Some bravery as a side dish

3) Hákarl (putrefied shark). Icelandic food hasn't really gotten its due in the United States — or anywhere else — though a new branding campaign might soon raise Americans' awareness of skyr (a sort of yogurt-like cheese) and freshly raised lamb. But don't expect to see some of this volcanic island nation's more infamous delicacies at your Whole Foods anytime soon.

Many Icelandic delicacies sound bizarre to the American palate, like puffin and svie (singed, boiled sheep's head). But none have more of a reputation than hákarl [HOW-kurl]: quite literally shark meat that traditionally was allowed to rot in the ground. It's typically prepared by burying a washed, gutted side of shark in gravel for six to eight weeks — or more likely nowadays, by soaking it in large plastic vats filled with brine  — then allowing it to cure in the open air for another two months.  One original purpose of this Viking-era process was to purge urine from sharks' blood and skin. (Sharks have no urinary tract and must secrete urine through their skin.)

After curing, the resulting slab of fish, which has an aroma often described as ammoniac, is covered with a thick brown crust. The crust is cut off and the white flesh inside eaten.

“It tastes awful in the beginning, but the aftertaste is good,” says Páll Gíslason, an Icelandic publishing executive and resort co-owner whose octogenarian father took up hákarl-making as a hobby of sorts. “We drink some liquor with it and that works very well together.”

The liquor in question is usually Brennivín, an aquavit-like schnapps flavored with caraway. Brennivín's also known as “Black Death,” appropriate enough for when you're snacking on deliberately rancid fish meat. However, Gíslason notes, some connoisseurs insist the only proper drink for this sharky treat is a top-shelf cognac.

Even in Iceland, hákarl is more a curiosity than a delicacy, not unlike eating alligator steaks in Florida — and usually reserved for the mid-winter festival known as Thorrablot.

“It's not anything that you eat on a daily basis,” says Gíslason. Can't say that's a surprise. If you're curious, Thorrablot comes around again in February 2006.