"Hi I'm Ian McCollum and this is Forgotten Flavors, today we have a 1643 dodo Egg from the New World, the egg pattern denotes a New England species of the dodo..."
Hey Doc. As an IRL Karl, I'm curious what the etymology of "Hakarl" may arise from. Is it "Ha + karl" or "Hak + arl", etc...? Perhaps a vid on all the various "-arls" in the Germanic world would be fun there are lots (Karls, Jarls, Earls, etc...) Cheers from FL, USA!
@@KarlKarsnark It's Há-karl. Karl just means man, and há is related to shark/fish. Karl might be related to jarl (earl is just the anglicised version of jarl), but AFAIK they have different roots (jarl/arilaz/erlaz vs. karl/karilaz/karaz). Could be related, but it wouldn't be the first time two very similar words came from two different places. Karl is still used with the meaning of man in Iceland/Norway/Denmark (and probably other places as well), though with a bit of a different meaning than man (from the old norse root of maðr) In Denmark, karl is more of a younger man, usually a worker.
He was pulling on the lip that isn't actually part of the lid. Different parts of the world use different designs for containers. I'm guessing Ian just hasn't opened that type before.
This food had pretty much to be a case of "caught poisonous shark in spring, burried it at the dumpster site, and later being so desperate in autumn that you started dig up the trash heap for food, realizing the semi-rotten carcass is now edible, somehow"
Fermenting fish and meat is a thing in the far north. Surströming (fermented herring) in northern Sweden is just horrible. Inuits is doing things as bury walruses for later consumption.
@@fredo51 Yeah, the ones you need to watch out for are the ones with the reddish rind. The white stuff like on camembert is a pretty mild culture. The red stuff...that'll get the cops and fire department called on you if you cook with it in an apartment building with questionable ventilation :P.
@@fredo51 Leave a camembert half a year beyond the best before date, and we're NOT talking about some bland, meaningless white crusted cheese. I usually wait a month past the date, and I fully get the association Ian made with a fully ripe camembert.
I'm thinking Pont l'Eveque, delicious. You can get strong smelling unpasteurised camembert but it's not from the big brands who ship abroad, the French keep most of it themselves.
I'm still a bit sad that Ian didn't seek to fully follow through with his well established approach on this subject area. What was _hákarl's_ track record in service? Did it get adopted or go through trials in any other nation? Were there other variants that didn't go anywhere? Did its inventors have further success with other products later in their career?
As a longtime fan and subscriber to this channel as well as a person who call this godforsaken island my home and heart, I really appreciate how you tackle this ill tasty so called snack with the same curiosity and non biased approach as you do with all those old and forgotten weapons. Cheers to you, or as we say here: Skál fyrir þér!
Travelling is a great opportunity to try different foods. I love going around foreign markets, looking at the local produce. Also developed my rule of street food. If there's a queue and no ambulances, it's probably good. A lot of the time I had no real idea what I was eating, but that's part of the fun. If I did, my brain would probably have noped out of trying a few things that turned out to be really tasty. About the only thing I've tried and failed on was durian. The wiki description of that is spot on, as well as being something that looks like it was extracted from an abscess that had been left too long.
Please make a follow up: “Ian Tries Surströmming; Swedish Fermented Baltic Sea Herring” You can get a can of it at Stockmann next time you go to Finland
Contrary to popular rumours there are trees in Iceland, indeed they are planting more every year. The smoked trout is really great - especially when it arrives "fresh" from the smoke room at the bottom of the garden for breakfast 🙂
The various reforestation projects in Iceland are extremely exciting (for multi-year plant growing values of 'exciting'), and I wish them every success
Ian, thank you. This was such a departure from your usual amazing programming and it was a hoot. I have read about some of the foods from this area of the world and yes, I truly believe I would strongly contemplate eating my boots before many of their offerings. Thanks again and keep up the great work.
