Iceland Air

You, too, can be as pleased as
this grizzled old dude- Thorraplate!

Oh my god, this was a terrible decision.  I came to Iceland with a high expectation of Porri (Thorri?)- the Icelandic festival where (this description is compiled and simplified from numerous sources) people pay homage to their predecessors by eating the weird-ass things they ate way back when.  So you know I was looking forward (with glee) to tasting fermented shark, seared sheep's head and pickled ram's testicles.

Well, our Icelandic adventures came and went, and, surprisingly, we were much more focused on the activities than on the feasting.  We saw glaciers and waterfalls and the original Geysir, rode on Icelandic horses and failed at spotting the Aurora Borealis, like many of our fellow Icelandic tourists.  By the end, though we had tasted the waffles and the famous hotdogs, we didn't hit up any Porri feasts.  So, in a last-ditch effort, I used my remaining Icelandic Kronir to buy the onboard Thorraplate from Iceland Air.

During Thorri, the Icelandic participate in the
 imaginary tradition of "bridling."

It was just awful.  It came out on a teeny tray, all wrapped in multiple layers of plastic, probably to prevent individual items from contaminating one another with their awfulness.  The most palatable thing on there was mashed turnip, in a little bowl next to squares of cured mystery meat, marbled with gelatinous fat and specked with suspicious bubbles.  There was dense blood pudding, a slice of floppy smoked lamb, and a nondescript dark brown bread.  The worst thing was the dried fish jerky; I took a stringy bite with much difficulty, and with more difficulty tried to keep it down.  I guess it's no surprise- that's what I get for getting adventurous with airplane food.

What I should have had was this Thorriplate (below), that came as a supplement to the menu at Icelandic Bar.  Not only is the menu design simply amazing, the descriptions of their (extraordinarily expensive) traditional dishes are tantalizing beyond belief.  They almost make me want to go back to Iceland next winter.  Almost.      

Doesn't Wind Dried Fish Jerky sound better than plain ol' Fish Jerky?
Seriously, though, I want to eat it all (especially puffin, because they're so cute)!