Iceland's Curious & Creative Cuisine

I always approach travel with a sense of curiosity and that applies to the local food. When I visit Iceland, one of my very favorite countries for its pristine landscapes, sense of adventure around almost every corner, wealth of geologic variety, and one of the most charming capital cities around, I’m always searching for authentic food. There’s no lack of it in Iceland, which has plenty in the way of culinary delicacies at upscale restaurants such as the Fish Market that serves blueberry cured filet of lamb or the Fish Company, which offers an international menu that includes blackened langoustines with truggle gnocchi.

But then there are those odd assortment of creature body parts that make up traditional Icelandic cuisine. Cod cheeks -- you probably didn’t know codish have cheeks? -- pickled ram's balls and the hardly tasty, fermented shark meat. Yes, I’ve eaten all of these items, some inadvertently. I recently wrote about Iceland’s curious cuisine for AAA’s Home & Away magazine (make sure you input this zip code, 73106, to access the article) where you’ll find out which restaurant has boiled sheep head on the menu, and why I ended up accidentally consuming fermented shark meat -- though I vowed never to eat it.