I recently visited a remote uninhabited island that was difficult to access from the water. After hours of climbing up the cliff, I finally reached the top and was greeted with an 80M drop into the North Atlantic Ocean. The wind was blowing fiercely, but Ollie showed me how to stand on the edge of the cliff without falling off. He demonstrated how to hold onto his feet and balance under the wings of a puffin. It wasn't long before he released one of the birds, and I couldn't resist trying my luck.

I spent three hours on the cliff without catching a single puffin. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to return home with just a big cut on my nose. But Ollie's advice echoed in my mind: "Don't worry too much." As it turned out, he was right. After five hours of trying, I finally got the hang of it and caught not one, but two puffins. They were incredibly fast, and I was relieved to have finally managed to catch them.

The first puffin I caught was a good size, and Ollie showed me how to pluck its feathers without hurting it. We then moved on to the other side of the island, hoping that our luck would change. But unfortunately, we didn't catch anything else. I decided to set my third puffin free, figuring that we had already caught enough for the day.

Ollie took me to a different part of the island and showed me how to "breath" the birds. He demonstrated how to snap one's neck quickly and then put it in a special way. It was incredible to see him do this with such ease. I tried to imitate him, but it didn't come as naturally as he thought it would.

After watching Ollie breathe puffins, it was my turn to try. He encouraged me to give it a go, saying that I wouldn't be a chicken if I wanted to eat them. But I was hesitant at first, unsure of what to expect. Ollie reassured me that eating a puffin was no different from eating chicken or any other meat.

We returned to the main island, and Ollie showed me how to cook with puffins. He explained that they were extremely lean birds and needed special care when cooking them. We started by making a marinade using crushed juniper berries, salt, pepper, and olive oil. I then seasoned the puffin breast with the marinade and placed it on the barbecue.

While waiting for the puffin to cook, Ollie showed me how to make a salad using skia (Icelandic yogurt), cucumber, garlic, and mint. The cucumber salad was the perfect accompaniment to the puffing breast, as it helped balance out its richness. We also made cherry tomatoes with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, which added a delicious flavor to the dish.

Once the puffin was cooked, we took turns admiring its perfection. I marinated it in the same way that Ollie had done, using the special bread that he had cooked at his house. The result was absolutely divine – the flavors were unique and mouthwatering.

Finally, it was time to put our skills to the test. We invited some Viking friends over for dinner, and I was eager to show off my new skill with puffins. One of them asked if they had ever eaten a rare puffin before, and I explained that this was their first taste. To my surprise, he said it tasted much better than he expected. The verdict was unanimous – the flavor of puffin was unique and delicious.

