Field Notes

A lot of this food was based on necessity. Much of it is pickled, preserved, salted, dried, or fermented in order to help make it last through the colder seasons, when vegetation is more scarce, and food is harder to find. As we discuss this bold selection of backup grub, practice the difficult native tongue of Iceland by pronouncing the names of these dishes

You can’t talk about Icelandic food without talking about the world famous Icelandic Hotdog, Pylsur. This is almost kind of a fast food staple in the country.

I’d like to make note that fast food franchises in Iceland are not terribly common. The one we happened to see the most often was Subway. I noted one Dominos, and a KFC while we were there as well. Not that there isn’t convenient and tasty food available, there just seems to be healthier options more regularly available from the corner stores / grocery stores.

Every so often along the road outside of New Delhi we would end up going through small towns and villages. All of these villages always had at least one small shack set up where you could stop for food along your drive. Some were larger, and offered seating, others were no larger than a shack (barely able to provide enough space for the vendor to even cook in!). One thing always remained a staple, and that is a huge Indian Wok, used for frying plenty of delicious roadside mini-meals.

The first real meal we had in India was in our guesthouse in New Delhi. A small, jet lagged feast of Dal Makhani (a personal favourite of mine), Malai Paneer (Katelyn’s choice), and Naan. The helpful service employee there also slipped us a small bottle of whiskey, as a very thoughtful welcome gift.