Local Dishes

1. skerpikjøt

   Skerpikjøt (mutton wind-dried for 6-9 months)

   Usage

   The signature Faroese food. A leg (tjógv) or shoulder (bógvur) of mutton is hung for months in a hjallur, a drying shed with slatted walls that lets the wind through. Drying passes through three stages — visnað (withered), ræst (matured) and turt (fully dry) — and only the fully dry stage is called skerpikjøt; it is also called turt kjøt. It is never cooked: it is sliced thin and eaten on rye bread (rugbreyð) or drýlur

   Grammar Note

   Neuter, genitive skerpikjøts, no plural (a mass noun)

2. ræst kjøt

   Ræst kjøt (mutton at the matured, half-dried stage)

   Usage

   Mutton taken down at the middle of the three drying stages, ræst (matured). Unlike skerpikjøt it is always cooked — "Ræst kjøt verður kókað ella stokt" (boiled or braised). It has a powerful smell and is usually what surprises visitors most

   Grammar Note

   kjøt is neuter, so the adjective ræstur takes the neuter form ræst. With the masculine noun fiskur it appears as ræstur fiskur

3. ræstur fiskur

   Ræstur fiskur (wind-matured fish)

   Usage

   Cod (toskur) or saithe (seiður) hung to mature in a hjallur. Fish dries much faster than mutton, and fish, whale meat and some birds are eaten at all three stages — visnað, ræst and turt. Usually served with potatoes (epli)

   Grammar Note

   The antonym of ræstur is feskur (fresh); fesk súpan is named from that adjective

4. røstsúpan

   Røstsúpan (soup made with ræst mutton)

   Usage

   Soup made from ræst (matured) mutton. The back cuts (ryggjarstykki) went into the soup pot while the leg and shoulder were set aside for drying. A winter home dish

   Grammar Note

   Feminine. The base is súpan (soup); røst- is a variant of ræstur. No plural

5. fesk súpan

   Fesk súpan (soup with fresh mutton)

   Usage

   Soup made with fresh, undried mutton. It is the counterpart of røstsúpan; ask for this one if the strong smell of matured meat is not for you

   Grammar Note

   súpan is feminine, so the adjective feskur takes the feminine form fesk

6. knettasúpan

   Knettasúpan (meatball soup)

   Usage

   Soup with knetti (dumplings/balls) in it. The balls are commonly made of minced fish. An everyday soup found both at home and in canteens

   Grammar Note

   Feminine, genitive knettasúpanar, no plural

7. fisksúpan

   Fisksúpan (fish soup, chowder)

   Usage

   Fish soup or chowder. The usual Faroese fish are toskur (cod), seiður (saithe) and hýsa (haddock)

   Grammar Note

   Feminine, genitive fisksúpanar, no plural

8. ertnasúpan

   Ertnasúpan (pea soup)

   Usage

   Pea soup, the Nordic winter staple, usually cooked with salted meat

   Grammar Note

   Feminine, genitive ertnasúpanar, no plural

9. fuglasúpan

   Fuglasúpan (fowl soup)

   Usage

   Fowl soup. The base word fuglur means bird in general, and Faroese tradition also uses seabirds (lundi, puffin; lomvigi, guillemot). To check which bird, ask Hvat slag av fugli er í?

   Grammar Note

   Feminine, genitive fuglasúpanar, no plural

10. seyðarhøvd

    Seyðarhøvd (boiled sheep's head)

    Usage

    A sheep's head, boiled either fresh or after air-drying, served with potatoes and mustard. Faroese butchery uses nearly every part of the animal, and this dish is the emblem of that

    Grammar Note

    Neuter, genitive seyðarhøvuðs, plural identical to the singular: seyðarhøvd

11. blóðpylsa

    Blóðpylsa (blood sausage, black pudding)

    Usage

    Sheep's blood mixed with suet (tálg), flour and spices, kneaded into a dough and filled into sheep stomach or intestine. Adding raisins and sugar is a comparatively recent practice. The sausages are then hung in the hjallur to keep

    Grammar Note

    Feminine, genitive blóðpylsu, plural blóðpylsur

12. súlupylsa

    Súlupylsa (sausage stuffed into a gannet's stomach)

    Usage

    A sausage filled into the stomach of a súla (northern gannet) — a preserve from the era when seabird fowling was part of daily life, and not an everyday item today. Worth knowing if you would rather avoid seabird

    Grammar Note

    Feminine, genitive súlupylsu, plural súlupylsur

13. rullupylsa

    Rullupylsa (rolled sausage of lamb belly and onion)

    Usage

    Lamb belly rolled around meat and onion, pressed and sliced. Eaten cold and thin on bread. The form is common across the Nordics; the Faroese word is rullupylsa

    Grammar Note

    Feminine, genitive rullupylsu, plural rullupylsur

14. fyltur lundi

    Fyltur lundi (puffin stuffed with raisin dough)

    Usage

    A traditional festive dish: a puffin (lundi) stuffed with raisin dough and roasted. It is tied to seasonal fowling on islands such as Mykines and is not a year-round menu item. Note that the Atlantic puffin is listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN, so ordering it is contested

