The Mystique of Lutefisk, a Christmas tradition, from John Louis Anderson's "Scandinavian Humor & Other Myths"
"Every nation has at least one inedible national dish that its people cherish with perverse sentimentality. ... Undoubtably developed during a period of cruel famine, lutefisk is codfish dried on racks in the icy Nordic air, and then soaked in lye... . While it's understandable that our poor, starving ancestors ate lutefisk to stay alive throughout the long, hungry Nordic winters, it's a cruel mystery why the emigrants brought it with them... .
"With up to half the population of various Scandinavian countries emigrating to America, the Pan-Nordic Lutefisk Lobby recognized that there were unlimited profits to be made... . They were well aware that there were no codfish fleets plying the waters of South Dakota. ... What the emigrants wanted was a reminder of how terrible conditions were back home. The Lobby ... set out to stir up a false sense of nostalgia for Lutefisk. After the nostalgia for eating lutefisk started losing its grip, the Lutefisk Lobby began a new campaign stressing the macho aspects of eating something so disagreeable. Eventually ... the whole campaign just fell apart when the makers of a Tuna Hot Dish mix put up posters depicting a Christmas feast disrupted by nausea after the Lutefisk was passed around.
"Now lutefisk is making another comeback. ... We have forgotten our grandfathers' stories of biting into a chunk of unwashed lye during Christmas dinner. We are lulled by the claims of the New Lutefisk Lobby (Neo-Lutefiskians as they are known) that lye is no longer used in the manufacture of lutefisk... . Lutefisk's qualities are hard to describe in mere words. At least in decent words. It's surprising the word 'lutefisk' hasn't become an expletive itself, considering how often one reverts to vulgar and base language to describe the experience of eating it. ... It's time we stopped thinking of this dangerous substance as a test of our courage, or a public proof of what ordeals we will endure to prove our membership in the Scandinavian/American gang."
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... Hákarl
Hákarl (short for kæstur hákarl [ˈkʰaistʏr ˈhauːˌkʰa(r)tl̥]), referred to as fermented shark in English, is a national dish of Iceland consisting of Greenland shark or other sleeper shark that has been cured with a particular fermentation process and hung to dry for four to five months.[1] It has a strong ammonia-rich smell and fishy taste, making hákarl an acquired taste.[2]
Fermented shark is readily available in Icelandic stores and may be eaten year-round, but is most often served as part of a Þorramatur, a selection of traditional Icelandic food served at the midwinter festival þorrablót. The consumption, hunting, and bycatch of Greenlandic sharks has been criticized for its unsustainability, as the species takes 150 years to reach sexual maturity, with some individuals living up to 400 years.[3]
Consumption
Fermented shark in a store
Fermented shark contains a large amount of ammonia and has a strong smell, similar to that of many cleaning products. It is often served in tiny cubes on toothpicks. Those new to it may gag involuntarily at the first attempt to eat it because of the high ammonia content.[2] First-timers are sometimes advised to pinch their nose while taking the first bite, as the odor is much stronger than the taste. It is often eaten with a shot of the local spirit, a type of akvavit called brennivín.[4]
Hákarl comes in two varieties: chewy and reddish glerhákarl ([ˈklɛːrˌhauːˌkʰa(r)tl̥], lit. "glassy shark"
from the belly, and white and soft skyrhákarl ([ˈskɪːr-], lit. "skyr shark" from the body.
Preparation
The meat of the Greenland shark is poisonous when fresh because of its high urea and trimethylamine oxide content. However, when properly processed, it may be consumed safely.[4][5]
The traditional method begins with gutting and beheading a shark and placing it in a shallow hole dug in gravelly sand, with the cleaned cavity resting on a small mound of sand. The shark is then covered with sand and gravel, and stones are placed on top of the sand in order to press the fluids out of the body. The shark ferments in this fashion for six to twelve weeks, depending on the season. Following this curing period, the shark is cut into strips and hung to dry for several months. During this drying period, a brown crust will develop, which is removed prior to cutting the shark into small pieces and serving. The traditional preparation process may be observed at Bjarnarhöfn Shark Museum on Snæfellsnes.[6]
The modern method is simply to press the shark's meat in a large plastic container, into which drain holes have been cut.[7]
Chef Anthony Bourdain described fermented shark as "the single worst, most disgusting and terrible tasting thing" he had ever eaten.[2]
Chef Gordon Ramsay challenged James May to sample three "delicacies" (Laotian snake whiskey, bull penis, and fermented shark) on The F Word. After eating the fermented shark, Ramsay immediately vomited into a bucket tableside, but May was able to keep his down and even offered to eat it again.[8]
On an Iceland-themed season-2 episode of Travel Channel's Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern, Andrew Zimmern described the smell as reminding him of "some of the most horrific things I've ever breathed in my life", but said that the dish tasted much better than it smelled. He described the taste as "sweet, nutty and only faintly fishy". Nonetheless, he did note of fermented shark: "That's hardcore. That's serious food. You don't want to mess with that. That's not for beginners".[9]
On a 2015 episode of Travel Man, Jessica Hynes and Richard Ayoade visited a Reykjavík restaurant and described the taste of hákarl as "awful", "like a jellied cube of ammonia", albeit "technically edible".[10]
On a season-5 final episode of Animal Planet's River Monsters, biologist and angler Jeremy Wade mentioned that the flesh "smells of urine" that has "a really strong aftertaste, it really kicks in. It really kicks in at the back of the throat after you take the first bite". He further stated that the meat was unlike anything that he had tried before and that it was similar to a very strong cheese but with a definite fish element.[citation needed]
Archaeologist Neil Oliver tasted hákarl in the BBC documentary Vikings as part of his examination of the Viking diet. He described it as reminiscent of "blue cheese but a hundred times stronger".[citation needed]
In his series Ainsley Eats the Streets, chef Ainsley Harriott was unable to tolerate the heavy ammonia taste and described it as "like chewing a urine-infested mattress."
It's also eaten in Norway and Denmark.