Fermented shark contains a large amount of ammonia and has a strong smell, similar to many cleaning products. It is often served in cubes on toothpicks. Those new to it may gag involuntarily on the first attempt to eat it because of the high ammonia content. First-timers are sometimes advised to pinch their nose while taking the first bite, as the smell is much stronger than the taste. It is often eaten with a shot of the localspirit, a type of akvavit called brennivín. It comes in two varieties; chewy and reddish glerhákarl from the belly, and white and soft skyrhákarl from the body.
Preparation
The meat of the Greenland shark is poisonous when fresh because of its high content of urea and trimethylamine oxide. Properly processed, however, it may be consumed. The traditional method begins with gutting and beheading a shark and placing it in a shallow hole dug in gravelly sand, with the now cleaned cavity resting on a small mound of sand. The shark is then covered with sand and gravel, and stones are placed on top of the sand in order to press the shark so that the fluids are pressed out of the body. The shark ferments in this fashion for 6–12 weeks depending on the season. Following this curing period, the shark is then cut into strips and hung to dry for several months. During this drying period a brown crust will develop, which is removed prior to cutting the shark into small pieces and serving. It is possible to witness the traditional preparation process at Bjarnarhöfn Shark Museum on Snæfellsnes. The modern method is simply to press the shark's meat in a large plastic container, into which drain holes have been cut.
Reactions from outside Iceland
Chef Anthony Bourdain described fermented shark as "the single worst, most disgusting and terrible tasting thing" he had ever eaten. Chef Gordon Ramsay challenged James May to sample three "delicacies" on The F Word; after eating fermented shark, Ramsay spat it out, but May was able to keep his down. May even offered to eat it again. On season two's Iceland episode of Travel Channel's Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern, Andrew Zimmern described the smell as reminding him of "some of the most horrific things I've ever breathed in my life," but said it tasted much better than it smelled. He described the taste as "sweet, nutty and only faintly fishy." Nonetheless, he did note of fermented shark: "That's hardcore. That's serious food. You don't want to mess with that. That's not for beginners." In one of season five's final episodes of Animal Planet's River Monsters, Biologist and Angler Jeremy Wade mentions that the flesh "smells of urine" that has "a really strong aftertaste, it really kicks in. It really kicks in at the back of the throat after you take the first bite." He further states that the meat was really unlike anything he's tried before; that it is like really strong cheese but with a definite fish element. Archaeologist Neil Oliver tasted it in the BBC documentary Vikings as part of examining the Viking diet. He described it as reminiscent of "blue cheese but a hundred times stronger". Chef Ainsley Harriott, during his series Ainsley Eats the Streets, was unable to handle the heavy ammonia taste and described it as "like chewing a urine-infested mattress".