    Grammar Note

    lundi is masculine (genitive lunda, plural lundar), so the adjective appears in the masculine nominative fyltur. Note that Faroese fylla (to fill) and filla (bird skin; to smash) are different words

15. grind

    Grind (pilot whale meat and blubber)

    Usage

    The tvøst (dark meat) and spik (blubber) of the pilot whale (grindahvalur); the same word also means a school of pilot whales. Note two things before ordering. The drive hunt that supplies it, the grindadráp, draws strong international criticism. And the meat carries high levels of mercury and PCBs: the Faroese authorities themselves advise limits — adults no more than one or two meals a month, never the liver or kidneys, no blubber for women before they have had their children, and no meat at all for women who are pregnant, nursing or planning pregnancy within three months. In 2008 the then chief medical officer advised that pilot whale should no longer be considered fit for human consumption

    Grammar Note

    Feminine, genitive grindar, plural grindir. A homograph also means a framework or grille

16. saltgrind

    Saltgrind (salted and boiled pilot whale meat)

    Usage

    Pilot whale meat salted, boiled and served with potatoes and mustard — a home dish. As with grind, the drive hunt that supplies it is strongly criticised internationally, and the Faroese authorities themselves advise consumption limits because of mercury and PCBs: at most one or two meals a month for adults, never liver or kidneys, and avoidance by women who are pregnant, nursing or have not yet had their children

    Grammar Note

    Feminine, genitive saltgrindar, plural saltgrindir

17. klippfiskur

    Klippfiskur (klipfish, salted and dried cod)

    Usage

    Cod split, salted and then dried; it must be soaked before cooking. The distinction from saltfiskur is that saltfiskur is salted but not dried, while klippfiskur is both

    Grammar Note

    Masculine, genitive klippfisks, plural klippfiskar

18. saltfiskur

    Saltfiskur (salted cod, not dried)

    Usage

    Cod that has been salted but not dried. Saltfiskur was a major Faroese export commodity in the 20th century

    Grammar Note

    Masculine, genitive saltfisks, plural saltfiskar

19. fiskabolli

    Fiskabolli (fish ball)

    Usage

    A dumpling of minced fish, served on its own or in knettasúpan. The plural is fiskabollar

    Grammar Note

    Masculine, genitive fiskabolla, plural fiskabollar. Note that bolli on its own can also mean a cup

20. fiskakøka

    Fiskakøka (baked fish pudding)

    Usage

    Minced fish baked in a mould, a pudding rather than a ball — served in slices, unlike fiskabolli

    Grammar Note

    Feminine, genitive fiskakøku, plural fiskakøkur

21. roykt flesk

    Roykt flesk (smoked pork, ham)

    Usage

    Smoked pork. Note that smoking has never been common in the Faroe Islands ("At roykja hevur ongantíð verið vanligt í Føroyum") — drying and salting were the traditional methods. This term reflects Danish-influenced practice

    Grammar Note

    flesk is neuter, so the participle takes the neuter form roykt

22. veðrakjøt

    Veðrakjøt (mutton from a ram or wether)

    Usage

    Meat from a ram or a wether. Faroese distinguishes mutton by the animal's age and sex. Note that veður also means "weather"; the combining form veðra- marks this sense

    Grammar Note

    Neuter, genitive veðrakjøts, no plural

23. drýlur

    Drýlur (unleavened bread)

    Usage

    A thick unleavened loaf. Skerpikjøt is eaten on rugbreyð (rye bread), drýlur or franskbreyð — drýlur being the most traditional base for the dried meat

    Grammar Note

    Masculine, genitive drýls, plural drýlar. A related word is leivur

24. rundstykki

    Rundstykki (bread roll)

    Usage

    The breakfast roll, standard at bakeries (bakarí) and hotel breakfasts

    Grammar Note

    Neuter, genitive rundstykkis, plural identical to the singular: rundstykki

25. tvíflís

    Tvíflís (sandwich)

    Usage

    A sandwich. The word is native — tví- (two) plus flís (slice) — not a borrowing of English "sandwich"

    Grammar Note

    Feminine, genitive tvíflísar, plural tvíflísar

26. súreplakøka

    Súreplakøka (apple cake)

    Usage

    Apple cake. Note that Faroese for "apple" is súrepli, not epli — epli means potato. Do not carry over Icelandic epli, which does mean apple

    Grammar Note

    Feminine, genitive súreplakøku, plural súreplakøkur

27. rabarbukøka

    Rabarbukøka (rhubarb cake)

    Usage

    Rhubarb cake. Rhubarb is one of the few crops that thrives in the windy Faroese climate, which makes it a summer baking staple

    Grammar Note

    Feminine, genitive rabarbukøku, plural rabarbukøkur

28. pannukøka

    Pannukøka (pancake)

    Usage

    Pancake — the thin Nordic kind, rolled with súltutoy (jam) or sugar

    Grammar Note

    Feminine, genitive pannukøku, plural pannukøkur

29. náti

    Náti (fulmar fledgling, served as a dish)

    Usage

    The Faroese word for a fulmar (havhestur) fledgling and for the meal made from it. It belongs to the summer fowling season and is not a standing menu item

    Grammar Note

    Masculine, genitive náta, plural nátar. The adult bird is also called havhestur, literally "sea horse"

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