Iceland review - 2016, Page 43

ICELAND REVIEW 41
for four years, most recently at Jamie (Oliver)’s Italian in
Guildford, says she was thrilled to be invited to come and
work with Gísli. She arrived back in Iceland just a few days
before our visit to Slippurinn in mid-May. “I’m like this
[imitates waving a flag] for Icelandic ingredients. Gísli is a
real ‘god’ in that. I had to come here. I’m so excited to work
with Icelandic ingredients again, and I couldn’t get a better
teacher than Gísli. Also, I grew up near the ocean, in Ólafsvík
[West Iceland], so it’s like coming home… and with this view
of the harbor, I could sit here at the window all day.” Gísli is
certainly happy to have her on board and says her eagerness to
learn new things is just one reason. “She has been all over the
place the last few years but wanted to come back home and
learn more about Icelandic cuisine. She is doing an amazing
job and she adds a lot of character to the kitchen team here
at Slippurinn.”
Aside from local ingredients, Gísli has also made a name
for himself by using traditional cooking techniques, such as
drying, salting, pickling, fermenting and smoking, combined
with newer ones. “For example, we employ the old fermen-
tation process using whey [instead of lamb, shark and whale
blubber] but we do it with different ingredients, like vegeta-
bles. Also, the old way of making salted cod is to dry it for
half a year in salt. We do that and then rehydrate it in water
for approximately four days and cook it, using sous-vide at a
low temperature in a vacuum bag with herbs. You still get that
traditional salted cod taste but you can be a lot more precise
with the flavor, using this technique.”
SUMMER SPIRIT
On the menu the day of our visit are, among other dishes,
lobster tails and sea truffles with lobster sauce, leeks and dill;
Arctic thyme cured lamb with goat cheese, crispy sunchokes
(Jerusalem artichokes), truffle oil and oyster leaves; whole
cooked lemon sole with capers and burnt lemon with mashed
potatoes; minke whale steak marinated in light licorice oil,
served with sunchoke purée, cauliflower and fennel seeds and
wild chervil; redfish with lovage, potato salad and beach herbs;
chocolate cake and Tanariva chocolate mousse with chervil
granita and foamed buttermilk.
Gísli also prepares guillemot eggs cooked in burnt butter
with crispy rye bread, grated cured guillemot egg, lovage and
pickled onion served in the speckled turquoise shells. They’re
a special addition, only on the menu for a few days. At lunch-
time, everyday fare like halibut soup and fish cakes are also
served, just the way the locals like them. “We want to target
not just tourists, but also locals, and these dishes also help
ensure we use the whole fish and nothing goes to waste,” Gísli
explains. As at Matur og drykkur, the menu features a range of
cocktails using wild Icelandic herbs.
As the summer progresses, so does the menu. “I’m always
adding ingredients as more herbs, roots and vegetables
become available. I always tell people that the menu improves
as the summer goes on. It’s best in late July,” Gísli says.
Slippurinn is only open during the summer, from May to
mid-September, when most mainlanders and foreign tourists
FOOD
Opposite: Seaweed, herbs and other wild plants collected on Heimaey feature strongly on the menu.
Above: Chef Fanney Dóra Sigurjónsdóttir, the newest addition to the Slippurinn team, and Gísli.