SC - list newbie/Seasonal food.

[Christina Nevin]

Stefan wrote:
>
>Maybe she would prefer the Icelanic shark to the lutefisk? Since much
>of the Icelandic food culture comes from Scandanavia, there will be
>similarities. The Icelanders just have stronger stomaches. And the
>Scots think *they* are hardy because of their climate... :-)


You should see some of the recipes and descriptions in the Greenland
cookbook I'm currently reading - they would win hands down if we were
comparing stomachs. Blubber juice with seal blood and crowberries, anyone?
Or sun-dried seal lung? And talking about shark, the Greenlanders use a
similar method for fermenting it - but they say the best part is the
fermented gills, which we Icelanders do not even eat.

We Icelanders have never taken to lutefisk. But, just for fun, here is the
section on the skate parties on St. Thorlak's day (December 23rd) from my
forthcoming Icelandic cookbook:

"Icelanders do not have a tradition of eating fish at Christmas but fish is
traditional on St. Thorlak’s Day and in later years, the fish of the day is
putrefied skate. This tradition began in the Western Fjords and has spread
all over the country. The skate, which is left to ferment for several weeks,
has an extremely strong and unpleasant smell that intensifies while it is
being cooked. The man of the house (who is often responsible for the cooking
of this particular item) is sometimes banished to the garage and has to cook
the skate on a gas burner there, or else the whole house might stink of
ammonia come Christmas. Instead, the smoked lamb is often cooked in the
kitchen and produces a smell that almost everybody loves.
It has to be said, though, that the taste of the skate is not nearly as bad
as the smell, although that may differ. Some prefer it so putrefied that it
brings tears to their eyes and their breath smells of it for many hours
afterwards. An 18th century poet praised skate of this kind to the skies and
said it was “better than brennivín” (caraway-flavored schnapps), which is
praise indeed, coming from an Icelander.
The skate is usually cut into chunks and poached, sometimes in the cooking
water from the smoked lamb. It is served with hamsatólg (melted sheep’s
tallow with cracklings) and/or hnoðmör (sheep´s tallow that is kneaded and
dried before it is melted), along with boiled potatoes. And it usually gets
washed down with several straight shots of brennivín."

Nanna