Faroese cuisine

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Traditional Faroese cuisine has developed over the centuries under the conditions of an inhospitable archipelago in the North Atlantic.

From left to right in the foreground: leg of sheep, pilot whale meat and bacon, clipfish ...
... cod heads, rhubarb, stuffed puffins

Basics

The most important indigenous food sources for traditional cuisine are:

Mountain hares , which have been breeding wildly since 1855, are also hunted. However, since there are only an estimated 5000 specimens in the Faroe Islands, the hunt is limited and only takes place in November and December.

Preservation

Sheep are slaughtered in autumn
Skerpikjøt, air-dried sheep meat

Even in the age of the freezer , fish and meat on the Faroe Islands are traditionally preserved in "Hjallur" (an air-permeable wooden shed in which prepared dishes are also kept cool), then they are turrur (dried). Depending on the duration of this air drying process, different stages are distinguished:

  • Ræstur (hung, semi-dry) is the meat or fish at the beginning of fermentation (or fermentation ).
  • These pieces are skarpræstur after six to nine months of storage. They then have a very strict taste , which may seem strange to outsiders.
  • Bleytræstur or visnað (only hung for a short time, dried out) - the exact opposite of skarpræstur and usually only describes a state of the fish , while sheep should generally be at least ræstur .

Cut sheep are usually hung up in one piece. Birds are cut open in the back and tied in pairs. Fish also hang in pairs on the drying rack ( stockfish ). Grind is cut into strips and wrapped around the drying bar.

Risks with air drying are:

  • Falling cold - the desired ræst level is skipped.
  • Unusual heat - the meat turns rancid.
  • Flies - their maggots spoil the meat.

Another method of preservation is curing , either in brine or dry. Both were done in barrels, but salt used to be in short supply and was primarily used for processing the clipfish that was exported.

sheep

Skerpikjøt, air-dried sheep meat
Sheep heads are a delicacy in the Faroe Islands. First of all, their hide is burned off after slaughter.

The Faroe Islands have always provided pasture for a maximum of 70,000 sheep. This was already regulated in the sheep letter of 1298. The Faroese wool has always been an important export good, while the meat was sufficient for the supply of between 1400 and 1800 the constant 4000 to 5000 inhabitants. With the abolition of the trade monopoly over the Faroe Islands in 1856, deep-sea fishing gained in importance and, in addition to advances in medicine, enabled significant population growth (tenfold in 200 years). Therefore, sheep meat has to be imported today.

Sheep are slaughtered in autumn, gutted and then hung to dry in Hjallur. They can hang there for up to 9 months and are then skarpræstur. At this point there is fresh lamb again. The most famous specialty is seyðahøvd (sheep's head). You can see him “in the eye” even in the freezers of the supermarkets. What may frighten the tourist at the sight is a feast for special occasions for the locals. After the head's fur has been burned off, it is washed and either stored or cut in half. After about half an hour of cooking it is eaten to the bone (see also: Svið ). Skerpikjøt (air-dried sheep meat for around 6–9 months) is commonplace. The adult sheep are slaughtered in autumn. Cured sheep is called soltukjøt.

Sheep are recycled 100%, and so skólpasúpan (testicle soup, also called: eistnasúpan, nossasúpan, purrusúpan) and blóðpylsa (blood sausage) are completely normal. Another sausage is called sperðil, it consists of offal and sheep tallow and is a typical Christmas meal.

Sheep meat is generally called seyður (like the animal), a ram or ram is a veðrur (also heraldic animal of the Faroe Islands) and a lamb is called lamb.

vegetables

The potato (the epli) is one of the main products of Faroese agriculture. It was only introduced in the 19th century. Before that, the turnip dominated . Over a page of the Faroese dictionary is devoted to dozens of headwords that have to do with potatoes, including various dishes that come under the term eplamatur (potato dish). The eplasúpan (potato soup) and the eplasalat (potato salad) are mentioned here, in addition to the usual function as a side dish to meat and fish. Many families in the countryside buy potatoes from their own field, the eplabøur. The harvest time falls in August - the time when the most grind can be expected.

