Holiday Staple · Smoked Lamb

Hangikjöt

Photo: Martin Sønderlev Christensen / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0

The traditional smoke comes from burning dried sheep dung rather than wood — a fuel source that was often more available than timber on a largely treeless island.

Leg or shoulder of lamb is salt-cured, then slowly smoked until deeply flavored, and served thinly sliced, hot or cold, alongside white sauce, peas, and pickled red cabbage. It's the centerpiece of the Icelandic Christmas table and a Þorrablót staple, made from lamb raised on farms across the country, South Iceland included.

Why it's made this way: Smoking was one of the few reliable ways to preserve meat through Iceland's dark winters before refrigeration, and in sheep-farming districts like South Iceland hangikjöt remains the dish that marks the holidays.