With our guests impressed, we decided to make it official. Ollie was now teaching me how to catch and cook puffins like a pro, and I was excited to take him up on his offer. We had a real competition brewing, with the goal of catching more puffins than each other in future visits. It was going to be a fun and exciting adventure, and I couldn't wait to see what the future held for us both.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enIceland is a stunning volcanic Melting Pot on the edge of the Arctic Circle it has some of the most extraordinary and beautiful landscapes known to man and a unique food world to match this place is home to rotten shark whale meat and something I've always wanted to try puffing here they have a puffing Feast on the menu I'm intrigued to see what it delivers in terms of texture and flavor and more importantly I'm done TR to find out what it actually tastes like I'm sampling a starter of fresh salad with smoked puffing thank you and where's the puffing D it's all over here oh dark bits see it's hiding in the bushes again yes it is see where is it thank you never tasted anything like it before I actually quite like it it's very creamy slightly gy a little bit salty but quite intriguing cuz it's very smooth on the pette and obviously a nightmare to catch because there's hardly any on my plate puffing is such an amazing new ingredient I'm Keen to grill the local chefs about it fascinating for me my first time eating puffing very dark yeah very dark Rich bird and it smells a little bit like liver it's quite quite quite dark like lump liver dark beats little bit like game like you said yeah and yeah really rich flavor I enjoyed it I'm intrigued by it thank you having tasted puffing for the first time I want to find out where they come from and learn the age old way of hunting them so I'm moving further south I've seen some airports in my time but this is taking the piss I'm heading to the Westman Islands 10 mil off Iceland's South Coast there are more Atlantic puffing on these remote Islands than anywhere else in the world the birds are a traditional food hunted for Centuries by locals like ol Ollie how are you there how there going good to see you welcome to West mland thank you now you look like a little Puffin bulky sturdy yeah full of stamina can you fly not really but uh I'm always hoping to so You' eat a lot of puffing in the UK yeah everyone right now will be thinking oh my God they're cute they're beautiful got lovely beaks we've got them as teddy bears for the kids why in the hell are you eating them well to begin with there are lot of them around here the are four or five million puffins so they're in abundance the traditional food in Westman islands are the puffins especially smoked puffins so it goes back centuries ago in terms of a staple food supply that the island survived on yeah yeah and uh just tastes very good the method oler uses to catch them is hundreds of years old what is that thing it's called how how how how yeah well it's close enough okay let's just call it a pole V with a net on the end okay you can call it whatever you like I call it Howard there are no puffing on this open part of the Island so it's perfect for practicing Sky fishing I would wait for the Puffin flying this way slowly after the and turn and then they will fly into the net take the puffing out and break the net can a little go the bird is flying that direction follow follow follow follow back why can't we just get a gun and shoot them this is more of a sport yeah but I shoot them you catch them in the a yeah as they fall out the car the official hunting season doesn't start until tomorrow which gives me plenty of time to perfect my swing got him yeah okay okay got it got it I've got it and cook another part of my Puffin menu a traditional Icelandic bread right I'm going to make a really nice rustic bread to go with the puffins for tomorrow I'm adding yeast to Ry flour H milal flour salt and sugar little well in the center add the milk in three stages need the dough until firm and that's what we're looking for that really nice smooth beautiful rustic dough into the tin I'm finishing the bread with blow dug a traditional Icelandic flour when you rub them together it releases amazing oil it's a sort of cross between lavender and rosemary as that cooks it's going to perfume the bread smells amazing lid on now I'm going to bake that bread in the biggest oven I've ever seen in my entire life this this is Mount ell a volcano that erupted and changed the face of the islands just 35 years ago with a crater still hot enough to bake a loaf so this is the oven and the deeper you go yep the hotter it is yes honestly I mean that is absolutely incredible huh the heat yeah feel how hot that is yeah I know it's extraordinary how long in the oven 12 hours 12 hours yeah only the Vikings will think about digging deep under a volcanic rock hard work being a baker yeah but I mean how don't I put the work in especially not paying for the gas the bread will bake overnight and tomorrow the official puffing hunting season on the Westman Islands will begin it's the first day of the season and to catch them we're heading even further field to one of Ole's best hunting spots so where are we going to hunt the puffins uh it's on the other side of the the island yeah in the middle no not in the middle On The Edge on the edge yeah what you mean like that c like this oh Ollie you're mad this is e a one of the westman's 14 uninhabited islands it was difficult to access from the water and having clambered to the top for an hour I couldn't quite believe where I ended up we're perched on the edge of a cliff with an 80 M drop into the North Atlantic Ocean I'm myself relax be part of the nature the puffins Circle The Edge catching the wind and it didn't take long for Ollie to show me exactly how it's done yep yeah ah that was quick yep you hold it like this hold it like there y under the wings yes under the wings the first one of the season is released ready Beautiful You one lucky little ah right my nose it likes your nose dis slic my nose you little bastard ready yeah and go that's the last time I'm kissing a puffing stop around we're on the side of a cliff huh at 250 ft this wasn't going to be easy very close very close I'm just worried about standing up on the side of this well you shouldn't