Reykjavík Grapevine - ágú. 2020, Blaðsíða 34

Bounties of the
Westfjords
A day with Nora Seafood, an innovative seafood
company that hand-picks sea urchins and
scallops
Words: Shruthi Basappa Photos: Provided by Nora Seafood
If like me, you haven’t got over the
scallops at Óx and the glistening
medallions of cod at Dill, or been
enthralled by the sea urchin at the
three Michelin-starred Frantzen
in Stockholm, chances are you’ve
sampled some of the best seafood
Iceland has to offer.
It is with these memories swirl-
ing through my mind that I excit-
edly reach out to Nora Seafood, a
Westfjords-based seafood process-
ing company that has in its six-year
reign made gainful strides in the
world of fine dining while also
straddling concerns about sustain-
ability and innovation.
Its young founder and CEO,
Vi!ir Ing$órsson, has graciously
offered me a tour of their fishing
operations, topped off by a meet-
ing with Sveinbjörn Hjálmarsson
a.k.a. Simbi, their famed diver who
hand-harvests sea urchins from lo-
cal fjörds. An educational, gastro-
nomic afternoon awaits me.
Curated quality
The phrase “lifi! er saltfiskur” (“life
is salted fish”) frequents my mind
while in the Westfjords. Currently
ranked 15th globally in production,
Iceland has long been a fishing na-
tion. It isn’t an exaggeration to say
that it is a saturated market, so how
does one stand out here?
Vi!ir admits that the industry is
rife with many that lack the educa-
tion and/or skill to handle seafood
efficiently. “The majority are driven
by volume and not necessarily qual-
ity,” he confesses. “To use Icelandic
products in a creative fashion, there
was definitely a window there. We
take great pride in our fish.”
“[Every fish] is so precious, you
have to handle it like a treasure,”
he continues. “You have to cool it
down and get it in the hands of your
customer as soon as possible.” Nora
prides itself on on these speedy de-
liveries, regularly transporting live
shellfish from Iceland to the swank-
iest restaurants in Europe.
“At Nora, everything starts for us
at the very beginning. For a beauti-
ful cod going to the finest restau-
rants in the world, it’s a matter of
one hour in the sun. That deter-
mines whether it’s going to be the
best meal you will serve for your
clients or something insignificant.”
Sustainable epicurean
delights
By now we’ve arrived in Ísafjör!ur,
where Nora Seafood has its opera-
tions base. It’s but a quick stroll onto
the dock, where a sprightly Simbi is
waiting for us, all smiles.
One of Nora’s unique offerings
are their sustainably harvested
sea urchin, scallops and mahoga-
ny clams. Simbi single-handedly
scours the ocean floors throughout
the year, no matter the weather, for
these decadent delights.
In their quest for sustainability,
Simbi only picks sea urchins to or-
der. He cracks a still-alive urchin
open to reveal persimmon-hued
uni. It is such an incredible privilege
to be able to savour fresh uni for its
floral, briny sweetness that we all
enjoy it in a moment of silence and
smiles. “These are quite the aphro-
disiac,” Simbi winks.
We also sample some ‘Princess
Scallops’, so called for their palm-
sized size. The glistening morsels
are miles apart from their sorry
cousins, which most of us encoun-
ter in restaurants. Mahogany clams,
the grand dame of the shellfish
world, are like crunchier scallops—
their feisty muscles snapping shut
tight making it quite a feat to open
them.
How such an enterprise will
adapt to a COVID or post-COVID re-
ality is clearly on Vi!ir’s mind. “Life
is just sweet and sour you know?
The times before COVID were in-
credible and we learnt a lot, but now
it is sour and we will continue to use
that knowledge to experiment and
grow,” he smiles.
On my way home, something
Vi!ir said earlier plays over in my
mind. “I choose to respect nature
and respect the raw material, each
tail of the fish, each eye of the fish.
I’m blessed to be able to do this ev-
eryday,” he relayed. This drive and
attention to detail is what sets Nora
Seafood apart from its competition.
For those who might be left with
a hankering to try some of Nora’s
fares, Fiskinn Heima home-delivers
a selection of frozen seafood from
the Westfjords across the country.
“[Every fish] is
so precious,
you have to
handle it like a
treasure.”
Is your mouth watering yet?
Food
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