SERVING 4

In the olden days corn, that is barley, was grown in Iceland. This was in the first centuries after the settlement of the country, but as time passed, the climate grew colder, and growing corn became impossible. Nowadays with higher temperatures slowly becoming the norm, Icelandic farmers again are trying their hands at corn growing. For several years certain strains of barley have been successfully grown in the country and in the last few years a few farmers in the southern parts of the country have been experimenting in growing wheat and in some instances with remarkable success. In the recipe below, Icelandic wheat is used, but, of course, good quality wheat of other origin will do just as well.

The grilled bread
1½ cup / 375 ml warm water
2¼ tsp dry yeast
6 cups / 1420 ml wheat flour
1½ tsp salt
2 tbs rapeseed oil
Pinch of black pepper
Pumpkin seeds
Sunflower seeds

Put the warm water in a bowl. Stir in the yeast and then add the wheat, the salt, the rapeseed oil and a pinch of black pepper. Work the ingredients in the bowl thoroughly together. If needed, add a little more wheat in order to give the dough the desired consistency. It should be firm, not sticky at all and, of course, uniform in texture. Knead the dough into a ball, put a spot of rapeseed oil in a bowl and roll the ball of dough in the oil until it is universally oily on the outside. Leave the oiled ball of dough in the bowl, cover it with a kitchen towel and leave the dough to prove for about half an hour. When the dough has risen, add in some pumpkin seeds and some sunflower seeds. Knead the seeds thoroughly into the dough. When the amount of seeds desired has been kneaded in, drizzle some wheat onto the counter and roll out the dough as thin as the seeds in the dough permit. Cut the rolled-out dough across into fair-sized cakes. Put the pieces on a plate and drizzle some rapeseed oil over them, spreading the oil evenly over the pieces using a cooking brush. Finally, season the pieces with some salt and ground pepper and put them on a hot grill, oiled face down. Oil and season the un-oiled side in the same manner as before. Grill the pieces for about 3 to 5 five minutes on each side, depending on the heat of the grill. The finished cakes should be golden brown, when done, crunchy on the outside, but still a little soft inside.

The steamed mussels
½ piece fresh ginger
¼ stalk green chili
½ a red onion
3 cloves of garlic, smashed
2 tomatoes
1 bell pepper
7 oz / 200 gr butter
8 sprigs fresh thyme
2 oz / 900 gr mussels
1 light beer
1 cup / 240 ml heavy cream

Peel the ginger, preferably using the edge of a spoon, so as not waste too much of the ginger itself. Chop the peeled ginger into fair-sized pieces and put them into a rather large saucepan. Cut the chili into small bits and add them to the saucepan. The amount used of chili depends on taste, so be a bit careful. Peel the onion and cut half of it into thin slices and put them into the saucepan along with the smashed garlic. Cut up the tomatoes and the bell pepper and add these to the vegetables in the saucepan, finishing by adding the butter and the fresh thyme. Now put the vegetables on the heat and cook them for a while at high heat stirring them frequently. Next put the mussels into the hot saucepan. Put the lid on, shake the saucepan a bit, and cook the mussel for about 30 seconds. Then pour in about half a bottle of beer and the cream. Put the lid on again, bring the contents of the pan to simmer and steam the mussels and the vegetables for about two and a half minutes.

Serving
1 head fresh watercress

Scoop some of the mixture from the saucepan into a bowl and pour in some broth, too. Put some watercress on top for extra freshness and decoration, along with a piece of the grilled bread. Now, if you are looking for true freshness in your food, this is it.