The man can strip any weapon down to armourer-level but that plastic tub defeated him. Also, eats Nordic fermented shark, somehow makes it French with the Camembert analogy; never change Ian...
Surströmming next. I’ll send you some Ian. Fermented Herring. Started out as pickled herring where the people who made the pickled herring didnt use enough salt (expensive), sold it to the Same people up north when they came south to trade. Basically scamming them, but they loved it.
There is something similar to it in Norway ’Rakfisk’ made the same way with fermentation and autolyzed using trout or char. Smells less then surströmming, but taste and texture is close.
St Andre is found in most US supermarkets, and is one of my favorites when it's fresh. But let it sit in the fridge for a bit and it starts to develop. Specifically to develop an ammoniacal flavor that just gets stronger.
A little known fact. In Afghanistan Icelandic soldiers would wear Norwegian uniforms. This got them in to trouble plenty of times when people where out to try to get Norwegians. And lastly, Iceland really does not have much of an army to speak of... But dont get me wrong, these bastards can fight. Just ask British fishermen...
There are trees in Iceland. About 2% of the island has forest cover, and attempts to extend that are in process. It will be a while before anyone can chop down trees for smokers, though.
Wow, I have been going to Iceland on and off all summer for work. I do not remember such a glorious, clear skies day. A good day for trying some dubious food! Cheers Ian.
If you want to try something that is truly smelly, try fermented stinky tofu (that's actually the name). The first (and last) time I opened a jar of it, it smelled as if I had a huge gas leak in my home.
naaah people who eat processed goo food their whole life tend to overblow any natural food i saw yankees dissing holodets and now that is like the most basic most normal food on earth, just chicken meat anyway better than "chicken" nuggets made out of bean goo
@@tsartomato I'll agree with you, to a point. I keep running into people who turn up their noses at lamb because "it's too gamey" or "it tastes too strong". Lamb is delicious. But if ones experience of "meat" is typified by boneless, skinless chicken breasts from the freezer aisle, pretty much anything has "too much flavor." That said, hakarl and it's Scandinavian cousin Surströmming (lactic acid fermented herring) are two entries on my "Foods I Won't Eat" list.
Have you ever tried Surströmming ("fermented herring" from Sweden)? It is advisable to open the can under water (as deep as you can get it) or be prepared for a very foul smelling stream of fishiness covering you from the pressurized can. Traditionally served on Swedish flat bread with slices of boiled potato and onions. Schnapps chaser.
I recently got to try some hákarl and while it was a strong flavor it wasn't too bad. As Ian said it's like a stinky, ammoniated cheese, and I'm someone who will age stinky cheese until the smell will clear your sinuses.
Dried grazing animal dung is surprisingly good firewood. We'd use dry cow dung for campfires when backpacking in areas that had been used for grazing before the fall.
I cannot explain how much I love short and fun non-weapon content like this with Ian! Obviously Steve has this on lock but I'd love to see Ian MRE reviews!
Ok this is just amazing, my favorite early medieval linguist and my favorite historic militaria content creators collaborating on a video about a unique cultural food I've been curious to try for years. Awesome video, gentlemen
"It has a nasty taste, but it does not have a nasty taste it could have." When your berserker forebears ate shark, fermented in its' own urine, rather than starve, you're setting the bar pretty low. Mention of blood pudding interested me we have that in the UK and it's very good.
I am Norwegian and I have a lot of Icelandic relatives. I have had these several times. They are not very good and usually only brought out when there is alcohol on the table (usually Brennivín...)
I think they only make this in order to sell Brennivin. I had a shot of it after trying the shark and thought it tasted so good... turns out it's not as great without having fermented ammonia beforehand lol
The Makah, a native America tribe in Washington state, got permission to hunt a gray whale as part of their heritage. The elders said that the taste of the blabber brought back memoirs of their youth. The latest generation thought it was 'gross'. Our ancestors survival food. We should all have to try these food sources to honor them.
