Iceland, where wasabi grows

“Find the mistake” is what you want to shout when you read this headline. Wasabi, one of the most demanding plants of all, which is grown in Japan at a pleasant 20 degrees in the hills of the Izu peninsula, grows in the harsh climate of Iceland? The wasabi fields in Shizuoka are laid out in terraces so that the plant’s thirst can always be satisfied with fresh meltwater from Mount Fuji. Harvesting is laborious and the ripening period takes up to three years.

In 2015, right after graduating from university, two young engineers choose the capricious Japanese pungent to create Iceland’s first export vegetable. Nordic Wasabi’s business idea is an exciting start-up story and at the heart of it are: Iceland’s geothermal energy, the best drinking water, patient investors and a product that inspires chefs worldwide. We were there and spoke to the founder of Nordic Wasabi and Icelandic top chef Rúnar Pierre Heriveaux about real wasabi, the possibilities of high-tech greenhouses based on geothermal energy and the success of their product in top international gastronomy.

Geothermal energy for new food concepts

Thanks to the hot springs, strawberries, tomatoes and cucumbers have long been grown in greenhouses in Iceland. They are also labeled as local produce in the supermarket and are by far the cheapest vegetables available. In 2015, engineers Johann Hansen and Ragnar Tomasson founded the start-up Jurt Hydroponics . At the time, they were thinking beyond cucumber cultivation and wanted to use their country’s resources to produce Iceland’s first export vegetables. Geothermal energy and the best drinking water of volcanic origin are the two key factors for them to try something new. Their choice falls on a very capricious plant.

Green like the northern lights that dance across Iceland’s skies in the winter months, so is the freshly grated real wasabi that delights top chefs around the world. Wasabi has its home in Japan. There, the Japanese horseradish grows on terraced fields, with its roots on the Izu peninsula in the flowing meltwater of Mount Fuji. Harvesting is laborious and the ripening period takes up to three years. Hon wasabi, as the real wasabi is called, is a scarce commodity. It is expensive, even in Japan, does not keep for very long and is difficult to obtain in Europe. This makes wasabi the perfect vegetable for startup founders Johan and Ragnar. Nordic Wasabi is set to become a niche product for top gastronomy in Europe and the USA, where small production quantities promise a good profit margin.

In collaboration with the University of Reykjavik and in close cooperation with Japanese institutions, a variety for greenhouse conditions has been successfully bred from Japanese plants. Research and preparation take years. Investors have to be patient, because even in the greenhouse, a wasabi rhizome takes 1.5 years to harvest. Today, wasabi grows as far as the eye can see in the ultra-modern greenhouse in Egilstadir. The temperature here is a pleasant 20 degrees Celsius all year round, even during Iceland’s long, cold winter. Irrigation and lighting are controlled fully automatically from Reykjavik. Only the harvesting, pruning and packaging are done by hand.

The worldwide wasabi lie

In the vast majority of cases, anyone who thinks they know wasabi is being taken in by the wasabi lie. It is highly likely that the green dots served with sushi are a fake made from horseradish, mustard and food coloring. And what does real wasabi taste like? Its taste is often compared to that of horseradish. But wasabi is far more complex. Freshly grated wasabi initially has a fairly harmless sweet taste, but then the volatile mustard oil gases, which we also know from horseradish, form. These mustard oil gases rise into the nose and stimulate the pain receptors in the nasal mucous membranes. Although horseradish also produces volatile mustard oils, it lacks the fresh, grassy taste of wasabi. Wasabi is grated with a stainless steel grater or the traditional Oroshiki grater made from shark skin just before consumption. During a meeting with Nordic Wasabi founder Ragnar in Reykjavik, I try out Icelandic wasabi for myself.

The taste of wasabi

The freshly grated paste smells fresh and grassy. The first taste impression is slightly sweet and reminiscent of green banana, but then the spicy kick shoots up to the forehead region. Freshly grated, wasabi reaches its peak after five minutes. Ragnar Tomasson raves about how versatile wasabi is in the kitchen and that it can be combined with almost anything. He arranges a meeting with chef Rúnar Pierre Heriveaux from the restaurant Öx in Reykjavik. Öx only has 17 seats and you can book the Chef’s Table with up to 18 courses. In 2022, Öx was awarded a Michelin star for the first time and has successfully held the award ever since. Michelin-starred chef Heriveaux is a great fan of Icelandic produce. For him, it is a stroke of luck that a plant as aromatically complex as wasabi is now one of Iceland’s native products.

The Future of Food

Iceland has only 360,000 inhabitants. Many young Icelanders go abroad to study and return home with creative ideas on sustainability and resource conservation. New food concepts, such as Nordic Wasabi, are developed with a wealth of ideas or entire industries are rethought. Recently, the 100 Percent Fish project by Icelander Thor Sigfusson has caused an international stir. It is about nothing less than a contribution to combating hunger in the world. Currently, half of every fish is wasted during the production process. If fish and seafood were fully utilized, people’s protein supply could be increased enormously. Icelanders are committed to creating more value from every fish. Fish is not just a fillet, but the skin and bones are used to make food supplements, medical plasters, beauty products and even fashion or bags and lampshades. In Iceland, a recycling rate of 80 percent has now been achieved. White fish such as cod no longer end up in the garbage. New concepts are also being developed to combat marine pollution. Microplastics in the oceans originate to a large extent from fishing nets. At the Icelandic Ocean Cluster think tank in the port of Reykjavik, the vision of 100 Percent Fish also includes a modern fishing method in which the fish no longer go into nets but are caught with light.