worry too much no forget that forget that Ollie made Sky fishing look easy but I spent three hours on the cliff without catching a thing little far there's no way on Earth I can go home with a big cut on my nose and no puffins trust me it's a lot more difficult than I thought it would be moving to the other side of the island we were hoping our luck might change yo no no that's okay right you are I was not letting that one go okay no chance you got one you w starve Jesus Christ almighty H it had taken 5 hours but I'd finally got the hang of it Jesus fantastic that was high that one that's good very good puffing number two we could have gone on catching for hours but I only needed a couple of puffins to cook with so I decided to set my third one free I'm going to let this one go you know that first day of the Season you got two I got two yeah that's a good number that's a good number let's go back on the main island olle showed me the best way to De breath the birds just break one like Snap and break right and then put it like this okay he ready to do that's incredible and here you have the heart the heart yeah yeah you want one would you eat that yeah Iceland's very own handable lectar then it was my turn oh you have a heart as well Ollie come on come on don't be a chicken it's a puffin you're bitten by one and then you can eat it doesn't take I can't believe you just made meat that hard right Hannibal let me show you how to cook them properly you stay here I look forward to thank you unbelievable the volcanic bread I made yesterday turned out to be a big hit with the locals because overnight it got nicked but it was the puffing I was here for and I couldn't wait to cook with it marinated puffing breast in Brenan take the breath off the bone just a tad larger than a pigeon breast but 100 times tastier I'm making a marinade for the puffing with crushed juniper berries salt pepper and olive oil 2/3 olive oil and 1/3 bovan Brenan is a local lur like a a schnaps m lovely and then puffing straight into the marinade whilst the puffing marinades I'm making a salad with skia an Icelandic yogurt cucumber garlic and mint the nice thing about this cucumber salad it holds down the richness of the puffing just slice through the breast get your Rosemary twig push it through and the nice thing about that as it Cooks It perfumes inside that puffing breast it's a very lean bird so I don't want this thing to dry out for the barbecue cherry tomatoes on the vine drench with olive oil and Bal mil vinegar and now for the puffing straight on the barbecue lovely literally 1 minute each side and once I barbecue them they're going back in the marinade nice bread now unfortunately our bread got Nick last night so this is one Ollie cooked at his house the tomatoes just sat on the bread ski cucumber salad and then this our puffing breast just pull out the Rosemary wow that is delicious and that is our perfect puffing fit for any Viking 's invited his sons down to see if my puffing passes the test I'm dying to see what you think in terms of flavor have you ever eaten it that rare no this tastes much better than I ever expected really yeah good man for me the flavor of puffing is unique I love it and here's the good news yeah now I've got my license I'm coming back you got your license yes then we have a real competition one more yeah take care for L when you're ready wa what was the factIceland is a stunning volcanic Melting Pot on the edge of the Arctic Circle it has some of the most extraordinary and beautiful landscapes known to man and a unique food world to match this place is home to rotten shark whale meat and something I've always wanted to try puffing here they have a puffing Feast on the menu I'm intrigued to see what it delivers in terms of texture and flavor and more importantly I'm done TR to find out what it actually tastes like I'm sampling a starter of fresh salad with smoked puffing thank you and where's the puffing D it's all over here oh dark bits see it's hiding in the bushes again yes it is see where is it thank you never tasted anything like it before I actually quite like it it's very creamy slightly gy a little bit salty but quite intriguing cuz it's very smooth on the pette and obviously a nightmare to catch because there's hardly any on my plate puffing is such an amazing new ingredient I'm Keen to grill the local chefs about it fascinating for me my first time eating puffing very dark yeah very dark Rich bird and it smells a little bit like liver it's quite quite quite dark like lump liver dark beats little bit like game like you said yeah and yeah really rich flavor I enjoyed it I'm intrigued by it thank you having tasted puffing for the first time I want to find out where they come from and learn the age old way of hunting them so I'm moving further south I've seen some airports in my time but this is taking the piss I'm heading to the Westman Islands 10 mil off Iceland's South Coast there are more Atlantic puffing on these remote Islands than anywhere else in the world the birds are a traditional food hunted for Centuries by locals like ol Ollie how are you there how there going good to see you welcome to West mland thank you now you look like a little Puffin bulky sturdy yeah full of stamina can you fly not really but uh I'm always hoping to so You' eat a lot of puffing in the UK yeah everyone right now will be thinking oh my God they're cute they're beautiful got lovely beaks we've got them as teddy bears for the kids why in the hell are you eating them well to begin with there are lot of them around here the are four or five million puffins so they're in abundance the traditional food in Westman islands are the puffins especially smoked puffins so it goes back centuries ago in terms of a staple food supply that the island survived on yeah yeah and uh just tastes very good the method oler uses to catch them is hundreds of years old what is that thing it's called how how how how yeah well it's close enough okay let's just call it a pole V with a net on the end okay you can call it whatever you like I call it Howard there are no puffing on this open part of the Island so it's perfect for practicing Sky fishing I would wait for the Puffin flying this way slowly after the and turn and then they will fly into the net take the puffing out and break the net can a little go the bird