The Faroese rhubarb (the rabarba) plays another important role. It is grown in the rabarbugarður, the local rhubarb garden. In contrast to rhubarb on the continent, it is largely free of oxalic acid . Rabarbugreytur (rhubarb groats) is a popular dessert , and rabarbusúltutoy (rhubarb jam) belongs on the Faroese breakfast table. A rhubarb soup is called rabarbusuppa, and there is even a rabarbuvín (rhubarb wine).

fish

Air dried fish

Of course, in addition to the above-mentioned stockfish stages, fish can also be cured, i.e. freshly caught, as clip fish or cured as salt fish in a brine. You can hardly find it in Faroese grocery stores, however, as it is sold directly from the cutter at the port or given away to families.

The freshly caught fish from the Faroese deep sea fleet, on the other hand, is processed (filleted and frozen) on board the trawlers or in the fish factories and is intended for export.

Fiskaknettir are fish dumplings made with fresh haddock and sheep tallow . The rognaknettir made from roe are a particular specialty .

A soup called knettasúpan is also made from the fish dumplings. A soup made from freshly caught fish is called fisksúpan.

There are also fish cakes called frikadellur or fiskabolli.

The fiskakøka is a fish cake or pudding.

The following types of fish are common in the Faroe Islands: hýsa (haddock), høgguslokkur ( squid , also the pilot whale's favorite dish), kalvi ( halibut ), kongafiskur ( redfish ), laksur ( salmon ), makrelur ( mackerel ), seiður ( coalfish ), sild ( herring ), toskur ( cod ) and tunga ( red tongue ). Common crustaceans are hummar ( lobster ) and rækja ( shrimp ).

Grind

Pilot whale in Vágsfjørður
Tvøst (pilot whale meat)

The pilot whale has always been one of the islanders' most important sources of food. The Grindadráp (pilot whale hunt) is often viewed as barbaric by outsiders.

Tvøst og Spik (pilot whale meat and bacon, also seal bacon ) are considered to be particularly nutritious and rich in vitamins - at the same time as one of the most inexpensive products, as the grind is usually not traded, but rather distributed among the population according to an ancient code. Accordingly, you can hardly find it in supermarkets, but mostly only in the freezers (or the Hjallur ) of around 16,000 private households.

Saltgrind is cooked and salted pilot whale meat that is usually served with potatoes and mustard .

Grindabúffur is a pilot whale steak with white sauce and potatoes.

VU Hammershaimb wrote in his anthology in 1891 :

“These whales are of great value to local residents. The large amounts of meat provide plenty of food in a fresh, dried and salted state, so that in a good grind year you have a meal of it every day. It is a healthy and nutritious meal that you never get bored. "

He also describes how all parts of Wales are utilized, the bacon is not only dried and salted, but also to Tran melted down, the fuel for the oil lamps in the windowless Roykstova served. The so-called kýkur, a pouch to store the trans, was made from the stomach, while leather straps were made from the fin , which were used to attach the oars in the typical Faroe boat .

A grind is always a coincidence and cannot be predicted, especially since the Faroese don't track it down in the open sea, but wait until a school swims into a fjord and all conditions are met. Grind had (and still does) the function of a welcome free nutritional supplement, while the abundant fish and seabird populations, your own cattle and the field can be relied on more safely.

Sea birds

Slaughtered puffin on Stóra Dímun

Traditionally, seabirds are still caught in the bird mountains with the fleygastong ("bird-catching pole"). The lundi ( puffin ) is the most popular and tastiest .

Fyltur lundi is the lundi filled with a flour dough and raisins . Likewise, however, the havhestur (found Fulmar ) and lomvigi ( guillemot ) in the Faroese cuisine.

In addition, there are seabird eggs that are obtained by looting their nests.

