Atlantica No. 4, 2010, July-August - Iceland Review

a The Skyr StoryIcelandic Fish & Chips restaurant was freshlyprepared fish with ‘skyronnaise’—skyr baseddipping sauces in flavors like basil, curry andmore. At Thrír Frakkar restaurant I treatedmyself to skyr brulee. The taste of the bruleewas as fantastic as its presentation: it arrived in aramekin with the traditional sugar crust, alongsidea burst of whipped cream and a ribbon ofvanilla syrup. Dotted into the syrup were threehearts, shaped out of raspberry syrup. Whocouldn’t fall in love with that?At Keflavík airport, we boarded our planeback to the States. To my amazement, the manacross from me was eating—skyr. He’d broughtan insulated lunch carrier and stuffed it full ofskyr tubs. I didn’t think you could bring that onthe plane, but I’ll find out next time.Back at home, I searched the Internet fora simple skyr recipe. (Apparently the actualcreation of skyr, like a Michelangelo painting,is more complicated than it looks.) I found arecipe that I use when my family has neglectedto drink all the milk we have delivered eachweek. My homemade skyr has a chalky aftertastethough; Icelandic skyr doesn’t. Again onthe Internet, I found out Icelandic skyr is sold atthe Whole Foods market near my niece’s home.That’s a road trip I can see on the horizon evennow.I’ll keep on looking and experimenting, butwhen I return to Iceland, perhaps I could talkmy way into touring a skyr factory to see howthe real thing is made. And this time, I’ll bringmy insulated lunch bag. a52 atlantica