[Sca-cooks] Iceland & Scotland - what to get?

[Nanna Rögnvaldardóttir]

-----Original Message-----
From: Ginny Claphan <mizginny at yahoo.com>
>
>My parents will be traveling to Iceland (Klefavik, Reykjavik) and Scotland
>(Glasgow, Iona, Edinburgh) on vacation for the next 2 weeks. What would be
>interesting food/drink-related items to bring back for me that could fit in
a
>suitcase?


That depends. Will they go straight back home from Iceland or are they going
to Iceland first, then Scotland? If they are going straight to the US, then
there is skyr (various types, and no, I'm not suggesting that yogurt with
Pop-Rocks; not one of the Icelandic Dairy Association's brighter ideas, I
think), cheeses (especially mysuostur, brown whey cheese), rye flatbread
(with or without Iceland moss), perhaps a bag of Iceland moss, hverabrauð
(dark rye bread baked overnight in hot earth close to a geyser), smoked lamb
(Icelandic livestock is completely free of BSE and foot and mouth, but I'm
still not sure if you can import it to the US), smoked salmon and trout,
various types of dried fish (harðfiskur), a bag of súpujurtir, "soupherbs"
(various mixed vegetables and herbs) for the traditional Icelandic lamb soup
(recipe can be obtained from me), some dried wild herbs, and several other
things, like reindeer paté and lumpfish caviar.

If they are going to Scotland before going back, it gets more complicated.
The herbs are OK, of course. The dried fish will keep but frankly, I
wouldn't want to keep dried fish - even well wrapped - with my clothes for a
week.
Ask them to bring at least a mini-bottle of Black Death. (Some rotten shark
would go well with it but I doubt the US Customs would like it.) So I'm not
really sure what to suggest. A horn spoon carved with a traditional pattern,
perhaps. A traditional wooden lidded bowl (askur) is rather too expensive.
An Icelandic crepe pan, which is really the best pan for making very thin
crepes. If you want cookbooks, there are a couple of small recipe booklets
available (although I would, quite frankly, recommend waiting for my own
book, which is scheduled for November. It does have American measurements,
at least.)

That is all I can think of now. I can also point you at the best places to
buy these things - do you know at what hotel your parents will be staying?

Nanna