Bring Icelandic Happiness into your Home

Valentine’s Day is fast approaching and if you are in need of a little inspiration then Hjónabandssæla, Iceland’s “Happy Marriage Cake”, may be the answer! Although the origin of the cake name is a mystery, Icelanders claim that it is so easy to make and truly delicious it will make your partner smile... 

Happy Marriage Cake

2 cups flour
2 cups oatmeal flakes
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 cups coconut flakes
2 tsp baking soda
250g butter
Rhubarb jam

1. Mix the flour, oatmeal flakes, sugar, coconut flakes and baking soda together in a bowl
2. Add the butter and mix well using your hands
3. Put half of the dough into the tin, spread rhubarb jam on top and then add the rest of the dough on top
4. Bake for 30 minutes at 200°C until golden

Good luck!

(Recipe courtesy of Drífa Magnúsdóttir, Project Manager, Visit Reykjavik)

Meet our Lapland Specialists at the Taste of Christmas!

What better way to start the festive season than by enjoying the vast delights at this year's Taste of Christmas event from the 4 to 6 December. Come and meet our Lapland specialists too and find out how you can make this Christmas and New Year truly magical by experiencing Swedish Lapland’s winter wonderland.

Taste of Christmas is the ultimate festive ‘foodie’ event of the year where you can discover Michelin star secrets, taste your favourite restaurants’ seasonal dishes and feast your eyes on delicious produce with many opportunities to taste the treats on offer!  

Our Stand Name: Discover Swedish Lapland
Stand Number: A15 - Located opposite the Waitrose Cookery Theatre
Show Dates: 4-6 December 2009
Time: 10am-6pm each day
Venue: Excel, London

Click here to find out more and to book your tickets to this year's Taste of Christmas

'Big Mac' leaves Iceland

...recently it was announced that all three McDonald’s restaurants in Iceland would be closed down because the master piece of culinary art "The Big Mac" has become far too expensive. Therefore, the story goes Iceland must be in a hell of a state...this rarely shows what a pickle a country can get into when its three main banks go belly up! What these reports fail to reveal is that this great American institution insisted that all materials for their infamous Big Macs had to be imported from Germany and this meant that the far inferior ingredients became twice as expensive as a hamburger made from local produce (yes even tomatoes and lettuce are grown in Icelandic greenhouses - heated by natural geothermal energy!). There may well be a moral in this story!

Incidentally - Iceland did not implode after the financial disaster which befell it (honestly, I took my family there in August!), far from it - during the good times they invested sizeable sums of money wisely building a dynamic modern society whose population are the most literate in the world. Even before the 'Viking Bankers' they had an extremely good standard of living, built mainly on harnessing their natural resources such as fisheries and geothermal energy, which of course is still the basis of their economy. Even better, the devaluation of their currency means that a holiday to Iceland has never been better value for money. So if you have always wanted to go but thought it was too expensive take another look…it’s not cheap but one of the most beautiful countries in the world can now be explored without selling the family jewels - and this won't last forever!!

Take me there…

And for burger lovers out there, fear not, Iceland is home to a wealth of truly delicious food. Head to west Iceland and try Hotel Hraunsnef’s phenomenal burgers whose beef is sourced from the farm across the valley!

Cravings in Sydney

As if you needed any more reasons to visit Sydney - well, just in case, here's another one... This October sees the inaugural 'Crave Sydney' festival, an International Food Festival that brings together the best of Australia's chefs and cuisine. 

Highlights include The World Chef Showcase Weekend, 10-11 October, which will see over 30 chefs from around the globe come together for for a weekend of cooking, talking and tasting.  A fortnight of Night Noodle Markets offers a chance to sample Asian-inspired food at affordable prices, whilst special lunch menus will be available at restuarants across Sydney and beyond throughout October.      

And of course the food fun doesn't stop there - if this has whet your appetite then why not continue your gourmet Australian adventure with a visit to the nearby Hunter Valley or further afield to the Barossa Valley or Margaret River - all home to numerous vineyards and well-stocked farmers markets offering a wealth of local produce.

My mouth's watering just thinking about it so why wait? - contact us today!

Invitation to our Travel Day - Saturday 10th October

TRAVEL TALKS * WINE-TASTING * PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP * STANFORDS

Whether you’re looking for travel ideas or purely wishing to discover delightful wine from the stunning countries of New Zealand and Australia then join us for a day of travel inspiration!

Enjoy a day of talks on travel to Iceland, Lapland and the ICEHOTEL, New Zealand and the Polar Regions and discover the wonder of the northern lights and where best to observe them.

Sample fine New Zealand and Australian wine with Great Western Wines and perhaps pick up your favourite travel book at the Stanfords stand and take advantage of a 15% discount. Then learn how to capture the perfect shot during a photography workshop with Icelandic photographer Ragnar Sigurdsson.

A fantastic opportunity to meet our team of travel specialists, look around a Maui Motorhome first-hand for your adventure to New Zealand or Australia and meet our worldwide travel partners before your trip!

Places limited. Click here to RSVP

 

Treat Yourself in Sydney!

Indulgence, something I find is required every now and again so when I found the site, Luxury Sydney, divulging unique experiences it had there and in New South Wales “…from the classically sophisticated to the shamelessly indulgent…” I just couldn’t resist.

