No, those are not sugarcubes but the „tourist“ version of shark meat bits. Along with the rather horrible Brennivin drink. PIC simon
L ittle matter what kind of Iceland guide you leaf through either on-line or real-line, they all waste space telling you about the custom of eating rotten shark meat and the horrible local liquor the people of Iceland consume. Quite a number even suggest this is a must-try in Iceland.
Let us get a couple of things straight. A) This is not a custom at all nowadays and B) it is not a must-try at all.
True enough, you might find a few very old gentlemen in some smaller places in the country that actually chew shark meat on a regular basis. In fact, you will know long before you meet them because the stink of rotten shark meat travels far and wide and spares no one. And we have not even begun on the taste which 95 per cent find absolutely revolting. Why do you think everyone downs shark meat with the strongest possible brew you can find in the country? To kill the taste pure and simple.
Taste is hard to describe as you know but a good try would be to say that fermented, the kinder word for rotten, shark tastes like old mushy scallop downed in a bucket of ammonia. Only worse.
The only good thing about eating shark meat we can think of is the privacy you suddenly get if you feel the need to burp soon after wolfing down a few pieces. Who does not like some privacy?
However, there is a midwinter festival here in Iceland called Þorrablót, Thorrablot, dedicated to the pagan gods of the past. This festival, although a festival is perhaps a tiny bit too strong a word, is pretty much a one night affair for the interested which almost entirely consist of people over the age of 50.
It is on this occasion, usually interested individuals might go to one or two such Thorrablot a year, that the rotten shark meat is one of the „delicacies“ on offer. Even here the majority of peoples shun the shark and understandably so, since the putrid smell is not the thing when you are mingling in crowds.
And no, no one will be impressed if you tell everyone you ate rotten shark in Iceland…
