Would You Eat It? – Rotten Shark Meat | National Geographic

in the town of Reykjavik siggy a
traditional Icelandic cook is preparing
one of the signature meals of the thorah
block festival as the Vikings once did
to feel the boozing aroma of the chef
this freshly caught seventeen hundred
pound Greenland shark is naturally full
of urea and other toxins these chemicals
act as antifreeze allowing the shark to
live in waters as cold as minus two
degrees Celsius the toxins are so
concentrated that to eat this meat could
make you seriously ill or possibly even
kill you but Hildebrand Irby Alice’s
family has a secret shark recipe that
goes back generations and he knows that
the only way to prepare it is to let it
rot
as the meat decomposes it oozes toxic
ammonia the chemical found in most
household cleaning products and human
waste I don’t want to say the world this
will probably describe it best in Viking
times shark me was buried out of sight
but Hildebrand er prefers to see his
delicacy that way he can keep track of
the decaying process his nose decides
when it is ready to try it’s like
winemaking you know when the meat is at
a perfect rotten state it’s hung to
complete the breakdown process after six
months it’s ready to be served
has it not ah yeah this is gonna be very
good it has two more months it’s gonna
be a great great chakras room it’s a
social thing for us to come together and
eat this I don’t like the show
it’s like ammonia despite this feast of
oddities these Icelandic partygoers see
nothing bizarre about tonight’s main
courses no matter what dish is served
siggy and the Icelanders agree there is
more to this tradition than just taste
the point is taking care of this
tradition having fun with it know what
it is don’t forget it don’t forget where
we come from