THE CLOSEST I’d come to a Guillemot was listening to the Avant-Gard Indie rock band with the same name, so when I saw it on the menu at Prir Frakkar , a tiny restaurant in Reykjavik, Iceland, it piqued my curiosity.
Keen to try weird foods, I draw the line at cannibalism, so it was a relief to discover that a Guillemot was a black seabird with a white belly, thick beak and bright red feet, native to Iceland.
DASHER, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donna, Blitzen and… sorry Santa but Rudolph won’t be leading your sleigh this year.
He’s been pulverized, mixed with spices and garlic to create a delicious pate. Mmm, Rudolph on toast.
Reindeer pate
If you’re worried about piling on the pounds over Christmas, reindeer has one of the lowest fat contents of red meat – a mere two per cent – so it could be the answer. And you can rest assured that you’re not eating an endangered species – the reindeer are farmed in Sweden by Sami herdsmen and fed a diet of moss and lichen.
The packaging of my tin of reindeer pate looked innocuous. A white label announced an arctic delicacy, ‘an indulgent Christmas treat’ and claimed Rudolph’s relative was inside. When I opened it the pate didn’t look very appetising – dark, plummy meat clumped together so it resembled cat food – but it was surprisingly tasty.
I didn’t have any Knackebrod (Swedish crisp bread) so I slathered it onto some toasted not-very-authentic ciabatta.
Smoother than Michael Buble singing Christmas classics, the pate tasted rich and gamey but not overpowering. It wasn’t as greasy as pork-based pates and was infused with spicy cognac – it definitely had sparkle.
So if you want to treat your family to something exotic, festive and tasty this Christmas, shelve the turkey. Buck the trend and treat them to some reindeer pate instead.
Reindeer pate is available from www.firebox.com
Weird foods: Locusts, crickets, gnu, ostrich, zebra, crocodile, scorpion
THERE aren’t many restaurants where the first words you say to the waiter are ‘Golden Monkey.’ But then there aren’t many restaurants that boast an exotic menu of crocodile, zebra, wildebeest – and chocolate-covered scorpion for dessert.
Archipelago, a tiny restaurant in North London, has been serving up gastronomica exotica for eleven years. Set up by South African Bruce Alexander, who wanted to move away from London’s ‘samey’ restaurants, it sources its food from all over the world – crocodile from Zimbabwe, Kangaroo from Australia, Gnu from South Africa and locusts and crickets from the rather less exotic Isle of Wight!
A locust dish
“We only use farm-reared animals and of course we’d never use endangered species,” says Head Chef Danny Creedon, who trained as a classical French chef at the Room of Fine Dining. “The meat is often a by-product of other trades, like crocodiles that are farmed for their skins.”
Phew! Conscience clear, we’re free to enjoy the food and the unusual atmosphere. ‘Golden Monkey,’ our secret password to confirm our booking, is all part of the fun – along with the bizarre décor.
Weird Foods 