2–3 cups of rice, 2 cups of cold water, 1 teaspoon of salt, ½ cup of raisins, 1½ litres of milk, cinnamon. There are a number of rice pudding variants of varying thickness. Thoroughly rinse the rice in cold water. Different types of rice can be used, everything from organic brown rice to the sticky River Rice that was used for a long time. Put 2–3 cups of rice in a pot and pour 1½ cups of cold water over it. Salt. Bring it to the boil, reduce the heat to a minimum and cook it until almost all of the water has evaporated, but without allowing the rice to stick together, i.e. about 5 minutes. Allow the child to sprinkle it with raisins. Pour the milk into the pot, bit by bit, and bring to the boil again. Do not place the lid on the pot while the rice is cooking or it will boil over. Boil the rice at low heat until the grains are soft. Turn off the heat and allow it to simmer for 5 minutes, while the milk seeps into the rice. Help the child to mix the cinnamon and sugar in the bowl. Eat with cold milk and cinnamon. It is nice to eat the rice pudding with slices of liver pudding. SESAME SEED BREAD ROLLS FROM THE BAKERY
Sesame seed bread rolls rapidly fell out of fashion because of the white flour they are made with, but they are regaining popularity again, particularly on weekends. They are ideal for a man and a woman after their second night. The easiest thing to do by far is to buy sesame seed bread rolls in the bakery. They can vary greatly from one bakery to the next. In some places they can be quite dense and soft, whereas in others they have a crispy crust and airy interior, completely empty in fact. FISH BALLS WITH BOILED POTATOES AND BUTTER
Buy 1 kilo of fresh, fat haddock. Check out the origins of the fish and at least make sure that it was not fished in Fossvogur, but rather in the north or west of the country. Tuesday is normally fish ball day. Ask your fishmonger to personally skin and fillet your selected haddock from the north or west. You can also ask him to mince the fish to save you the trouble — specify whether it is for a woman and a child or for a man, woman, child and mother-in-law — and decide at the same time whether, and if so how many, onions should go into the mincer. It is best to get to the fishmongers before the crowds get in, i.e. before five-thirty. That will also give you time to talk about other things, and, for example, discuss the theoretical differences between the head and tail of the fish and other topics, such as catch quota issues and the pricing of marine products. It is four-thirty and, for the third time, the old woman in front of me in the queue tells the fishmonger, who is cutting some fish for her, in a low voice to take another three centimetres off the tail, after which, in an almost inaudible whisper, she confesses: “Because it’s just me at home.” Although it can be interesting to ponder who buys what and for how many people, I give very little away about my family status. I confess nothing to the fishmonger and am saved by the child, since I can say I’m buying for two. That way the fishmonger can imagine I’m happily married and that he’s selling minced fish to a very enamoured couple. Then I can give the boy the leftovers of the fish balls the next day, while I have tea and toast with tomatoes. Sometimes your personal fishmonger will give you a good recipe for gellur or cod tongues. Although I’ve never really been able to relate to those fleshy triangular muscles behind the cod’s chin and under its tongue, when a man passes on a recipe to a woman it creates a certain kind of bond, intimacy even. If I were to divulge too much information and were to reveal, for example, that there were two adults in the house or that my husband is from the west of the country where those cod tongues come from, or that he prefers haddock fried in breadcrumbs or something along those lines, because that was what his mother used to cook for him (the kind of thing women say sometimes), then the fishmonger would probably keep his cod tongue recipe to himself. In the two minutes that he is away operating the mincing machine, I swiftly glance at the rye bread, dry fish, lamb dripping and love balls on display on the glass counter. Seeing my reflection in the glass I brush my bangs aside. 1 kilo of minced haddock with or without onion, 4 tablespoons of flour, 1 tablespoon of potato flour (optional), 1 tablespoon of sea salt, 1 teaspoon of pepper, 2 eggs, 100 millilitres of milk, ½ onion and/or chives. Mix the minced fish, flour, potato flour and seasoning, also mixing in the eggs and then the milk. Add in the chopped chives as well, if you want. Chives grow in the garden or in a pot on the balcony from April to November. You can also use parsley that will grow all year round in a pot on the kitchen window sill. Heat some olive oil and butter in a pan. Mould the fish balls with the help of a spoon until they assume the shape of little white mice and then fry them in the pan. Quickly remove two half-fried fish balls and place them on a saucer so that you can eat them with Japanese soy sauce, while you finish frying the other balls. The fish balls should be eaten with butter and new potatoes, preferably from the November harvest, if available. The potatoes should be boiled at moderate heat for a short time so that they do not become too soft. Instead of butter, you can use curry sauce on the fish balls. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a pot. Add 1 tablespoon of flour and mix together, then add 2 cups of milk and bring to the boil. Meanwhile keep on stirring. Season with Indian curry powder, salt and pepper, and finally add 1 teaspoon of sugar. LAMB PÂTÉ ON SLICES OF RYE BREAD
2 kilos of lamb meat, salt, pepper, allspice, bay leaves. Classic lamb pâté is made with pretty fat meat. Rinse the meat and let it simmer on a low heat in as little salted water as possible for an hour. Add a few bay leaves and two peeled onions in the last 30 minutes of boiling. At the end of the boiling the meat detaches itself from the bones. Remove the bones and put the meat into the mincer (or mixer) with the onion. Then put the pâté back into the pot and heat it. Season according to taste with, among other things, pepper and allspice. Allow the pâté to cool a while and then transfer to a suitably sized container or freezing-bag. Store in freezer. Eat on slices of rye bread. HOOCH (FOR PARTIES)
This is obviously a sensitive issue for many law-abiding citizens. The objective is not to encourage the production of hooch or other types of home-brew (with the exception of crowberry schnapps; see recipe above), but just to remind the reader that some drinks are better enjoyed on the page than in the stomach. There is no need to remind you that not only does hooch have a disgusting taste, but it can also cause temporary blackouts and do bodily harm. Five kilos of sugar are required for every 20 litres of water and about 4 tablespoons of yeast. Mix the sugar and yeast in water heated to 25 degrees and leave at a constant temperature for three weeks, e.g. in a windowless boiler room or greenhouse. Then check to see if the liquid has fermented, i.e. whether all the sugar has dissolved, by tasting one drop on the tip of your tongue. The mixture should then be moved to a cool place where it will be allowed to settle. This should kill all germs. The liquid obtained is known as gambri (non-distilled hooch) and is normally of a greyish-yellow colour. The gambri then needs to be distilled with what is very often home-made distilling equipment. Install the equipment in an appropriate place, e.g. in the guest toilet or in the garage. It will give off a bitter odour that those in the know will not fail to recognize. A large portion of the liquid evaporates during the distillation process, leaving you with just a few litres of alcohol. Finally, filter the brew through charcoal to purify it and reduce that home-brew taste. Some people improve the taste by adding essences, which they buy in bottles in special home-brew stores. MEAT-STUFFED CABBAGE ROLLS