How to Ferment a Shark

In my novel Bones & Keeps, Beowulf stations warriors on the volcanic island now called Jan Mayen.

Food crops won’t grow and the fish taste of sulphur, so what do you do?

Why, ferment a shark, of course.

Fermented shark (hákarl) is an Icelandic delicacy generally washed down with a potato and caraway liquor called brennevín, aka Black Death. Anthony Bourdain famously called it “the single worst, most disgusting and terrible tasting thing” he’d ever eaten. In fairness, some find the taste merely unpleasant with a smell like cat pee.

Here’s the recipe, if you’re inclined to try it:

Gut and behead one Greenland shark (about 500 kilos)

Use your bulldozer to dig a deep hole in the sand near the sea.

Cut the fish into long slabs and rinse off all the slime and goo. Hungry yet?

Pack the slabs into the hole.

Cover with sand and weigh down with stones.

Go away for 6-18 weeks, depending on the season and conditions. You’re aiming for just the right degree of putrefaction. You’ll know it by the smell. Don’t worry—once you dig up the sharkmeat, hang it to dry for seven months or so and cut off the thick brown crust of toxins, it’ll definitely smell a little better.

Cut into small cubes, stab with toothpicks, and serve in an attractive bowl.

Break out the Black Death and enjoy with friends.

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