Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Bjúgnakrækir (Sausage Snatcher)






Goðan daginn! I am feeling a little better today despite a heavy cough. It´s been very cold in Iceland this month and I´m surprised that this is my first cold of the winter. We´ve had snow on the ground since I got back to Iceland in mid-late November. I LOVE IT! It´s felt and looked like Christmas time for a month now. There is slight possibility the weather could go above freezing for a change but hopefully not before Christmas!! :)

Today the sausage snatcher (Bjúgnakrækir--picture above) came to bring me a small box of mint chocolates. Mmmmmm! Unfortunately though, this is yet another thief among the brothers. He loves all types of sausages and will steal as many as he can. In the old days people hung their meat from the rafters but today it´s as simple as opening the refrigerator to get what he wants. He has another meat loving brother (still to come) but what sets this guy apart is his particular love of one and only sausage meat. Luckily, I´m not a big fan of sausage so there was none for him to steal (insert evil laugh).

I was able to try laufabrauð this past weekend and I can say that I think it´s good but not something I´d eat often. It´s deep fried bread and I avoid deep fried anything as much as I can. It leaves a film coating in my mouth which I don´t like. I have a feeling this would go over well in the States though. Americans love fried stuff....maybe too much!


I want to leave you with another Icelandic tradition for you to think about. As an American I am use to a ham or turkey at the center of my Christmas day meal. Not in Iceland! It is popular for many families to eat rjúpur--pictured above (a wild fowl). They are small, like game hens, and are apparently quite delicious. Of course this is not the standard. Some families will have a turkey or lamb at the center of their meal. Finnur´s mother, whom we will be eating Christmas meal with, is making duck. I´ve never eaten duck for a meal and I am very excited to try something new! I´ll let you know how it tastes ;)

Bless, Bless!!

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