Hakarl.

Ug. I think my brain repressed this for a few days, but this past weekend, I just remembered I tried 'hakarl' for the first time. This was, without question, the most vile substance I've ever put in my body. It makes eating a block of cheese seem appetizing to me. That should speak volumes. Anyhow, for those not in the know, Hakarl (pronounced 'how-karl'), is fermented Greenlandic shark. Why fermented? Well, shark meat is poisonous to humans when it's fresh.

So, some Viking must have buried the shark for awhile, and come back, hoping for better things. It's fermented in piss-coloured by-product from making Skyr. Then buried under ground, until you've run out of food, and have to turn to this disgusting substance. The guys on my team told me that historically, 'February' was a popular time to eat it, as the winter supply of food might be running low by then.

Nowadays, it survives as a food, though I don't know how. Tourists buy some, but so do some Icelanders.

I was given a chunk by a guy who bought some at the farmer's market, and wanted to share it with the rest of the hockey contingent. I gagged four times trying to get it down, and in the end, I'm not sure what I swallowed, but I snuck part of it into a back pocket, because it was making me retch. He gave me a shot of whiskey afterwards, which was helpful, but I still had tears in my eyes.

This is what it looks like.

This food is so bad, that I had a single cube, and could still smell it on my fingers three days later. Guys in the truck could smell it on the way home. Just thinking of it makes me gag.

I'd rather eat another Icelandic traditional food, pickled ram's testicles, than this, anyday.