This is always fun with civvie friends. I cracked open a case of MREs for my wife one day and let her go through through one. Besides the horrified look on her face when she realized she just ate a 6000 calorie meal, she really enjoyed digging through the pack.
The content we didn't know we wanted. Considering all the travel happening, its a win to have this every once in a while alongside brewery and factory visits. As to the worst thing Jackson as tried, its the sheep head isn't it?
Ian and Dr Crawford were remarkably diplomatic when describing the experience of eating hákarl. For those who don't know, the aroma and aftertaste are strongly like stale urine. It is often served to tourists as part of a "Traditional Icelandic Cultural Experience" to the general delight and amusement of the natives.
the ammonia is there because the shark lives on increadible deapth most of the time. it protects proteins in the shark tissues from hydrostatic pressure
Shark was fished a lot in Iceland up to the late 19 century for making oil from the liver. Shark liver oil was then used to lighten up the cities of Denmark mainly Copenhagen. That would have been a smell 😆.
The species of shark it comes from is the Greenland shark, known for an abnormally long life span of hundreds of years. Additionally, yes their skin is poisonous due to an evolutionary adaptation to living in deeper waters, so without fermentation it is inedible and can cause severe poisoning. They live in the deeper waters of the North Atlantic and Arctic. They're also one of the biggest species of sharks currently in existence averaging around 700 lbs.
I was pleasantly surprised by Hákarl, and my cohort definitely likened it to a potent cheese. We had it by itself and with skýr (which really helped with the aftertaste). We had it at the “shark museum” so there was also a shed where the carcasses were being prepared and it stunk to high hell from quite a distance away. 5/10; I don’t crave it, but if I was desperate for some efficient protein intake during a famine, I’d gladly have some hákarl again.
A very unexpected video on a very unexpected piece of my country's flavour profiles. I look forward to the videos you made while visiting since Iceland is not a very gun-centric place. We've had some scares recently so I hope those videos educate as much as they entertain like this one.
Love how Ian can look at different unfamiliar firearms and disassemble them quickly or at least work out how. Gets given a plastic container from Iceland and has to ask for help. Don't ever change dude.
You really have to wonder how it was first discovered how to make it edible... Like, who was the first person to say "I'm gonna take this toxic meat and bury it for a few months and see if that somehow makes it not toxic anymore"?
Given that Greenland sharks breed and grow very slowly (They can live for something like 400 years, and are only mature at 150, so any born after the 1870's are still "young") it's probably for the best they are not that tasty.
From memory, (which may be wrong) there are only a few people who have a special government license to make this stuff, and they are only allowed to use already dead sharks that get found at sea or washed up on the beach.
The one that had its eye lenses radiocarbon dated to 392 years old with an error bar of 120 years (so between 272 to 512 years old) was only 16.5 feet (and they've been recorded up to 24 feet). They can get much older.
Ian, I used to always stop over in Iceland on my way to Norway and/or Denmark and back home to the USA. I would take a day to trail ride an Icelandic Horse(pony). The strangest thing I ate there was leg of lamb that was not fresh lamb, but lamb that had been processed the same way we process fresh pork into ham. It tasted lust like pork ham. Being half Celtic, I was sorely disappointed because I love traditional baked leg of lamb with potatoes and carrots. I am sure many Icelanders miss eating whale meat and "Muk Tuk" since they no longer hunt whales. I wanted to try horse meat, but some Icelanders only eat it on special occassions so it is not served to tourists. Did you stop there because of a connecting flight to Europe or USA?
I love Ian. He actually tried it without prejudice and had something positive to say about it. A lot of people take an "it's not a cheeseburger so it sucks" attitude towards any food that's an acquired taste.
When in Finland, did ya get a chance to eat lefsa and lutefisk? Lefsa happens to be my favorite breakfast food, but lutefisk is... well... not... Ya try it?
