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Something Completely Different: Ian Tries Hákarl; Icelandic Fermented Shark (Ad-free)
🕑 Added 2022-10-13 12:00:05 +0000 UTCOn my recent trip to Finland for Finnish Brutality, I spent a few days first in Iceland, with my friend Dr. Jackson Crawford (https://www.youtube.com/c/JacksonCrawford/). Some Icelandic gun videos are coming, but we also took a moment to try out one uniquely Icelandic foods, most notably hákarl (pronounced "how-cath"). This is arctic shark buried and fermented for several months, and it has a reputation for being remarkably disgusting. We also tried harðfiskur (essentially fish jerky) and taðreyktur silungur (dung-smoked trout). Some of it was good, some was...less good, but it was all an interesting look into the diet of the Norse settlers on a pretty barren island 1200 years ago.
If you are interested in Norse language, history, and mythology, definitely check out Jackson's channel!
Comments
Bruce Brodnax
I wonder if soaking it in vinegar would neutralize the latent ammonia & end up being palatable?
Robert Rowe
Yeah, no. ---------- I also remember a case where a Swede in Gothenburg opened a tin in his apartment block, which caused the whole apartment block to be evacuated because someone smelt the fish and thought there was a gas leak! Indeed, according to a Japanese study, a newly opened can of surströmming has one of the most putrid food smells in the world! I don't know how they measured this, but I can easily believe the result. https://www.swedishfood.com/fermented-herring
Mick Gillen
Not tried hákarl but have had radfisk in Norway, same principle (same peoples originally). Will I try it again, ah, no......
Risto Alanko
Great stuff! ... the scenery and all other stuff, except the shark!
Guido Schriewer
noticed that. I ordered fish jerky once. stinks but taste good actually. that they didn't plat new trees on island...
Forgotten Weapons
He's a native; he actually likes it.
Robert Rowe
Before we introduced them to flour, sugar, whiskey and rifles, the Inuit would bury all the heads and guts from the salmon they caught & dried in a big cache with enough large rocks over it to keep out wolverine, fox and sled dogs. I imagine this material fermented! Then in starvation seasons, they could dig it up and EAT IT. It was a bit more nutritious than boiling and eating their skin clothing, another "food" source in the worst times. The author who informed me of this said her mother referred to the "fermented" salmon detritus as "the food that is called rotten": https://read.amazon.com/sample/B004P5NR10?f=2&l=en_US&rid=WFPPXE04KFHF9NWYT225&sid=144-2813617-4476764&cid=A39NJMOJTX1THZ&ref_=litb_m
EyeBall
I have heard of rancid shark, but not about the ammonia in the tissues. Thanks for taking one for the team.
Guido Schriewer
come on guys! your guide eats half of it alone...
Forgotten Weapons
No.
You’re a braver man than I, Ian. My father-in-law still tells stories of using hákarl as a hazing food when he was stationed at Keflavik.
Almeida
I've had my fair share of shark meat, normally fillets of muscle, once fresh on the boat. Tropical fresh shark meat taste like tough fish meat dipped in ammonia
moosemaimer
Do Surströmming next
