Today we’re travelling north, all the way to Iceland. It’s a long way to travel. We are going to review a unique food which you will find nowhere else on Earth. What reasons could there be for no other person wanting to eat this unusual Icelandic dish?
Iceland can be found in the North Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote island with a population of 323,000. Its winters are long, dark and freezing cold, and people have been living there since the ninth century. Finding food was always a challenge. Fresh fish had been a constant source of food, but the sea was often frozen over. Fishermen caught large Greenland sharks, but the meat from this shark was poisonous. Poisonous chemicals inside the shark allowed it to swim in the freezing water.
What could the fishermen do? Over time, they discovered that if they cut off the shark’s head, cut out its intestines, then buried it in the ground for 12 weeks, the poisonous chemicals flowed out of the shark. It could then be cut into long pieces and hung up to dry for six months. The meat turned dark brown. When cut open, there were layers of white edible shark meat.
They called it Hákarl, which means ‘treated shark.’ It looked delicious and was full of protein. For hundreds of years it was the only food that could be kept and eaten throughout Iceland’s long winters.
Whilst the shark meat may look delicious, it tastes and smells disgusting. Even the well-travelled TV chef, Anthony Bourdain described Hákarl as a “disgusting and terrible thing.” It has a strong smell of ammonia, a chemical used in most cleaning fluids. People say that when it is eaten it has a sweet taste, but the taste does not go away for a very long time. In fairness, Hákarl’s smell is much worse than its taste.
Today, Hákarl is only eaten at festival times to celebrate Iceland’s history. Many Icelanders quietly admit that they do not really like it. In fact, it used to be very difficult to find Hákarl in any food shops or restaurants in Iceland for most of the year.
However, as more TV shows featured Hákarl, this traditional food can now be purchased in most supermarkets in Iceland, and even in the local 7/11.
It’s not everyone’s idea of good eating, but it is interesting to see the efforts people made to ensure there was food for everyone throughout the winter – however horrible it may have tasted.
Watch how Hákarl is prepared:
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