In Scandinavia and the Nordics we have lots of 'delicacies' which all pretty much started as 'eat this rotten crap or starve' in famine times. How it lived on to become delicacies I can not understand nor explain though..
I need more Forgotten Flavors content in my life.
Hardly forgotten when its a staple of Iceland
Lets make starvation mukbang a thing!
Look up the “Fish Cock” when Ian was on InRange
"Hi I'm Ian McCollum and this is Forgotten Flavors, today we have a 1643 dodo Egg from the New World, the egg pattern denotes a New England species of the dodo..."
Norway and lutefisk next? Or Swedish surstrømning?
I just want to say how thankful I am that you had an opening for a line like "Jackson Crawford reveals his taste for horseshit" and you didn't use it.
For the record, you still do have a taste for horseshit
That would’ve been pretty interesting
I guess that's what you literally call a "Gentleman's agreement" :D
Hey Doc. As an IRL Karl, I'm curious what the etymology of "Hakarl" may arise from. Is it "Ha + karl" or "Hak + arl", etc...?
Perhaps a vid on all the various "-arls" in the Germanic world would be fun there are lots (Karls, Jarls, Earls, etc...)
Cheers from FL, USA!
@@KarlKarsnark It's Há-karl. Karl just means man, and há is related to shark/fish.
Karl might be related to jarl (earl is just the anglicised version of jarl), but AFAIK they have different roots (jarl/arilaz/erlaz vs. karl/karilaz/karaz).
Could be related, but it wouldn't be the first time two very similar words came from two different places.
Karl is still used with the meaning of man in Iceland/Norway/Denmark (and probably other places as well), though with a bit of a different meaning than man (from the old norse root of maðr)
In Denmark, karl is more of a younger man, usually a worker.
Ian can fieldstrip a rifle blindfolded...cannot open plastic container. 🤣
He loosened the lid and did all the work
It's consumer protection.
That is, the product is being protected from the consumer.
@@littlegrabbiZZ9PZA I spit coffee on that..🤣
No disassembly pin; bad design!
He was pulling on the lip that isn't actually part of the lid.
Different parts of the world use different designs for containers. I'm guessing Ian just hasn't opened that type before.
This food had pretty much to be a case of "caught poisonous shark in spring, burried it at the dumpster site, and later being so desperate in autumn that you started dig up the trash heap for food, realizing the semi-rotten carcass is now edible, somehow"
I absolutely feel like this was somehow the case. Somewhere, somehow, someone fucked up and ended up with rotting shark.
Seems about right.
starvation food indeed
Given the number of times Iceland was at near-starvation, I’m certain this is the case.
Fermenting fish and meat is a thing in the far north. Surströming (fermented herring) in northern Sweden is just horrible. Inuits is doing things as bury walruses for later consumption.
"This tastes like good stanky French cheese" is the most Francophile Ian moment we've had yet
@@fredo51 Yeah, the ones you need to watch out for are the ones with the reddish rind. The white stuff like on camembert is a pretty mild culture. The red stuff...that'll get the cops and fire department called on you if you cook with it in an apartment building with questionable ventilation :P.
@@fredo51 Leave a camembert half a year beyond the best before date, and we're NOT talking about some bland, meaningless white crusted cheese. I usually wait a month past the date, and I fully get the association Ian made with a fully ripe camembert.
Jackson Crawford: I'mma ambush Ian with this fermented shark.
Ian "Le Fromager" McCollum: *_hon hon hon_*
I'm thinking Pont l'Eveque, delicious. You can get strong smelling unpasteurised camembert but it's not from the big brands who ship abroad, the French keep most of it themselves.
@@fredo51 Karl from In Range TV made a vignette about a camembert which crossed Death Valley in 1878 to punish a guy who put ice cubes in his wine.
I'm all for Ian hanging out more with his Old Norse-speaking cowboy friend. :)
Read that as Old Norse-speaking cow boyfriend on my first attempt. Too much hákarl, I suppose.
