Kortlagning Bragðfanga A Token of Flavour

What constructs a terrain? What does it say about us as people or as a culture? What does it taste like? 

The microbiota of every place is unique. Microbes contribute to every aspect of our surroundings, such as the smell we sense and the fertility of the soil.  Throughout history we have utilized those microbes to change the flavour and texture of our foods, as well as helping us to keep our foods from spoiling. Parma ham or Lambic Beer from Belgium are examples of the number of foods that can only be made in a certain place since their flavour can only be achieved by the local microflora.  In this research project we travelled around the Snæfellsnes peninsula and collected microbes from 10 different locations. The microbes were then used for brewing beer with the purpose of capturing a snapshot of the local environment, resulting in different smells and tastes of the beers, like a photograph captures a moment of light in time. This experiment is meant to enlighten people of how diverse microbiological systems are from one place to another, and to draw attention to our surroundings, the diversity and potentials that lie within. As the project proceeds we hope we can create a database where we map the features of the microbes, considering time, place and environment, to the beer’s taste. With time we then hope to see some patterns emerge.

The project was a collaboration between Kjartan Óli Guðmundsson & Sveinn Steinar Benediktsson