Hákarl

Hákarl [ hau ː k ʰ Artl ] is an Icelandic specialty, which consists of fermented flesh of the Greenland Shark. Smell and taste of the court are very intense.

The shark is for people only due to the fermentation at all edible, otherwise his flesh would be inedible. As it accumulates all Plattenkiemer urea in the blood, which he uses to balance the osmotic pressure of sea water. It takes several months until the urea is broken down in the body of the dead shark. During this time, be released to ammonia by its decomposition large quantities.

The traditional preparation of Hákarl is lengthy: The shark is excluded, boned, cleaned and washed. Then, a pit is dug in coarse gravel, the shark meat is dug and squeezed through it, lying pieces of rock. So it is left - six to seven weeks in the summer, and in winter two to three months. Then the shark meat is hung in an open dry hut, where the ammonia can exhaust fumes. There remains about two to four months until it is firm and dry. Today, the shark is no longer buried in general, but deposited in permeable wooden boxes. It is crucial that the ammonia to escape.

Before eating the crust of the shark is removed, served the white meat in small pieces with the Icelandic schnapps Brennivín. The court attributed in Iceland digestive properties, the consumption of large quantities may cause diarrhea.

The flesh of the Greenland Shark in Greenland and Iceland is dried and used as dog food.