Being a big fan of Dr Crawford and occasionally watching Forgotten Weapons this was a very unexpected yet welcome crossover.
"You guys wasn't gettin' paid to leave the dogs babysittin' the sheep while you stem the rose"
9
@@rasmusn.e.m1064 i want an old norse-speaking cow boyfriend 😔
' It's an acquired taste......perhaps acquired by the means of starvation'.
I'm gonna use that one for sure.
forgotten flavours sounds like a nice little side-series Ian could do, trying foods from different countries he goes to
Ian does sound like he can have the same passion for French cheese as he has for French rifles.
I'm still a bit sad that Ian didn't seek to fully follow through with his well established approach on this subject area. What was _hákarl's_ track record in service? Did it get adopted or go through trials in any other nation? Were there other variants that didn't go anywhere? Did its inventors have further success with other products later in their career?
Props to Ian for trying to not open the container lol
If someone offered me Hákarl, I'd forget how to open the container too! 😁
@@Backroad_Junkie I tried it during my two weeks in Iceland (amazing country). Ian should try some smoked Puffin, delicious.
As a longtime fan and subscriber to this channel as well as a person who call this godforsaken island my home and heart, I really appreciate how you tackle this ill tasty so called snack with the same curiosity and non biased approach as you do with all those old and forgotten weapons. Cheers to you, or as we say here: Skál fyrir þér!
Your godforsaken island is one of the best places on Earth. Your hot dog game is outstanding. I saved a wrapper and it was my favorite souvenir.
@@hattorihanzo2275 Thats funny 😆
I'm really enjoying these collab videos with Dr. Crawford. Not a crossover I expected, but one I'm very glad happened.
@@hinder10709 It's ok to be wrong.
@@hinder10709 You sound like you need a hug.
@@hinder10709 Because you sound like a miserable person.
@@hinder10709 objectively, what in particular perturbs you about him?
Is this the start of Forgotten Foods?
its called Tasting History and the three of them need to do an era peice
@@EchoLog *clacking two pieces of hardtac together*
@HazeyGnome only if we can do a cigarette episode with Steve
Forgotten Weapons doing a collab with Tasting History be like: weaponry and field meal of a 1800s French infantryman all IN ONE VIDEO! 😆
@@EchoLog please and thank you lol
This is nasty, but it isn't as nasty as it could be.
-icelandic gourmand.
"It's less nasty than being dead from starvation, so it has that going for it".
You know, with your travels this could be a real interesting sub-series. I'd watch it!
youre right Iaqns not busy enough already he needs another channel !
Travelling is a great opportunity to try different foods. I love going around foreign markets, looking at the local produce. Also developed my rule of street food. If there's a queue and no ambulances, it's probably good. A lot of the time I had no real idea what I was eating, but that's part of the fun. If I did, my brain would probably have noped out of trying a few things that turned out to be really tasty. About the only thing I've tried and failed on was durian. The wiki description of that is spot on, as well as being something that looks like it was extracted from an abscess that had been left too long.
We need to see an entire series like this “forgotten foods” or whatever where Ian eats weird stuff while abroad
There was only enough fish for one person, but Ian fed everyone with it 👼
Now thats some hanukkah level shit
I see what you did there….
Please make a follow up: “Ian Tries Surströmming; Swedish Fermented Baltic Sea Herring”
You can get a can of it at Stockmann next time you go to Finland
Probably best tried with the guidance of experienced local enthusiasts. 😀
Lutefisk needs to be on the menu, along with stinkheads.
It's pretty fucking good when you eat it properly instead of mainlining it like UA-camrs tend to.
I love the break in usual content.
Also the scenery is absolutely incredible.
Ian you could legit make a spin off channel about exotic and interesting foods along with their history
I loved this
I know some pretty good spots in my local area for wild fungi. Would love to see Ian try some.
