meemalee

Much as I love Iceland when I visit earlier this year, it's responsible for the single most disgusting eating experience I've had in my life. And no, I'm not talking about that sheep's face . I've heard about hákarl , or to give it its proper name, kæstur hákarl (Icelandic for "fermented shark"), as being an unmissable and unique part of Icelandic cuisine, so on my arrival in Reykjavik, I'm determined to track some down. Like svið, hákarl is traditionally served as part of a þorramatur , the Icelandic banquet served at the midwinter festival þorrablót . Luckily for me however, it's available in Icelandic supermarkets throughout the year. In fact I find a packet of rotten shark in a freezer store (Iceland's Iceland) and nearly buy some to take back home, but then realise it might be considered a bit anti-social on the plane. Made from a type of shark which is actually poisonous when fresh due to a high content of uric acid and trimethylamine ox...

So I went to Iceland. And despite my misgivings (mainly concerning the ash-cloud ) I really, truly loved it. One of the things I loved was their attitude to food which is totally in keeping with my own philosophy - if it moves, we can eat it and, what's more, we should eat every last bit of it. With this in mind, I'd done my research and discovered that a particular Icelandic speciality is svið . Svið, dear reader, is singed sheep's face or head. Traditionally, a whole sheep's head is singed to burn off all the hairs, boiled, de-brained ( thank God ), and then sliced in half before being served. You're drooling at the thought, aren't you? Apart from at Þorrablót , the mid-winter festival, the only place in Reykjavik to serve this traditional beauty is a cafe called Fljótt og Gott , which is set within the BSI Bus Terminal on the outskirts of town, and is ruddy difficult to get to by foot, but worth nearly getting run over for. So it was the third day of our tr...