Carry On Icelandic: Culture [selections] (2004)
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Íslenska sauðkindin - Icelandic Sheep
Íslenska sauðkindin
Þrátt fyrir örar breytingar á atvinnuháttum Íslendinga skipar sauðkindin enn mikilvægan sess á Íslandi. Hún varð samskipa landnámsmönnunum til Íslands fyrir meira en 1100 árum og hefur oft mátt þola misjafna daga í landi óblíðrar náttúru. En einstök nægjusemi hennar og hæfileikar til að komast af við þröngan kost átti eftir að halda lífinu í mannfólkinu á erfiðleikatímum.
Þótt þjóðin byggi nú ekki lengur afkomu sína á landbúnaði og sauðfjárrækt skipta afurðir sauðkindarinnar enn miklu máli fyrir hana. Íslenska ullin er gædd einstökum eiginleikum sem gera hana þjála og togþolna og veita flíkur úr íslenskri ull sérstaklega gott skjól gegn bæði kulda og bleytu.
Hrútar (Rams).
Ullin var frá fornu fari notuð til klæðnaðar en einnig var unnið úr henni vaðmál sem var helsta útflutningsvara Íslendinga ásamt ull og gærum allt þar til skreiðin tók við á 14. og 15. öld. Nú eru íslenskar ullarvörur meðal þess sem erlendir ferðamenn sækjast hvað mest eftir að kaupa er þeir sækja landið heim.
En kjötið af sauðkindinni er líka mikilvægt. Það var uppistaðan í kosti Íslendinga um aldir, ýmist ferskt, reykt (hangikjöt), saltað eða súrsað og allir hlutar skepnunnar voru nýttir. Enn í dag þykja réttir eins og lifrarpylsa, blóðmör, sviðahausar og súrsaðir hrútspungar hið mesta lostæti og eru meðal helstu rétta á þorrablótum landsmanna.
Um langt árabil hefur ofnsteikt lambalæri með brúnuðum kartöflum, grænum baunum og rauðkáli verið sunnudagsmatur á borðum Íslendinga og er sannkallaður þjóðarréttur þeirra.
Icelandic Sheep
Despite rapid changes in Icelandic work patterns, the Icelandic sheep still has an important place in Iceland. The sheep accompanied the early Icelandic settlers more than 1100 years ago and has had to endure variable days spent in inhospitable country. But its particular cost-effectiveness and its ability to survive even when there is little food, has meant that it has often kept people alive during difficult times.
Although the nation no longer builds its profits from agriculture and sheep herding, sheep products remain an important part of the economy. Icelandic wool is endowed with special qualities, which make it manageable and strong, and clothes which are made out of Icelandic wool are particularly good cover against both cold and wet conditions.
Icelandic wool has long been used for making clothes, but it was also once used to make a type of homespun cloth called "vaðmál" which, together with wool and sheep skin, was the largest Icelandic export until stockfish took over in the fourteenth- and fifteenth-centuries. Icelandic wool products are now amongst those items which overseas visitors seek out when they visit.
Sheep meat is also important. It was the main feature of the Icelandic diet over the centuries, eaten either fresh, smoked (called hung meat, that is "hangikjöt"), salted or pickled in sour whey: the entire animal was used. Today, traditional foods such as liver sausage, blood pudding, sheep's head, and soured ram's scrotum are still considered delicacies and are amongst the most favoured dishes at the Icelanders' annual traditional feast called the "Þorrablót".
For many years, Sunday dinner in Iceland has meant a roast leg of lamb with caramel potatoes and green peas, rightly called Icelanders' national dish.
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