For the past few months all we’ve been hearing about is Hangikjot. Hangikjot is smoked lamb that is always prepared during the Christmas season. Because of how much it was talked about, I had pretty high expectations. When we finally attended a Christmas party here, we were served the COLD meat that had a STRONG smoked flavor and I was a little thrown off. Colby wouldn’t let me ask to use a microwave, so I endured in silence. Upon finishing my virgin hangikjot experience, Icelanders hovered over me at the table with eager eyes and the inevitable question,
“So…what did you think?”
What do you do?
“It’s…Different….”
When we were invited over to a friend’s house on Christmas Day, and I prayed on the ride over, “Oh, Lord…PLEASE…ANYTHING…ANYTHING but hangikjot!” When the door opened and the strong, smoked flavor flooded into the hallway where I was standing, I literally could not help it. Tears just started streaming down my face. Our poor hosts didn’t know what to do. I sat outside on the patio while they tried to air out the apartment, but their attempts were futile. I spent the rest of the Christmas meal with a peppermint-scented towel covering my face.
I have recently begun to calculate the cost of flying over the ocean to eat a Five Guys burger. I have never missed American food so much. Luckily, a woman found our blog and contacted us because she was taking a trip to Iceland and wondered if we needed anything. She came with Saltines and Mac-and-cheese and it has helped with my appetite since. Everyone keeps saying and I keep remembering, “THIS TOO SHALL PASS!”