Meals

As in other countries, there are three main meals in the Faroe Islands

  • Morgunmatur ( lunch ) around 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. In the past, a round unleavened bread was baked drýlur in the roykstova . In addition, pieces of hung sheep meat are often served, which are cut into fine slices. Before lunch, the working population has an ábit ( breakfast ) with bread and milk and often the leftovers from the previous day's dinner.
  • Døgurði (hot lunch ) around 2pm to 3pm. Usually there is cooked fish, tvøst and spik , or sea birds. They have been a side dish since the introduction of potatoes.
  • Náturði ( dinner ) after 9 p.m. Between lunch and dinner there is the millummáli (snack, in the past with a slice of bread, now coffee and cake). Dinner used to consist mostly of slime soup . When a cow had calved, there was kalvedans, a raw milk pudding. There was no bread for dinner, instead dried fish was eaten with the soup.

The daily amount used to be referred to as mannsverður (man's worth): the daily ration for an adult. It corresponds to one of the 20 parts of a sheep, or a guillemot, two razorbills , or even three puffins. For girls, 2 puffins or half a twentieth of a sheep were considered verður . The first Faroese feminist Helena Patursson worked at the end of the 19th century to ensure that girls get just as good food as boys.

In the diary of the Maria expedition of 1854 it says:

" Mr. Müller informed us that the Faroese usually eat fish or meat twice a day and find it hard when they can't."

The following seasons for fresh meat are known in the Faroe Islands:

  • Calving season (New Year to Spring)
  • Bird time
  • Lamb time
  • Slaughter time (the sheep in autumn)

“ Bon appetit ” is called væl gagnist (literally “well get it”). It is basically also said when you enter a room where people are dining. At the end of a meal , thank you with manga takk ('thank you'). The answer to this is another væl gagnist .

dishes

Tvøst and spik. Pilot whale meat, bacon, dried fish and boiled potatoes.

Each household usually had at least two pots to prepare food:

  • one for fat and fat meat
  • one for all other dishes

Three different troughs were used to eat:

  • Fish trough
  • Meat trough
  • Snyktrog or grindatrog for grind and other greasy, tranquil dishes

In the Roykstova there were also large ladles or wooden spoons (sleiv), skimmers (soðspón) and other sticks for stirring porridge (greytarsneis) and for whipping milk or cream - whisk (tyril).

A peculiarity of the New Faroese language is the derivation of the word tyrla from this very tyril . It means helicopter .

gastronomy

There is no great tradition of going out to eat in the Faroe Islands, especially since you are self-sufficient. In the past, restaurants were essentially only available in hotels in the Faroe Islands. For their Faroese specialties are in Torshavn still today Hotel Hafnia and Hotel Føroyar known. Hotel Norð in Viðareiði is also a leader in puffin dishes . In recent years, more and more independent restaurants have opened, which in addition to snacks offer more international / Danish - French cuisine . In 2017 the Koks restaurant in Leynavatn was awarded a Michelin star . There are Faroese specialties in the range of fast-food restaurants . The hot dog is served with red cabbage , for example , which is generally avoided in Denmark.

So-called "Faroese evenings" are organized for tourists, where, in addition to folkloric performances, there is also typical Faroese food. Some private households offer tourists, following the example of British supper clubs, paid participation in family dinners, so-called "heimablídni" ( home entertainment ). Outside of the Faroe Islands there are only the Faroe Islands in Copenhagen and Aarhus with Faroese cuisine, which is primarily aimed at their own compatriots.

literature

  • Súsanna Helena Patursson : Matreglur fyri hvørt hús , 1909 ("Food for every house" - pioneering work, compilation of the recipes from her newspaper Oyggjarnar)
  • Óluva Skaale: Matur og matgerð (drawings by Ingálvur av Reyni ) 5th edition. Tórshavn: Grønalíð, 1990. (251 p. "Eating and preparing meals")
  • Jonhild Henriksen: Góðaráð . Klaksvík: Góðaráð, 1991. (136 p. "Guter Rat" - Faroese standard cookbook)
  • Jens Sofus Thomsen et al .: Góður matur úr sjónum Tórshavn: Føroya lærarafelag, 2001. (189 p. "Good food from the sea")
  • Guðmundur Guðmundsson: Okkara kokkur . Tórshavn: Føroya lærarafelag, 2002. (164 p. "Our kitchen")

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b NationalGeographic.co.uk: Where to eat in the Faroe Islands. Retrieved April 4, 2020 .
This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on August 15, 2005 .