Gíslason’s restaurant, Dill (
dillrestaurant.is
).
The chef
has been foraging just outside Reykjavik for years. He
picks angelica for his salads, stockpiles wild arctic
thyme and crowberries during the summer, and finds
the other ingredients for his Nordic cuisine here too. “I
have a cod farmer in the north who has been salting the
fish in the same way for four generations,” he says. “It’s
important for me to use traditional producers and,
where possible, to make my own ingredients.”
Gíslason goes to great lengths to produce his own
table salt, for example. “I use water fromHvalfjordur Bay
[
a 40-minute drive from Reykavik], as the result tastes
far better. The water enters and leaves the bay at different
angles, so the quality is higher and the salt is much
milder. That’s why I go to all the trouble, really.”
He’s not the only one singing the praises of the water,
which locals say is purer than the bottled kind.
According to Baddi Hall, brand ambassador for Reyka
Vodka (
reyka.com
),
the lava-filtered fluid is what makes
the spirit taste so good: “You can taste the purity of it in
the vodka.”
A good example of growing foreign investment, Reyka
is the brainchild of Scottish firm Grant’s who chose
Borgarnes, a small coastal town an hour from Reykjavik,
in 2005, as just the spot to distil a pure vodka. The air
quality is superb, the distillery is surrounded by four
glaciers, heated with geothermal energy and distils
using lava rocks. All in all, says master distiller Thordur
Sigurdsson, the conditions of the natural landscape
make his job decidedly easy. No wonder it won the title
of Best Vodka at the International Wine and Spirit
Competition in 2011 and silver in 2012.
So, is it only a matter of time before other companies
start banging on the door to take advantage of Iceland’s
awesome air, earth and fire? “Perhaps,” says Sigurdsson,
nodding sagely as he sips on a glass of his special batch.
We say: it’s a foregone conclusion.
*
FOR T&CS SEE P171
Reykjavik
need to know
(
45
km
)
the distance from Keflavik
airport to central Reykjavik.
There are buses, but grabbing
a private shuttle is far quicker and
more comfortable – from €10
per person at snaeland.is, a company
that also operates terrific tours of the
Northern Lights
(
16
°C
)
average summertime temperature of the
sea at Nauthólsvík Geothermal Beach
(
2008
)
year that Iceland officially declared
itself bankrupt
easyJet
flies to Reykjavik from Edinburgh, London
and Manchester. See our insider guide on
page 152. Book online at easyJet.com
easyJet Holidays
Two nights at the three-star CenterHotel
Plaza on a B&B basis, departing on
15
April from Edinburgh, costs from
£201 per person. easyJet.com/holidays*
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