Foreign Cuisine
Brief Encounters: Tales of Everday Life, Jul/Aug. 2012
On a recent Friday night, I found myself at a soirée of Icelanders. And much to my delight, I spotted a buffet, covered with a smorgasbord of exotic Icelandic dishes.
“Go ahead,” the waitress encouraged me, “They serve dried shark meat and mutton testicles.” Don’t be a loser, I told myself, just try it! Approaching the buffet, I considered, but, well, I just couldn’t do it. Better to start with something other than dried animals.
Scanning the table, my eyes fell on a big glass bowl filled with white cubes delicately resting on ice. In the dim light, it looked like feta cheese. I was curious and asked a blond fellow next ot me what exotic Icelandic delicacy it might be.
Despite the language barrier, he managed to make it clear that we were dealing with a milk product here. “Cheese?” I suggested. “No, it’s not cheese.” he replied and handed me a piece of this surprisingly greasy substance. As I guided it to my mouth, he started, almost shouting: “No! Not to much of it!” Too late. I already had.
My jaw muscles clenched in shock, suddenly realising what I had just taken a massive bite of. “Oh you meant ‘butter’ didn’t you?” I sighed.
“Yes!” he smiled triumphantly “Butter! That’s the word! …And we usually eat it with bread too,” he added, kindly offering me a slice.
– Johanna Sebauer
