deluge.
Remote foodie
destination
It’s an unexpected entrance to the
new location of KOKS, a lauded
restaurant that went from being
an eccentric fine-dining eatery to
“the world’s most remote foodie
destination,” according to The New
York Times, after winning a Mi-
chelin star in 2017. With young chef
Poul Andrias Ziska at the helm, it’s
an intriguing Faroese outpost of
New Nordic cuisine. The 17-course
tasting menu focuses on seasonal,
local and foraged ingredients—
and ‘ræst,’ an infamous local tra-
dition of heavily fermented meat.
With bookings going through
the roof, the shift of location was a
surprise. But as we step out of the
4x4 and walk up a grassy path to
a smart greeting line of the KOKS
staff in the midst of a mountain-
ous green valley, the peace of the
new site sinks in. We’re yet to taste
a morsel, and the evening already
feels like journey.
Urchin and beach herbs
The new dining room is a raftered,
cabin-like space with views down
to a river below. The meal gets off
to a quick start, with champagne
and a series of immaculate appe-
tisers—queen scallop that “was
alive two minutes
a g o ,” l u m p f i s h
ro e w it h lov a ge
and egg yolk, sea
urchin with pick-
led parsley stems,
and sugared kelp
with “beach herbs”
that are fresh as a
s pr i n g m or n i n g
walk. Two waiters
place each dish on
the table crisply,
swishing them away afterwards
with a practised theatrical flair.
Next come the ræstkjøt courses.
A traditional preserving technique
involving air-drying lamb in a
slatted shed for several months,
this intensely flavoured meat has
a pungent “rotten” smell, and a
strong, gamey taste. KOKS, of
course, serves it in unusual ways:
the skerpikjøt comes with mush-
rooms and lichen, and there’s a
tallow fat and parmesan cracker
version. “It’s like I put a whole farm
in my mouth,” says my compan-
ion. “Like eating a whole sheep in
one bite.” I can’t argue—ræst is a
memorable experience, to say the
least.
Intense and
eye-opening
After a palette-cleansing rhubarb
compote, comes the seafood cours-
es. An oily halibut ceviche is buried
in sappy green leaves with crunchy
grilled buckwheat; the shredded
crab is set off by smokey grilled
leeks and a mild elderflower broth.
Meaty blue mussels are drenched
in a vividly green, herbaceous pars-
ley sauce; the cod soup comes with
snappy, verdant peas; the baccalao
is a tender, gently salted mouthful
of perfection; the monkfish with
kale purée, chick-
weed and intense
beef broth i s an
eye-opening combi-
nation. The Faroese
landscape comes to
life through these
g lor io u s d i sh e s .
It’s like a fireworks
display of culinary
invention.
By the time we
f i n i sh w it h des-
serts of f loral ice cream, dulce
crème brûlee and tart rhubarb
with smoked cream, three hours
have passed in a flash. KOKS may
have moved location, but the cui-
sine remains at the absolutely top
level—it’s an unforgettable feast,
and a worldwide one-of-a-kind.
Skerpikjøt on its way
45The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 19— 2018
“Meaty blue
mussels come
in a vividly
herbaceous
parsley sauce;
the baccalao is
a mouthful of
perfection.”
REYKJAVÍK’S
FIRST
BREWPUB
lunch from
1.690 kr
BRYGGJAN BRUGGHÚS * GRANDAGARÐI 8 101 REYKJAVÍK * 00354 456 4040 * WWW.BRYGGJANBRUGGHUS.IS
ÓÐINSTORG | 101 | REYKJAVÍK | ÍSLAND
SNAPSBISTRO.IS | +354 5116677
FRENCH ONION SOUP
Icelandic Ísbúi cheese, croûtons
2.390 kr.
MOULES MARINIÈRES
steamed mussels from Breiðafjörður
2.600 kr.
FISH OF THE DAY
chef´s special
3.890 kr.
Lunch offer from 11:30 - 14:00 1.990 kr.
EST. 2012REYKJAVIK