Culinary Treasures of The Vatnajökull Region

The Vatnajökull region extends from the majestic Lómagnúptil to the west to the impressive landscape of Hvalness to the east. The area offers many restaurants, many of which use ingredients from the area.

The county of Austur-Skaftafellssýsla has always been an agricultural district. It was a relatively poor area in the early days, but after 1980 the cultivation increased, especially on the sands. Although there were not many residences in the area before, agriculture was not enough to support the inhabitants. There was fishing in the whole county, and it was common that landing conditions were bad, but fishing grounds were good. The Travelogue of Eggert and Bjarni from 1752 states that plaice fishing was in lagoons within the estuaries in Lón and Hornafjörður and that cod was caught in Öræfi and Suðursveit.

The municipality of Hornafjörður and the fishing village of Höfn have a large selection of food from the district, which is produced by farmers and caught by the area's fishermen. Höfn is a proper fishing village where one of the primary industries is fishing, and lobster is a specialty of the people of Hornfjörður.

In the municipality of Hornafjörður, traditions and benefits vary according to location. It is the location of the country, the weather, and the forces of nature that have had the most impact. For example, in Öræfi, there are very insulating pumice sections, but Öræfingar used them to store salted meat in barrels until they could transport it by ship next summer. In Ingólfshöfði, there is a lot of birdlife where the rocks are densely populated with birds, langoustines, elks, elephants, and puffins. In addition, many other bird species nest in and around the head. There was a lot of bird hunting and egg-laying in the headland. In Suðursveit, sea rowing has been practiced from the shore, possibly since the settlement age.

In Mýrinn, there is a lot of agriculture where, among other things, there is one of the largest cow farms in the country, you can enjoy glacier ice with tourism farmers, and there is a brewery in the area as an example.