On my flight to the Faroe Islands, I read in the Atlantic Airways magazine how many young Faroese chefs return from their vocational training on the continent with all kinds of knowledge about continental cooking, but, of course, with hardly any emphasis on their local cuisine.

While I was staying with a friend on the Faroes, she gave me two jars of Leverpostej and the following liver pâté recipe to take back to Germany.

Ingredients:

- two jars of liverwurst (one jar at 180 gr net weight)
- a topping of finely cut onions, mushrooms, bacon bits, and apples; sautéed in a pan
- a small bake-proof dish (about 20 cm in diameter)

before and…

Instruction:

- preheat oven to 170 C
- place liverwurst into the bake-proof dish
- add sautéed topping and put into the oven for 20 minutes
- serve with potatoes or bread

and now ready to eat

Thanks, Mariann, for sharing this wonderful recipe!

Before leaving for my trip to the Faroe Islands, I bought 700 Danish Kroner (DKK) from our local bank here in Oberursel/Germany.

On our way back to Germany, we had another four-hour layover in Copenhagen/Denmark and still some money leftover to spend.

At World of Delight, a fine food shop at the airport, I bought a bottle of Ice tea and tried to use one of the banknotes I had been given as change on the Faroes. The clerk refused to take it by telling me: “It is no longer good. Please go to the bank.”

Having more than enough spare time on my hands, I went to the bank and inquired about it. The bank clerk was very eager to take the note out of my hand… I actually had to pull the money out of his hands again. Anyway, up until then I had not realized that the Faroes have their own banknotes. Since it was only a 50 Faroese DKK banknote (about 7 Euro), I decided to keep it as a souvenir. Had the World of Delight sales clerk accepted it (which he was supposed to by law), I would have never realized the Faroese carry their own DKK banknote.

From banknotes.com I learnt one 50 Faroese DKK banknote – like the one I have – is being offered for sale at $ 25.–

In a way I wish for many people to see these islands, but I also would like to keep it safe from mass tourism.

In October a panel of 522 experts were asked by National Geographic to vote on which islands avoid the danger, which are succumbing to it, and which hang in balance.

The winner – totally unanticipated, at least by the Faroese population – were the Faroe islands.

If you want to know more about this gem in the sea, then visit my favorite Faroese website Framtak, which gives a comprehensive introduction to the Faroes (Faeroe Islands). It also serves as a useful resource for tourists, schools, businesses and individuals. It offers translation services, weather reports, shopping, and all kinds of other information like the following quiz:

What do you know about the Faroes?

I am happy to report I scored 100%!

How well did you do?

As my trip to the Faroes is only five days away, I am beginning to make a mental list of things to take. I have bought my souvenirs, got my ticket printed out, and of course consider my rain jacket to be the most valuable piece of clothing.

Check here for the weather update

Well, then I realized I had left my husband’s old rain jacket at a friend’s house on my last trip to Japan, so I asked my husband if I could borrow his. Then he confessed he had left his in Paris at his brother’s house, where he stayed for a few days while I was in Japan.

By now you might think we are globetrotters, which we aren’t. I had not been to Japan in 13 years after having spent the best three years of my life there (1992 – 1995) and my husband only went to Paris to visit family….

Well, I will be daring and go to the Faroes without one – a fleece jacket and an umbrella will have to make do.

In late May I will travel to the Faroe Islands and since I have never been there before, I decided to ask my Faroese host and friend, Mariann, a few questions about life on the islands.

I had met Mariann in 1991 when we both lived in the United States of America. After that our ways separated as she moved back to the Faroes and I moved to Japan. We shared some good times together – mainly Happy Hour at the Westminster Inn – and developed a long-lasting friendship.

- So Mariann, after having been an Au pair in the U.SA., what made you decide to move to Denmark after another year on the Faroes?

I moved to Denmark to take part in a six-month travel agent course, which was not available on the islands.

- Do a lot of young Faroese do the same in regards to leaving the islands?

No, not a lot. Some go to Denmark for schooling and other forms of education. Some do come back, while others stay in Denmark.

- How long did you stay in Denmark before you decided to move back to the islands? What prompted you?

Like I had mentioned earlier, I moved back when my vocational training was done in Denmark.

- What kind of jobs do young people do on the islands?

Young people mostly work in retail and fish factories.

- Do you get many foreign tourists? Where do they come from?

We get more and more tourists, mainly from Germany. There are also others from Denmark, of course, and Norway. But mostly Germans, I think.

- What one piece of advice would you give the young ones fleeing the islands?

I would advise the young Faroese to get more education by going to Denmark, which will provide them with much better opportunities when they return.

- If you could change one thing about your working life…

Like most people, I would like to work fewer hours for more money!

- The thing you like most about life on the Faroes is…

There is more freedom for children and hardly any crime.

-When Faroese dream of moving away, what are popular destinations?

A very popular destination is, of course, Denmark, because we belong to it (autonomous province of the Kingdom of Denmark since 1948).

-Would you like to move to another country/island? If yes, where?

I guess I would move to Denmark or Sweden.

Thanks for your time, Mariann!

To all the readers: feel free to comment!