Delicious Iceland

Delicious Iceland is a collaboration of Chef Volundur Snaer Volundarson, photographer Hreinn Hreinsson and writer Haukur Agustsson.

True to his nature Chef Volundur had the brilliant idea to bring their adventures to the next level by creating a book. The process took them seven years, in which Chef Volundur was mostly living in the Bahamas, but used every opportunity he got to venture to Iceland to work on the project.

A big part of the book is the origin of the ingredients and therefore timing was an essential part of the books creation. Whether it was the gathering of seabird eggs in early spring, which only takes place for two weeks each year or ice fishing in the wintertime. When facing unique situations like the volcano rupture in Hekla in 2000 they were off in no time at all to create the magical volcano photo shoot when Chef Volundur cooked lamb on the hot lava (as seen on page 167-169) that truly is extraordinary. It was in that spirit that the book came about.

Haukur Águstsson wrote the text in the book and shared his extensive knowledge of Icelandic cuisine and culture. Haukur is a known scholar and composer and has long been an active participant in the Icelandic cultural scene.

The book was finally completed and published in 2006 and has since received critical acclaim and on April 7th 2007 received a special award at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards in Beijing, China.

The judge panel concluded that "Delicious Iceland is a magnificent book, which in a unique way combines cooking, culture, history and literature. A world-class book, which should be translated into as many languages as possible."

In 2007 Delicious Iceland: Special Edition was published, but the Special Edition is a smaller version of the original book.

Language: English