is flying that direction follow follow follow follow back why can't we just get a gun and shoot them this is more of a sport yeah but I shoot them you catch them in the a yeah as they fall out the car the official hunting season doesn't start until tomorrow which gives me plenty of time to perfect my swing got him yeah okay okay got it got it I've got it and cook another part of my Puffin menu a traditional Icelandic bread right I'm going to make a really nice rustic bread to go with the puffins for tomorrow I'm adding yeast to Ry flour H milal flour salt and sugar little well in the center add the milk in three stages need the dough until firm and that's what we're looking for that really nice smooth beautiful rustic dough into the tin I'm finishing the bread with blow dug a traditional Icelandic flour when you rub them together it releases amazing oil it's a sort of cross between lavender and rosemary as that cooks it's going to perfume the bread smells amazing lid on now I'm going to bake that bread in the biggest oven I've ever seen in my entire life this this is Mount ell a volcano that erupted and changed the face of the islands just 35 years ago with a crater still hot enough to bake a loaf so this is the oven and the deeper you go yep the hotter it is yes honestly I mean that is absolutely incredible huh the heat yeah feel how hot that is yeah I know it's extraordinary how long in the oven 12 hours 12 hours yeah only the Vikings will think about digging deep under a volcanic rock hard work being a baker yeah but I mean how don't I put the work in especially not paying for the gas the bread will bake overnight and tomorrow the official puffing hunting season on the Westman Islands will begin it's the first day of the season and to catch them we're heading even further field to one of Ole's best hunting spots so where are we going to hunt the puffins uh it's on the other side of the the island yeah in the middle no not in the middle On The Edge on the edge yeah what you mean like that c like this oh Ollie you're mad this is e a one of the westman's 14 uninhabited islands it was difficult to access from the water and having clambered to the top for an hour I couldn't quite believe where I ended up we're perched on the edge of a cliff with an 80 M drop into the North Atlantic Ocean I'm myself relax be part of the nature the puffins Circle The Edge catching the wind and it didn't take long for Ollie to show me exactly how it's done yep yeah ah that was quick yep you hold it like this hold it like there y under the wings yes under the wings the first one of the season is released ready Beautiful You one lucky little ah right my nose it likes your nose dis slic my nose you little bastard ready yeah and go that's the last time I'm kissing a puffing stop around we're on the side of a cliff huh at 250 ft this wasn't going to be easy very close very close I'm just worried about standing up on the side of this well you shouldn't worry too much no forget that forget that Ollie made Sky fishing look easy but I spent three hours on the cliff without catching a thing little far there's no way on Earth I can go home with a big cut on my nose and no puffins trust me it's a lot more difficult than I thought it would be moving to the other side of the island we were hoping our luck might change yo no no that's okay right you are I was not letting that one go okay no chance you got one you w starve Jesus Christ almighty H it had taken 5 hours but I'd finally got the hang of it Jesus fantastic that was high that one that's good very good puffing number two we could have gone on catching for hours but I only needed a couple of puffins to cook with so I decided to set my third one free I'm going to let this one go you know that first day of the Season you got two I got two yeah that's a good number that's a good number let's go back on the main island olle showed me the best way to De breath the birds just break one like Snap and break right and then put it like this okay he ready to do that's incredible and here you have the heart the heart yeah yeah you want one would you eat that yeah Iceland's very own handable lectar then it was my turn oh you have a heart as well Ollie come on come on don't be a chicken it's a puffin you're bitten by one and then you can eat it doesn't take I can't believe you just made meat that hard right Hannibal let me show you how to cook them properly you stay here I look forward to thank you unbelievable the volcanic bread I made yesterday turned out to be a big hit with the locals because overnight it got nicked but it was the puffing I was here for and I couldn't wait to cook with it marinated puffing breast in Brenan take the breath off the bone just a tad larger than a pigeon breast but 100 times tastier I'm making a marinade for the puffing with crushed juniper berries salt pepper and olive oil 2/3 olive oil and 1/3 bovan Brenan is a local lur like a a schnaps m lovely and then puffing straight into the marinade whilst the puffing marinades I'm making a salad with skia an Icelandic yogurt cucumber garlic and mint the nice thing about this cucumber salad it holds down the richness of the puffing just slice through the breast get your Rosemary twig push it through and the nice thing about that as it Cooks It perfumes inside that puffing breast it's a very lean bird so I don't want this thing to dry out for the barbecue cherry tomatoes on the vine drench with olive oil and Bal mil vinegar and now for the puffing straight on the barbecue lovely literally 1 minute each side and once I barbecue them they're going back in the marinade nice bread now unfortunately our bread got Nick last night so this is one Ollie cooked at his house the tomatoes just sat on the bread ski cucumber salad and then this our puffing breast just pull out the Rosemary wow that is delicious and that is our perfect puffing fit for any Viking 's invited his sons down to see if my puffing passes the test I'm dying to see what you think in terms of flavor have you ever eaten it that rare no this tastes much better than I ever expected really yeah good man for me the flavor of puffing is unique I love it and here's the good news yeah now I've got my license I'm coming back you got your license yes then we have a real competition one more yeah take care for L when you're ready wa what was the fact\n"