During my time in Iceland, I lived in a home stay for four weeks. During my time with my home stay family, I learend about diffent Icelandic cultures and traditions. One day my host mom told me about how she needed to make a big pach of kleinur (doughnuts) for a funeral. I asked if I could help her in any way. She said that yes, I could help her with the prearations for making the kleinur!
I tried kleinur, which is an Icelandic doughnut. Kleinur is a fried pastry and can be traced back to Danish and Icelandic cookbooks in the 18th century. This fried pastry is commonly made in Northern Europen countries and goes by diffent names, including klenät, klena, and kleinur. "Kleinur," as it is called in Iceland, and all of the alternative names for the pastry, all translate to mean "angel wings" in English.
When I took a bite out of the kleinur fresh out of the hot oil, I was grateful and proud. I was proud that I had made something that tasted so good and yet so new to me. I was grateful that my host mom took the time to teach me how to make this Icelandic sweet treat. I was happy that I took every critique that my host mom gave me during the process as loving guidance and not hurtful criticism.
