Iceland review - 2015, Page 56

54 ICELAND REVIEW
BY ZOË ROBERT.
PHOTOS BY ÁSLAUG SNORRADÓTTIR.
Azeb Kahssay is standing in the kitchen
dressed in a bright orange and white tradi-
tional cotton dress and head covering. She
heats the pan and pours in the batter for injera. The
spongy flatbread, which is eaten at almost every
Ethiopian meal, is used to scoop up vegetables
and meat. The batter, a mix of teff flour (a unique
flavored gluten-free 100 percent wholegrain flour)
with spelt and regular flour, salt and water, is left to
ferment for a few days to create an airy, bubbly tex-
ture and a slightly sour taste. Just like when making
pancakes, the first one sticks to the pan, breaking
apart when Azeb tries to lift it off.
COUNTRYSIDE SURPRISE
Located 100 kilometers (62 miles) from Reykjavík,
and with a population of around 400, the South
Iceland town of Flúðir may seem like an unusual
place for an Ethiopian restaurant, but Azeb says
that they benefit from the town being a popular
summerhouse community and being located just
off the Golden Circle route. “Tourists are always
surprised. They say ‘What? An Ethiopian restaurant
in Flúðir?!’” Sure enough, as we’re chatting, a fam-
ily from Sweden on their way around the country
come in for lunch, expressing surprise at seeing an
Ethiopian restaurant in the Icelandic countryside.
Azeb and her husband, Árni Magnús Hannesson,
celebrated the fourth anniversary of the restaurant,
called Minilik (after the emperor who is said to have
ruled Ethiopia around 950 BC), the week before the
photographer and I visit in late June.
Back in the kitchen, as Azeb continues to cook
the injera, she lights charcoals on a small stove for
brewing coffee, occasionally returning to stoke the
coals. Next, she prepares the meat and vegetable
dishes for the combination plate, a selection of spicy
main meal dishes made primarily with fresh local
ingredients from Flúðir’s abundant greenhouses
and nearby farms. The tomatoes, cucumbers, pep-
pers, lettuce, kale, cabbage, beetroot, carrots, onion,
herbs, are all sourced locally whenever possible;
as well as eggs, chicken, lamb and beef. Azeb also
makes a version of ayib, fresh Ethiopian cheese that
resembles a cottage cheese and ricotta hybrid, from
milk and skyr.
LITTLE PIECE OF
ETHIOPIA
Making the most of the fresh vegetables grown in local greenhouses,
Azeb Kahssay and Árni Magnús Hannesson have for the past four
years been serving Ethiopian culinary favorites at Minilik restaurant in
the countryside town of Flúðir, South Iceland.