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From Africa to the Arctic Siglunes Restaurant in North Iceland offers a taste of Morocco.
TEXT: Eyglo Svala Arnarsdottir PHOTOS: Gunnar Freyr Gunnarsson
The road leads through the mountain. On the northernmost tip of Trolla skagi peninsula the town of Siglufjordur nestles between steep slopes and the shore. Tourists who come to this remote place have increased in past years. They come for the ski resort, untamed nature and rich history of the former herring boom town. Now, Siglufjordur has a new and surprising attraction: an authentic Moroccan restaurant at Siglunes Guesthouse. It’s the height of summer but the weather is gloomy and there are few
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people around. Yet it feels like the Mediterranean sun breaks through the clouds when I shake hands with Jaouad Hbib, the restaurant’s master chef. His kitchen has a scent of exotic spices. “A kitchen without spices is like a man without love,” Jaouad declares. Spicing food is a treasured skill in his family. I enjoy the house red – the wines are specifically selected and imported from Spain – as I chat with Siglunes’s owner, Halfdan Sveinsson, about how a North African chef ended up
just south of the Arctic Circle. “I’m a ‘gourmet’ guy and track down the best restaurants when I’m travelling.” At La Fromagerie in Essasouira he found the best food in Morocco and promptly made Jaouad, who was head chef, an offer to come work for him. The building which facilitates Siglunes Guesthouse and Restaurant was constructed as a hotel in 1934 and has been known by many names; one of the original ones was Siglunes. A lot of the furniture was donated by townspeople; the vintage sofa in the lounge was made across the street.
