It Could Almost Be a Foreign Country

The Iceland Review reports that Good Old Porridge is Back

It's thick and sticky, extremely gluey, but cheaper and more wholesome than most foodstuffs. We are talking about porridge. So forget the old Kellogg's Cornflakes, Cheerios or Cocoa Puffs. Those times are gone. Breakfast in Iceland is porridge time. Reykjavik pre-schools now offer porridge instead of the more expensive, processed and imported cereals. Parents are even invited to join their children for a bowl of porridge at the elementary schools. It's also becoming popular in upper secondary schools, where students stand in line for their bowl of the grey gluey stuff during their first morning break. At Hamrahlíd Upper Secondary School, one of Reykjavik's largest, the dean serves it out, one ladle for each student, four days a week. "Porridge is not expensive and I thought it was fitting to introduce this idea now, although it is not entirely a response to the crisis," says the dean, Lárus H. Bjarnason. Due to high inflation and rising mortgage payments, most families have less money to spend so they turn to porridge as a means of saving. A bowl of thick porridge served with milk can get a healthy male through the day and it only costs a few cents. Top it with a green apple, peeled and cut into pieces, or a few California raisins, and you have a gourmet breakfast. Or try it old Icelandic style, mixed with skyr. This mixture is called hraeríngur and should be served with a generous slice of pickled blood or liver sausage, slàtur. Then you won't have to eat anything else for a week.