Icelandic cuisine is traditionally dominated by meat, especially lamb, and fish. Sheep roam the countryside and are reared the way they’ve been traditionally raised from the time of the early settlers, and fish feature prominently as the country is surrounded by the ocean. Flavours of traditional food typically reflect the method of its preservation – from pickling and drying, to curing or smoking. During the Nordic month of Porri (late January to early February), many Icelanders enjoy porramatur: a selection of traditional Icelandic food. Cured meat and fish products are sliced and served with dense rye bread, butter, and brennivin, a clear, unsweetened schnapps. This spread of dishes, prepared as a tribute to Icelandic culture, will typically include: hákarl: putrefied shark cubes sviðasulta: a brawn or “head cheese” made from the head of a sheep lundabaggi: sheep’s fat hrútspungar: pickled ram’s testicles These days, the diet is becoming modernised and is increasingly closer to European in style, which means you won’t have to eat shark for dinner if it’s not your cup of tea! Travellers on the Odyssey small group tour of Iceland will visit a farm in Fridheimar to learn how fruit and vegetables are grown using geothermal energy and during short daylight periods. They will also have the opportunity to meet a farmer in Bjarnarhofn, and can sample his shark meat – a likely polarising delicacy!