Since living in Europe, one of the best uniquely European traditions I’ve discovered is that of the culinary conference. 

My second home in San Sebastian, Spain, features one in the form of San Sebastian Gastronomika, held annually in November. 

Madrid has Madrid Fusion, Milan has Identita Golose, Belgium has its Flemish Primitives, and Iceland has its Food and Fun Festival. 

Technically the Icelandic version is less of a conference in comparison to its brothers and sisters, but with each year it evolves into something different. 

Whereas before, the festival was more a showcase of Icelandic ingredients, including dishes from prestigious restaurants, the festival is much more integrated this year, including an exchange of chefs with other countries. 

The theme of the chef exchange is to introduce new menus with new perspectives, using tried and true Icelandic ingredients.

For example, the local favorite La Primavera which normally features a menu inspired by Northern Italian cuisine, will feature Italian Sous chef Fabrizio Marino of the Michelin Star Restaurant, Joia, in Milan, collaborating with executive chef and owner Leifur Kolbeinsson. 

The restaurant is already famed for its fresh use of ingredients, most notably the fish that Jamie Oliver describes as, “The most amazing, freshest fish I’ve ever had in my life. It was all so perfectly cooked too. Beautiful.” 

But with the onset of the festival, even a popular place like La Primavera is sure to experience a boost. 

Iceland has been opening doors with cuisine for years, and the Food and Fun festival is a good reminder to show us how basic and universal a right good food should be. 

Creating an international culinary dialogue in the context of Icelandic cuisine should only further boost Iceland’s already burgeoning culinary scene, in addition to amplifying the growing influx of tourists.

What’s nice about this particular festival is it has elements of both a food showcase in the focus on Icelandic ingredients, but it takes a step further in recontextualizing those ingredients with foreign hands, demonstrating their potential for more widespread use. 

By doing so, it not only garners much needed foreign press attention on Iceland, it creates potential for interesting commentary on what parts of our gastronomic identities are universal and which are inevitably and unchangeably ingrained in our specific cultural context. 

My only hope is that this year’s Food and Fun festival will be digestible enough for established food critics and the public alike.

Avant-garde cuisine is nothing without clients to consume it, but neither can they be prestigious without excluding some portion of consumers. 

The difference in Iceland compared to already established culinary scenes like Brussels, San Sebastian, or Melbourne, let’s say, is that the potential to garner said reputation very much requires publicly accessible food experiences. 

After all, Reykjavík is a small city and a large portion of the public that attends restaurant dinners are tourists. 

Therefore, if your budget is too tight to experience restaurant exchanges, I would still highly suggest strolling through the food showcases where free samples abound.

Celebrating its ninth year, the festival takes place this week from February 24 to the 28 and is the perfect opportunity for natives and tourists alike to enjoy the possibilities of Icelandic cuisine. 

I mean, really, I never knew horse tasted so good (and in the hands of the young chefs from Grillid restaurant, it is quite delicious).

Aina Fuller – ainafuller@gmail.com