Something Is Rotten In The State Of Iceland
Posted by Ross Rosenberg
While Americans continue to gorge themselves on retched, processed food chock full of a plethora of chemical preservatives and engineered flavors, the rest of the world is making their food taste awful the natural way. Take for example this traditional, Icelandic delicacy: rotten Greenland shark.
The sharks are full of urea and other chemicals which, in the shark, act as antifreeze but when digested by other animals are converted into neurotoxins, making the meat unfit for human consumption unless you know how to prepare it. This can be done by thorough and repeated boiling or, more traditionally, by letting the meat rot and the toxins ooze out of the fetid flesh. The cured meat has, apparently and unsurprisingly, the taste and smell of urine.
Rare Foods - Rotten Shark [YouTube] : Cynical-C
Categories: Meat, Animals, Gastronomy, Food
Posted at 10:42 am on January 9, 2008
4 Comments -
I present as evidence a youtube clip of James May from Top Gear eating this incredible dish. The clip is a bit long, but totally worth it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKEPPw5Jd2M
Comment by Vinnchan — January 9, 2008 @ 1:19 pm
You know, lutefisk and fugu are both starting to look really good in comparison.
Comment by Robert — January 9, 2008 @ 2:16 pm
I don’t know about that particular species of shark, but meat from the sharks from the Gulf of Mexico are edible after soaking in buttermilk for 24 to 48 hours.
But if you’re the one having to do it, you still won’t eat it because the horrible smell lingers in your memory long after it’s been cooked.
Comment by Katie — January 9, 2008 @ 6:28 pm
I can honestly say that Icelandic food is the worst cuisine on earth.
http://www.thechumslick.com/index.php/2007/08/24/iceland_suspends_its_commerical_whaling_
It is Viking food. Everything is cured and smoked for long sea voyages.
Comment by Sharky — January 10, 2008 @ 6:48 pm