@@jimmyrustler8983 please check the area for muscaritas
We must protect our firearms lord 🙏🏻
Contrary to popular rumours there are trees in Iceland, indeed they are planting more every year.
The smoked trout is really great - especially when it arrives "fresh" from the smoke room at the bottom of the garden for breakfast 🙂
The various reforestation projects in Iceland are extremely exciting (for multi-year plant growing values of 'exciting'), and I wish them every success
A very unexpected and cozy upload today is very much welcomed
Ian, thank you. This was such a departure from your usual amazing programming and it was a hoot. I have read about some of the foods from this area of the world and yes, I truly believe I would strongly contemplate eating my boots before many of their offerings. Thanks again and keep up the great work.
I watch both of these guys and NEVER thought I'd see them together like this.
I love Ian's experences trying these things.
I don't think i've ever seen Ian laughs like dad. It's like a seeing your dad laugh, but he never really laughs.
I like these slice of life episodes. It’s nice to see Ian experiencing the cultures of the countries he visits for his main stuff for the channel.
Beach Episode when ? 😄
The man can strip any weapon down to armourer-level but that plastic tub defeated him. Also, eats Nordic fermented shark, somehow makes it French with the Camembert analogy; never change Ian...
Surströmming next. I’ll send you some Ian.
Fermented Herring. Started out as pickled herring where the people who made the pickled herring didnt use enough salt (expensive), sold it to the Same people up north when they came south to trade. Basically scamming them, but they loved it.
Surströmming is very good though once you get past the smell, some condiments and flat-bread and it's a great meal!
Hmm. I wonder how similar that is to the garam of ancient Rome ?
There is something similar to it in Norway ’Rakfisk’ made the same way with fermentation and autolyzed using trout or char. Smells less then surströmming, but taste and texture is close.
Yes! Honestly make this a regular thing though 😂 we'd love it
Rotten sharks. Carboard fish. Trout smoked in dung. What is this nightmare?!
Next: go through all the unique French cheeses.
Since every county in France has its own unique cheese, that would be quite the series.
Ahhh, Mimolette... Flavored with cheese mite excrement... (Still a better experience than Limburger)
Firearms fromage.
St Andre is found in most US supermarkets, and is one of my favorites when it's fresh. But let it sit in the fridge for a bit and it starts to develop. Specifically to develop an ammoniacal flavor that just gets stronger.
France has over 1600 cheeses. Be a long series.
Ian visiting Iceland getting ready to whitness the epic showdown between the elbonian army and the army of Iceland
A little known fact. In Afghanistan Icelandic soldiers would wear Norwegian uniforms. This got them in to trouble plenty of times when people where out to try to get Norwegians. And lastly, Iceland really does not have much of an army to speak of... But dont get me wrong, these bastards can fight. Just ask British fishermen...
@@Rakadis they have no army, only a coast guard and a crisis response unit wich is equipped and organised like a militia
But Elbonian army chefs have now perfected the 'Stilton & Anchovy Surprise', as a new form of 'carpet vomming' : )
@@Rakadis Got any sources on this? I'd like to know more about it.
Oh and...I like your nick! :D
There would be no showdown, Icelandic SOF have been advising the Elbonian military for like 15 years now
There are trees in Iceland. About 2% of the island has forest cover, and attempts to extend that are in process. It will be a while before anyone can chop down trees for smokers, though.
''trees'' most people would call it shrubbery
You can smoke stuff with peat tho.
Edit: got to the peat part now 😅
@@ianwinter514 There are real trees. Birch, mostly, in the video I saw.
I have been truly enjoying these videos as these are 2 of my absolute favorite channels combined!
Tasting notes:
"hmmm, tastes like I might die..."
"I can't believe it's not horseshit" 😅
Hooking up with my favourite UA-cam linguist in Iceland? Legend!
Really cool change of pace. Loved it Ian.
