History

Hardfiskur (literally hard fish) is one of Iceland's oldest preserved foods; cold North Atlantic wind dries the fillets in racks called hjallar within days. Documents from the 14th century list dried fish as currency. Today it is the country's most popular savoury snack, with Kolaportid's Saturday flea market stalls and supermarkets selling it in vacuum-packed packets.

Common allergens: Fish, Milk

Make it at home

Yield 4Hands-on 10 minTotal 10 minDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 150g pre-dried hardfiskur (haddock or cod), bought from Kolaportid or an Icelandic specialist (cannot be home-dried without an Icelandic wind rack)
  • 150g best-quality salted Icelandic butter (or French cultured butter), at room temperature
  • A few slices of rugbraud (optional)
  • 1 cold Icelandic pilsner or schnapps per person
  • Sea salt flakes

Method

  1. Take the butter out of the fridge 45 minutes before serving; it must be soft enough to spread thickly without tearing the fish.
  2. Open the packet and tear the fish along the natural grain into 4cm to 6cm strips. Use your fingers, not a knife; the grain shows you where the fillet wants to come apart.
  3. Discard any tough spine or fin pieces.
  4. Place the fish on a serving board with a small dish of the soft butter beside.
  5. To eat: hold a strip, smear a thumbnail of butter on top, take a bite.
  6. Add a tiny pinch of Maldon if the fish came under-salted from the producer.
  7. Optional rugbraud finish: tear a strip of fish, sandwich between two slim slabs of buttered rye for a chewier mouthful.
  8. Drink a cold pilsner between bites; this is the Icelandic harbour snack, not a wine pairing.

Tip from the editors. Hardfiskur cannot be replicated at home outside Iceland; ordinary salted-cod or bacalao is the wrong cure and will not work. Buy the vacuum pack at the airport on the way out.

Where to eat hardfiskur (dried fish with butter)

Hardfiskur (Dried Fish with Butter) in Reykjavik

Kolaportid ★ 4.2

Market$101Sat-Sun 11:00-17:00

Kolaportid fills the old customs house on Tryggvagata each weekend, Reykjavik's flea market where food stalls sell fermented shark, dried fish and rye bread.

Tip: This is the easiest place to try hakarl fermented shark and harkfiskur dried fish. Weekends only, cash helps.

Tryggvagata 19, 101 Reykjavik

Cafe Loki ★ 4.2

Nordic$$101Daily 08:00-22:00

Family-run Icelandic kitchen across from Hallgrimskirkja on Lokastigur serving meat soup, fermented shark and rye-bread ice cream from 8am to 10pm daily.

Why locals love it: Most visitors photograph Hallgrimskirkja and leave, missing the small cafe opposite that serves the city's most accessible traditional Icelandic plates.

Tip: The easiest place to try rye bread with mashed fish and rye-bread ice cream. Walk-in only.

Lokastigur 28, 101 Reykjavik

Saegreifinn ★ 4.3

Seafood$$101-grandiDaily 11:30-22:00

Green fisherman's hut by the old harbour on Geirsgata since 1992, world-famous lobster soup plus grilled fish and lamb skewers; Sea Baron of Reykjavik.

Why locals love it: A green shack among the harbour sheds with barrels for seats, it looks like nothing, yet inside is the langoustine soup travellers cross the city to find.

Tip: Seating is communal on barrels and benches. The langoustine soup with bread is the only order you need.

Geirsgata 4a, 101 Reykjavik

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