SERVING 4

Mackerel in any numbers is a comparative newcomer in Icelandic waters. Of late, however, with the warming of the climate and the sea too, it is being fished in great amounts around Iceland and has increasingly been processed for human consumption and export, becoming quite important to the fishing industry and, indeed, the country as a whole. Hitherto, though, Icelanders have not become accustomed to mackerel as a daily fare, but value it smoked, e.g. as topping to bread. Here is an example of this. Icelandic flat cakes are used in this instance, but slices of well-nigh any kind of ordinary bread can be used.

Pickled vegetables
1 red onion
1 red beet
1 cup / 240 ml white vinegar
½ cup / 120 ml sugar
½ cup / 120 ml dried apricots
1 pear
Salt and pepper
Olive oil

Peel the red onion, cut it into narrow wedges and put them into a pot. Peel the red beet, cut it into not too thin slices, cut them into strips and then dice them by cutting across the strips. Add these to the red onion in the pot. Next pour the white vinegar into the pot, just enough to cover the onion and the red beet. Next the sugar is added in the pot and the contents of the pot brought to boil and let simmer for about 5 minutes. While the vegetables are cooking, slice the dried apricots and put them in a bowl. Then peel the pear and dice it, adding it to the apricots. When the cooking time for the red onion and the red beet is up, drain the liquid off, and add the hot onion and red beet to the diced apricots and pear in the bowl. Season with salt and pepper, pour in a little bit of olive oil, toss the mixture thoroughly and let it cool.

Horse-radish crème fresh
2 tbs ground fresh horse radish
1 tbs fresh lime juice
½ cup / 120 ml heavy cream
1½ cup / 180 ml sour cream

Peel the horse radish and, using a zest grinder, put about 2 tablespoons of ground horse radish in a bowl. Add about 1 tablespoon of fresh lime juice to the ground horse radish, season the blend with some salt and black pepper. Pour in the heavy cream along with the sour cream and mix the contents of bowl thoroughly.

The open sandwich
Icelandic flat cakes or slices of rye bread
2 fillets smoked mackerel
1 head arugula
Fresh dill for decoration

Cut the flat cakes or the slices of bread into the sizes desired. Spread a fair layer of the horse-radish crème fresh on top of the bread. Put some arugula leaves on the bed of crème fresh and on top of them place a nice piece of the smoked mackerel. Place a fair scoop of the pickled vegetables decoratively on the mackerel and, to further enhance the arrangement, put a small branch of dill on top. Now the open sandwich is finished and ready to be appreciated by your guests.