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Abandon the diet – it's Friday!
Did you know that fermented shark is part of traditional Icelandic cuisine?
From Wikipedia:
Hákarl or kæstur hákarl (Icelandic for "fermented shark") is a food from Iceland. It is a Greenland or basking shark which has been cured with a particular fermentation process and hung to dry for 4-5 months. Hákarl has a very particular ammonia-rich smell and taste, similar to very strong cheese. It is an acquired taste and many Icelanders never eat it.
This is why they don't eat it:
The shark itself is poisonous when fresh due to a high content of uric acid and trimethylamine oxide, but may be consumed after being processed. It has a particular ammonia smell, not too dissimilar from many cleaning products. It is often served in cubes on toothpicks. Those new to it will usually gag involuntarily on the first attempt to eat it due to 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 local spirit, a type of akvavit, called brennivin. Eating hákarl is often associated with hardiness and strength.
I think it's pretty clear at this point that this is an Icelandic joke to trap gullible tourists:
Chef Gordon Ramsay, after challenging journalist James May to sample three "delicacies" (Laotian snake whiskey, bull penis, and hákarl), finally vomited after eating hákarl, although May kept his down. May's only reaction was "You disappoint me, Ramsay."
Disclaimer: This Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons image is from the user Chris 73 and is freely available at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hakarl_near_Bjarnah%C3%B6fn_in_Iceland.JPG under the creative commons cc-by-sa 2.5 license.
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