Puffins for lunch

Posted on July 4, 2009 by cinzia

In Iceland it is quite common to eat puffins, particularly it is one of the fundamental food for the inhabitants of the Vestmannaeyjar islands. Nowadays these birds are still hunted with the traditional Viking method: they climb up to the cliffs with a long nest called Hafur. The puffins are then roasted and the most curious tourists may taste the tasty meet of these birds in almost every restaurant in Heimaey.

The inhabitants of Heimaey must not be considered as monsters that long for puffins, on the contrary, as all the Icelanders they live in harmony with Nature, they are very fond of the puffins and they take care of them. In august, when the newborn train to learn how to fly, and sometimes they end up in the harbour, the Icelanders pick them up and help them to reach the sea.