All directions point NORTH

NORTH
The New Nordic Cuisine of Iceland
by Gunnar Karl Gislason & Jody Eddy
foreword by Rene Redzepi of Noma

If I thought I wanted to visit badly before, and I did(!) thanks to New Scandinavian Cooking on PBS,  -now it's imperative.  This cookbook is a gorgeous cookbook and travelogue.  The photos are stunning, stories gripping and recipes loving.  Many of the recipes, however, are too time-consuming, and call for many hours of smoking, brining/pickling, refrigeration, rehydration.   So, I doubt I will be making many of the recipes verbatim.  But you know what they say, never say never.

The chefs do make suggested substitutions for those of us unlucky to live outside of Iceland.  Bay leaf for birch, tarragon for angelica, regular thyme for arctic thyme, et al.  I love how the cookbooks include interviews with the farmers, the fishermen, the smokers -- Restaurant Dill's providers and suppliers -- it makes you feel even closer to the food.   Certainly whets the ole appetite to know a few of them welcome tourists as well.

Some of the artistically plated masterpieces and heartfelt stories make you feel close enough to taste the love, the history and the culture.  It's so palpable that you will want to book the next flight so you can eat at Gunnar's table, and tour the country.  Damn those active volcanoes.  Then again, maybe that's how you'll get to extend your stay in Iceland.

Until I can afford to travel to Iceland, I do expect these stories and recipes to inspire me as I push my culinary boundaries and imagine an untouched natural landscape.

"I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review."