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FAROESE FOOD

Fermented lamb, wind-dried fish and sheep’s head. Sound delicious? Most Faroe Islanders think so.

Traditional Faroese food is of great significance to the locals. Not only is it the part where you get to dig in and satisfy those taste buds, but also the other stages, from hunting and killing to preserving and preparing.

It is the particular uniqueness of these stages that made the Guardian proclaim the Faroe Islands the “new Nordic food frontier.” This is a prime example of the growing enthusiasm for the Faroe Islands' distinct and extraordinary cuisine and evidence that Faroese gastronomy belongs on the international culinary scene.

Age-old Methods

Since the first settlers arrived in the Faroe Islands over a thousand years ago, the Faroese people have hunted and killed hares, sheep, whales, fish and other animals for food. Being an isolated archipelago in the North Atlantic means that the Faroese have largely relied on eating what is found in their environment. They learned to utilise every bit of every fish caught, every mammal slaughtered, and every bird netted. They also learned to store and preserve as much as possible for more challenging times. These age-old creative preservation methods are still used today and have resulted in food with distinct and unmistakable flavours, inherently contingent on the climate in which it is stored.

Ræst | Fermented

One of the distinctive flavours is what the Faroese call ræst, meaning fermentation. This is the process of drying meat and fish outdoors, allowing an ageing or fermentation process to occur. Whether or not the correct taste is acquired depends on the climate; warmer temperatures will spoil it, too cool temperatures will prevent fermentation, and too much wind will render it tasteless.

Although these traditional methods might be deemed unnecessary in modern times, the unique and inimitable taste created by these processes, coupled with the philosophy of using what nature provides, is as appealing to Faroe Islanders today as ever.

Food Production

There are no indigenous land mammals in the Faroe Islands (the hare, for example, was introduced from Norway), and barely anything grows above ground. Garden turnips (maybe the best in the world!), beets, radishes, swede, potatoes, carrots and Jerusalem artichokes are some of the farmers' main vegetables in the Faroe Islands. Greenery comes from herbs such as angelica and sorrel and wild plants such as sea purslane, cuckoo flower, and reindeer lichen.