The Best Tomato Soup Ever Made
Iceland is a place of extremes. Days of never ending sun or dark. Musical tastes that expand the mind. Water, boiling from the earth and lakes so cold even a dry suit doesn't quite keep the wearer warm.
So, in this land of opposites, it's rather refreshing to discover something so simple and yet so wonderfully balanced. Welcome to Fridheimar, where the fruit of their work is focused on a single product. Tomatoes.
If you'd thought you'd had good tomato soup before, then you're in for a pleasant surprise. Their house speciality is as simple as it's main ingredient - a rich, yet delicate tomato soup bursting with flavor and avoiding the usual over creamed competition. Alongside the soup, hunks of freshly baked bread, a delicate parmesan cheese to sprinkle, and a pair of scissors for each guest to snip some fresh basil over the top.
The dining space, surrounded by plants
The tomatoes are all grown in the surrounding greenhouse, a unique system using geo thermal heating to keep the environment toasty warm all year round - and which, producing some 300 tons a year, accounts for almost 20% of Icelands total tomato production.
But enough of the history lesson - soup, while the hero, isn't the only thing on the menu. Bloody Mary's (or try the gin Happy Mary for something different) to start the meal, or perhaps one of the many tomato infused desserts to close?
A trio of tasty desserts
Either way, head to Fridheimar to experience a truly unique way to reappraise the humble red fruit.
