There is a giant Bonus Supermarket (or was it Hagkaup?) in Reykjavik that has bulk candy--this was the first time I've seen bulk candy in a long time, bulk foods are not a big thing in Germany--and better yet, it's 50% off on Saturdays. The moment I heard this, I knew I had to make the pilgrimage to "Candy Island". It was crazy, and as big as a bulk candy section in a Meijer store in Michigan, if you've ever had the pleasure. I'd estimate that there were at least 100 bins of candy, and people everywhere packing their bags full of it. I jumped in to do the same. Most of the people there seemed to be experienced in their quest for half off candy, and made a beeline to their bins of choice. I, however, was a newbie in this wonderland of candy, some of which I recognized, and some of which I could only guess what it was. Some kinds I knew from the United States, for example blue gummy sharks, but these were not my focus. I'll be able to get plenty of those in 6 weeks. No, I was there for the exotic licorice. There was licorice in all forms, from sweet to salty and spicy. Some was gummy, some was covered in chocolate, some was in ball form somewhat like a jelly bean without the jelly. Some was even like caramel! I couldn't read what was what, and could also not even get an inkling of what kinds of licorice these different items could contain because I haven't got a clue about the Icelandic language, nor do I have any experience with related languages. So I was lost in a sea of licorice. Here's what I ended up with:
Licorice shark...
...colorful licorice octopus...
...chocolate filled licorice tube...
...licorice/cherry chewy smily guy...
...super strong licorice skull...
...licorice pistol...
...and there was more: a super strong spicy (like chili) licorice guitar for example, or bean shaped things filled with caramelly licorice, it was all pretty exciting.
To top it all off, we even came across some black licorice ice cream in Reykjavik! What a trip!
One member of my party couldn't help but ask, "What's up with the concrete-colored ice cream?", but when informed that it was black licorice, got all pouty and wanted to trade. Because I didn't want to ruin our trip, I did. But it was difficult, because this stuff is great! When ordering, I thought it was either going to be horrible or wonderful...it was more than wonderful!
OK, just one more licorice treat: a bar of licorice covered in chocolate!
Please be patient, dear readers...more about my 3 days in Iceland is on its way!
1 comment:
One of my fondest memories of Iceland (I lived there a looong time ago as a young lad for 3 years in the mid to late 1960's) was the sheep hotdogs with a spicy mustard and freeze dried onions. We got them at the taxi stand in Keflavik, but they were all over. Only recently did I realize that the hot dog is like the national food of Iceland. Who knew! LOL! A lovely country that I wish I could visit again.
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