October 28, 2009

McShark

The only three McDonald's restaurants in Iceland are closing. The owner "plans to run the restaurants under another name so that he is able to buy cheaper Icelandic products."
Now he can add McHákarl to his menu.
Hákarl is made from basking shark which has been cured by fermentation and hung to dry for 4-5 months. Doesn't that sound tasty?
The shark itself is poisonous when fresh due to a high content of uric acid and trimethylamine oxide, but may be consumed after being processed... by gutting and beheading a Greenland or basking shark and placing it in a shallow hole dug in gravelly-sand, with the now-cleaned cavity resting on a slight hill. The shark is then covered with sand and gravel, and stones are then placed on top of the sand in order to press the shark. The fluids from the shark are in this way pressed out of the body. The shark ferments for 6-12 weeks depending on the season in this fashion.

If that's not enough to tempt you, "Chef Anthony Bourdain, who has travelled extensively throughout the world sampling local cuisine for his Travel Channel show No Reservations, has described [hákarl] as 'the single worst, most disgusting and terrible tasting thing' he has ever eaten."

Makes even a big greasy Big Mac sound gourmet, doesn't it?

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