Valentine's in Iceland

By JULIETTE ROSSANT Go ahead and give a box of chocolates on Valentine's Day – with tickets for Iceland inside. Why Iceland? Maybe cold-sounding places bring out warm emotions or you've both always wanted to swim in the Blue Lagoon. But the real reason to go to Iceland is that your foodie love and you can go to Reykjavik's Food and Fun Festival from February 20th - 24th. The local cuisine is innovative and energetic and there is no better time to eat well in Iceland than in the dead of winter. Play in the glaciers, geysers, waterfalls and hot pools all over Iceland by day, and discover great Nordic and international chefs by night. Here is a selection of chefs in the competition: Maria José San Román Michael Björklund Geir Skeie Søren Ledet Andy Husbands Carmelo Chiaramonte Kaz Okochi And judges: Gray Kunz John Besh Jeff Tunks Erwin Peters Flora Mikula Each chef is assigned to one of the participating restaurants, where they prepare a special menu from Icelandic ingredients. The menu is presented at all the restaurants for an entire week. In addition, the chefs themselves are on site for three nights during the festival week. The chef competition - like Iron Chef in Iceland - takes place on the last day of the festival. The chefs prepare three courses entirely out of Icelandic ingredients. Iceland is largely self-sufficient in food production. Prior to the competition, they are given 30 minutes to quickly shop at a nearby supermarket with only one order: Icelandic ingredients only. Then they have three hours to apply their magic. Sounds heart-meltingly tasty. Previous articles: Valentine's Day Book - Paris: The Secret History Ace of Cakes: Valentine's 2007 Valentine's Knives: Cut to the Heart Valentine's Tea: Bouquets to Drink Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging --> back to Super Chef