Icelanders have long been known for their salted fish production, but it has been one of the foundations of the Icelandic economy, despite the fact that salt is mostly imported. A recent study indicates, however, that if Icelandic salt is used for the effect, the efficiency of the product increases.
Salting has been one of the main storage methods for Icelanders, along with drying and pickling for centuries. In Iceland, however, it was often difficult to utilize salting as there was a considerable shortage of salt in Iceland until the 17th century, as there was not enough knowledge here about processing salt from the sea. Here, too, there is not enough sun for sun-drying salt, as is well known abroad. Therefore, salt had to be imported and salted fish processing became popular in Iceland, as access to salt increased. Exports of salted fish began around 1800 and Iceland soon became one of the largest producers of salted fish in the world, and it has since been one of our most important export products and for a long time well established Icelandic economy.
The consumption of salted fish is based on an old tradition and consumption is particularly high in Southern Europe and Latin America. Therefore, salted fish processing is still an important part of catfish processing, despite the fact that modern technology offers other storage methods such as cooling or freezing. The reason for this is the special taste characteristics that salted fish has and is formed by its action where the smell, appearance and texture change.
Salted fish have a high shelf life and are mainly based on the fact that the salt reduces the proportion of water in the fish muscle, which prevents the growth of microorganisms. When processing salted fish, the key is to use high-quality food salt to ensure the quality of the product. Attempts have been made in Iceland to process salt domestically, and a recent study was carried out here at Matís in collaboration with the company Agnir ehf. and Keilir Energy and Technology School, which aimed to use the geothermal sea in Reykjanes to produce salt, which could be used in salted fish production, among other things. The project was funded by the AVS Fisheries Research Fund and the Icelandic Technology Development Fund. A method was developed to produce salt with geothermal energy in Reykjanes. This production method is well suited for controlling the chemical composition of the salt, which is particularly important to ensure the correct effect. The salt extracted from the geothermal sea was compared with imported salt from the Mediterranean in the production of salted cod fillets. The results showed that higher utilization was obtained in the salted fish processing with salt extracted from the geothermal sea, and that the processing took less time as the uptake of salt into the cod muscle was higher compared to the imported salt. Salt extracted from the geothermal sea was therefore completely comparable in quality to imported salt. It is true once again that here in Iceland we have unique natural resources that we can use in a sustainable way, their purity and quality also make these products perfectly competitive and sought after.