“The idea came to me as early as 1984, while I was working in a bakery in Húsavík.” Elsa said, while her fingers kept on wrapping and boxing little chocolates, laying on her working table. Even while talking, each chocolate is wrapped with a care and elegance that can only come from endless practice. “But I really started in 2011, first in Ísafjörður, before I moved to Súðavík 2 years after”, she continues. “I was very passionate of bringing the icelandic herbs and fruits, together with chocolate. No one was doing that in those days. I believed it would be both interesting and daring to offer the taste of the icelandic land in the form of chocolates. That is why I started collecting herbs and berries by hand, close to where I live, to test out the creations that already were formed in my mind”

While Elsa told me about all the different combinations she tried out, she showed me around her workplace adjacent to her home, putting samples of her creations on the table. Her eyes twinkled when she talked about why and how certain chocolates came to be. “I never even contacted anyone to sell my chocolate, all people came to me, asking whether they could.” Elsa told me. I smiled when listening to her, thinking it must be a sign of the land, approving to be used in such a passionate and loving way.

“One time,” Elsa continued, “I got a phone call from the Blue Lagoon, asking for 2100 little white chocolates. I made them in 3 days, so now my fingers can never forget the movements anymore!” She laughed when showing me the tiny white truffles, inside an incredible creamy filling, with on top a swirling circular curl. But I sure could understand why the Blue Lagoon want so many, after tasting them. We finished our cup of coffee, while Elsa talked about the lands and the mountain behind her home.

I left this wonderful woman with my head full of a story, about a mountain and a woman with a seed of chocolate, cultivated deep inside her mind and heart.