Icelandic Delicacies

For most of Iceland's history, people had to work hard just to feed themselves. They ate what the land and sea gave them, and they got very good at making it last through the winter: smoking, salting, drying, souring in whey, and in one famous case, letting it rot. Some of those foods are still eaten today, and a few have become a dare for visitors.

Þorramatur: the midwinter feast

The old preserved foods are served together as þorramatur, mostly from late January to late February, at the midwinter feast called þorrablót. A typical spread includes:

• Svið: singed and boiled sheep's head
• Hrútspungar: ram's testicles cured in lactic acid
• Lundabaggi: pressed sheep loins
• Blóðmör and lifrarpylsa: blood pudding, and liver sausage made with rye flour and oats
• Harðfiskur: wind-dried fish, eaten with butter
• Hákarl: fermented shark (more below)

It all comes with rye bread, butter and a shot of brennivín. The buffet feels ancient, but the way it's served today is younger than you'd think: in 1958 the Reykjavik restaurant Naustið started serving old country food in wooden troughs for Þorri, and the idea spread from there. If you're in Iceland in January or February, that's the season to look for it.

Fermented shark (hákarl)

This is the one everyone asks about, and it's not for the weak of stomach. Hákarl is made from Greenland shark, whose meat is considered toxic when fresh because it's full of urea and trimethylamine oxide. Traditionally the shark was fermented in gravel pits by the sea, covered with stones, for weeks or months, then hung to dry in a shed. Today, according to a study by the Icelandic food research institute Matís, most producers ferment it indoors in perforated containers that let the liquid drain off, for six to twelve weeks, then dry it for several weeks to months.

It's served in small cubes on toothpicks. The smell is worse than the taste, and most people chase it with a shot of brennivín. Where to try it:

• Kaffi Loki in Reykjavik serves a hákarl and brennivín tasting for 2,900 ISK (as of 2026).
• Bjarnarhöfn Shark Museum on Snæfellsnes, about 25 minutes from Stykkishólmur, shows the traditional curing sheds. It's open daily 10:00 to 17:00, and admission is 2,200 ISK for adults, free under 15.

Whale: what's changed

When I first wrote this, minke whale was back on a lot of Reykjavik menus, and tourists ordered it because they assumed it was traditional. It's a dark red meat with a salty taste that tells you it came from the sea. That picture has changed a lot:

• Minke whaling has all but stopped. The only company hunting minke for the home market stopped in 2020, a single minke was taken in 2021, and there was no minke hunt in summer 2026.
• Fin whaling came back in June 2026. After two years with no hunt, Hvalur hf. went back out for fin whales. The Marine and Freshwater Research Institute advised a 2026 limit of 150 fin whales (and 134 minke), and 80 fin whales had been caught by 9 September. Almost all fin whale meat is exported to Japan.
• A ban is under consideration. The government's legislative plan says a bill overhauling the 1949 whaling law will go to parliament in February 2027, with a permanent ban specifically under consideration.
• Few Icelanders eat it. The whale-watching association IceWhale says only 2% of Icelanders eat whale meat regularly.

Whale is still on some menus; Þrír Frakkar's menu, for one, has roast whale, whale sashimi and a fin whale pepper steak. Whether to order it is your call.

Puffin

You know those little birds all over Iceland's sea cliffs in summer? People eat those too. Puffin is hunted as small game, most famously in the Westman Islands, where the town council allowed a hunt from 23 July to 15 August 2026 even though the local natural history institute advised against any hunting because the population is falling. Smoked puffin tastes a bit like beef jerky. In Reykjavik, Tapas Barinn serves lightly smoked puffin with brennivín-blueberry sauce (4,490 ISK), and Þrír Frakkar has smoked puffin breast with mustard sauce as a starter.

Horse and reindeer

Horse is on Icelandic menus too, usually listed as foal (folald). As a horse lover and rider, I couldn't bring myself to try it, though people tell me it's lean and mild. For centuries Icelanders treated horse meat as taboo, and the aversion lasted through much of the 19th century. Today it's usually salted and boiled or made into smoked sausage. Tapas Barinn serves foal tenderloin, and Þrír Frakkar grills horse tenderloin.

Reindeer is rarer and more expensive. Reindeer were brought to Iceland between 1771 and 1787 and live wild only in the east, where hunters take a set quota each late summer and autumn (up to 936 animals in 2026) under licenses sold by the Nature Conservation Agency (Náttúruverndarstofnun). If you see it on a menu in East Iceland in the fall, it's probably local.

The everyday classics

Not everything traditional is a dare. These are what Icelanders actually eat at home:

• Hangikjöt: smoked lamb, sliced thin on flatkaka (rye flatbread), and a Christmas staple. See Christmas in Iceland.
• Kjötsúpa: lamb and vegetable soup. Kaffi Loki serves it for 4,850 ISK.
• Plokkfiskur: boiled white fish mashed with potatoes, onion and a white sauce, often topped with béarnaise and cheese and browned, served with dark rye bread.
• Skyr: the thick cultured dairy product you'll eat every morning.
• Hot dogs: lamb-based, and a national obsession.

For a longer list, see What to Eat in Iceland.

FAQ

Is it legal to eat whale in Iceland?

Yes. Whale meat is legal to sell and eat in Iceland, and a few restaurants still serve it. Fin whaling resumed in June 2026, there was no minke hunt in 2026, and the government plans a bill in February 2027 that will look at a permanent ban.

Where can I try fermented shark in Reykjavik?

Kaffi Loki, across from Hallgrímskirkja, does a small hákarl and brennivín tasting. Þrír Frakkar has it as a starter.

When is þorrablót?

During the old Icelandic winter month of Þorri, which starts on a Friday between 19 and 25 January and ends when Góa begins, on a Sunday between 18 and 24 February. That's when you're most likely to find þorramatur.