Matur og Drykkur

Cod ́s Head cooked in chicken stock and blueberries. Served with rucola salad and lovage aioli.

“The Little Cook Book for Genteel Housekeepers” from the year 1800 details two types of courses. Expensive materials are used for respectable people while the cheaper materials are cooked for the unseemly. But the cheaper materials are best when treated with love and care.

4990 kr.

At Matur og Drykkur they serve the cod’s head so that is staring right at you. The head was taken from a big cod (a 15 kilo fish they told me) and even though there is are plenty of bone in the head I could barely finish it. The tongue was served separately - fried in batter with aioli on the side. The head was marinated in spices I recognised but couldn’t identify and cooked in chicken stock. I am also reading online that the head is not boiled but ‘lacquered’ in chicken stock. I think sooner or later they have to publicise the recipe. Just before serving I could see them scorching the head slightly with a gas blowtorch. The cod’s head and the two beers costed a fortune (actually, just ISK 7640 or EUR 54) but since it was my last night and a once in a lifetime experience I thought: well, what the hell. When eating a cod’s head it is inevitable you need to use your hands. You end up with very sticky fingers because of the fish glue.

I had two seasonal beers, both made by the local Borg Brugghús founded in 2010. The first was an amber ale but due lack of a bottle I am not sure which one. The second was a dark purple beer called NR. 59 Skyrjarmur, which is soured with traditional Icelandic skyr and sweetened back by blueberries. I had the NR. 10 Snorri before and I have to say that all Borg beers were really excellent.

The name of the restaurant is taken from an Icelandic cooking book - and inspiration for the menu - called Matur og Drykkur (Food and Drinks) by Helga Sigurðardóttir, a former principal at the housekeepers school in Iceland. Below the book was a copy of The Nordic Cook Book by Magnus Nillson, my favourite and only nordic cook book. The restaurant is located in an old Salt Fish factory in the harbour area built in 1924 and used as a salt fish factory until the end of the 60’s. I really loved Matur og Drykkur. The staff is quirky and open for questions, the atmosphere is chic and laid-back at the same time. Both my shoes and waterproof trousers were muddy but I didn’t feel out of place.