Iceland – Home to the Sea Food
The world’s best lobster soup, rotten cod as a delicacy, succulent whale meat – tempted ? Iceland – home to the best seafood!
A true legend and a trailblazer in Reykjavik harbour is the Sea Baron restaurant. Many years ago, a retired fisherman and Coast Guard chef, came up with the recipe for what has been called the “world’s greatest lobster soup.” You’ll find his restaurant, Sægreifinn (The Sea Baron) down by the Old Harbour in Reykjavík. It’s a simple non-fussy green-painted, old fisherman’s hut, where you can have your choice of fresh seafood barbequed on skewers… Go try and see if there is any truth to the bold claim about the lobster soup!
In his early days, the Sea Baron, who is better known as Kjartan Halldórsson, was a fisherman who sailed from Reykjavik’s harbour during the 1950?s. Kjartan then decided to take a week-long chef’s course and hired himself as a chef for the Coast Guard, where he would prepare meals during the often long tours. Then he pioneered marketing smoked eel to Icelanders – he smoked his own eels down by the docks, the pungent smell forcing him to smoke them during the night. Later, Kjartan opened up a fish shop, selling all sorts of fresh fish products directly from the dock.
Kjartan’s transition from fishmonger to restaurant owner was based more on coincidence than anything else. One day, standing by his boxes of fish packed in ice, a group of foreign visitors asked if it were possible for Kjartan to prepare the fish for them. Quick to spot an opportunity Kjartan ran to the nearest shop, purchased a grill and cooked the fish right there, inviting the visitors to dine inside his fish shop – which is where the Sægreifinn restaurant stands today. Word spread and more people asked for his grilled seafood, so Kjartan got rid of the boxes and became a restaurant owner.
The grand old man, Kjartan, passed away a few years back but his likeness graces the restaurant and his spirit still lives on at the Sea Baron. That’s probably why even today the lobster soup is one of the best in the world! Navigate your way to Iceland’s sea food today!
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