At first glimpse I caught site of Tetsuya's Restaurant, ranked as one of the top 20 restaurants in the world where one dines on Japanese and French influenced cuisine overlooking an exquisite Japanese garden. If that excites but leaves you desiring more then look no further than Berowra Waters Inn, set on the Hawkesbury River in secluded native bush and only accessible by boat or sea plane. For me this is dining at its best, a mini-adventure before the meal, a whirl wind sensory experience with cuisine, stunning views and the knowledge I am experiencing all this in a foreign land. But enough about food, that is my indulgence. Luxuriant spa’s, cocktails in an array of Sydney’s stunning locations and much more are just a click away…visit here

So go on, spoil yourself in Australia, a land of inspiring landscapes, lush rainforests, intriguing wildlife and infinite experiences…need I say more!

Skal! (That’s Icelandic for cheers)

In the past few years, Reykjavik in Iceland has become internationally renowned for both having a wonderful café culture as well as fantastic nightlife. On a Friday night, when the bars are busy and restaurants full, it certainly appears that Icelanders have enjoyed this culture for centuries – as well as the cold lager that nearly everybody is drinking.

Yet despite this apparent normality, scratching beyond the surface reveals yet another example of Icelandic ingenuity. For beer was in fact prohibited in Iceland until 1989 – a result of an early temperance movement.

Some Icelandic ‘pubs’, though, sought ways around the bill by selling ‘fake beer’ – a mixture of high percentage, locally produced high-percentage Brennivin combined with non-alcohol pilsner. A bizarre concoction, it was perfectly legal and apparently it was a pleasant drop too!

Once the beer ban was lifted, Iceland’s brewers have created a host of premium lagers relying on imported malt and fresh, pure Icelandic water. The majority are entirely natural, free from chemical treatment, and as such leave any imbibers with a remarkable clear head the morning after!

To sample some of Iceland’s newest ‘premium’ product, make your own visit to Reykjavik and enjoy the café culture that has sprung up around this remarkable city. And with your clear head the morning after, take advantage of the thousands of natural delights that dot the country – from Gullfoss to geysers, the Blue Lagoon to volcanoes.

Exploring Iceland's Cuisine

One of the perks of working for a travel company is that we are obliged to constantly check out the accommodation, restaurants, and destinations that we offer to our valued clients.

Iceland is a gourmand's heaven, and as product manager for the 'Land of Ice and Fire', I was lucky enough to be on cloud 9 with some of the restaurants that I sampled during my last visit to Iceland. With fresh produce and imaginative chefs very much influencing the menu, Iceland is a country that values great food, locally sourced - at Hotel Arnanes in the South East, the salad travels only a matter of metres from the garden to your table!

One of my personal favourites is in the vibrant capital, Reykjavik. Buried in the backstreets near the imposing church Hallgrimskirkja is Thrir Frakkar (Three Coats), a family-run restaurant with an emphasis of fresh seafood cooked in a traditional Icelandic fashion.

For those special occasions, Humarhusid (The Lobster House) in the middle of Reykjavik occupies a beautifully restored old house right in the city centre, classically furnished with dark wood furniture and even paintings of fish on the ceiling. The speciality? Rather unsurprisingly, this is the best spot in Reykjavik for delicious lobster.

Hotel Ranga, a couple of hours from Reykjavik on the South Coast, has fantastic views overlooking the sweeping Ranga river. The cuisine, influenced by the hotel manager Bjorn Eriksson, was exquisite when I was there, with gorgeous Arctic char and vanilla cod followed by a dessert of local strawberries with a fresh syrup and champagne sorbet. Glorious.

By Nikki Rickett, Iceland Product Manager

Icelandic Bananas

Personally, I love hearing facts and I invite all those of similar ilk to read on with great pleasure…

Iceland is Europe’s biggest banana producer. 

There you go, I couldn’t believe it myself either but after a little research I can safely say that this is true. This unusual fact may sound completely unlikely for a country so far north but in the small town of Hveragerdi, production of the popular yellow fruit is thriving. The abundance of cheap, geothermal energy allows Icelanders to grow produce not typically found this close to the Arctic Circle.

Hveragerdi, also known as the greenhouse village, in southwestern Iceland is the country’s epicentre of gardening and horticulture. This rural setting is well known for its greenhouses which are heated by geothermal water from volcanic hot springs in the area. It‘s not just bananas that are grown here however, other fruit, vegetables and increasingly exotic flowers are being cultivated too.

So, if after that little slice of information you still don’t believe me, venture over to Hveragerdi and see it for yourself!

Food Lovers Look No Further!

Food glorious food. I love great food so when the Iceland Gourmet Guide website was launched I was in heaven. Now I can easily search Icelandic regions to find fantastic cuisine before my travels to the wondrous island! This new gastronomic guide also features an introduction to Icelandic produce which is great for people looking to explore Iceland’s culture further and go beyond the horror stories of boiled sheep’s head. If feeling adventurous you may like to try out the recipes featured, I recommend Ástarpungar (Love Balls).

If like me you enjoy gastronomic festivals too then check out the Culinary Calendar on the homepage - move the counter along the seasons and coincide your trip to Iceland with a food event!

So go on get out there and eat your way around any particular area of Iceland you fancy, whether it be the spectacular south coast or the stunning wilderness of the west fjords region - glorious food is in abundance!