Wow, I have been going to Iceland on and off all summer for work. I do not remember such a glorious, clear skies day. A good day for trying some dubious food! Cheers Ian.
We had three days of miraculously beautiful weather up on the north coast
Iceland is stunning when the sun shines. Planning on trying some skiing there this winter! Did you do any shooting?
No shooting, but I did film a number of guns, including domestic production Icelandic ones
@@ForgottenWeapons interesting can't wait for Icelandic gun content
If you want to try something that is truly smelly, try fermented stinky tofu (that's actually the name). The first (and last) time I opened a jar of it, it smelled as if I had a huge gas leak in my home.
I only buy classic examples of Hákarl from Rock Island Auctions. Hopefully, it will go up in value enough for me to retire one day.
Make a stop in the Faroe Islands next time. I'll treat you to Faroese "local delicacies" and "what they ate in the lean winter months".
I love how Ian can disassemble and reassemble guns like nothing but still struggles with a jar lol
He didn't have his Bic disassembly tool with him.
Seemed like possibly a last ditch attempt to avoid eating anything if the supermarket container is impervious.
Last time I was this early, the forgotten weapon Ian was covering was brand new!
*Forgotten Flavors* are forgotten for a reason! A damn good reason.
No, shark is delicious. If it weren't so expensive I'd regularly buy it as a snack.
Found one
naaah people who eat processed goo food their whole life tend to overblow any natural food
i saw yankees dissing holodets and now that is like the most basic most normal food on earth, just chicken meat
anyway better than "chicken" nuggets made out of bean goo
@@tsartomato I'll agree with you, to a point. I keep running into people who turn up their noses at lamb because "it's too gamey" or "it tastes too strong". Lamb is delicious. But if ones experience of "meat" is typified by boneless, skinless chicken breasts from the freezer aisle, pretty much anything has "too much flavor."
That said, hakarl and it's Scandinavian cousin Surströmming (lactic acid fermented herring) are two entries on my "Foods I Won't Eat" list.
who the fuck doesn't eat lamb?
Thank you for releasing this video without any ridiculous click bait images.
Look at that beautiful backdrop. I was lucky enough to travel around Iceland in 2014. I hope I'm lucky enough to go back one day.
Have you ever tried Surströmming ("fermented herring" from Sweden)? It is advisable to open the can under water (as deep as you can get it) or be prepared for a very foul smelling stream of fishiness covering you from the pressurized can. Traditionally served on Swedish flat bread with slices of boiled potato and onions. Schnapps chaser.
I recently got to try some hákarl and while it was a strong flavor it wasn't too bad. As Ian said it's like a stinky, ammoniated cheese, and I'm someone who will age stinky cheese until the smell will clear your sinuses.
Dried grazing animal dung is surprisingly good firewood. We'd use dry cow dung for campfires when backpacking in areas that had been used for grazing before the fall.
I agree with the majority here: we need a secondary channel - Forgotten Flavors! And then team up with Max Miller.
I cannot explain how much I love short and fun non-weapon content like this with Ian! Obviously Steve has this on lock but I'd love to see Ian MRE reviews!
Ian can tear apart an obscure weapon that only a couple were ever made without difficulty.........has trouble opening a plastic container. LOL.
This colab would never have happened on network, or even public, tv.
These crossovers need to keep being a thing, so much fun when they get together!
"No trees."
Pretty much explains why all the deck furniture looks like it is made from shipping pallets...🤔
This reminds me of an Idiot abroad episode with Karl pilkington whilst in Japan when he was given a “delicacy” of buried/fermented fish 😂
I love this channel. This seriously would be a nice regular edition to it. I'd personally love a surstromming video.
This is excellent content that I didn't know I wanted
Halibut is the flat fish that starts with H that has both eyes on one side
That is an amazing view back there
Ok this is just amazing, my favorite early medieval linguist and my favorite historic militaria content creators collaborating on a video about a unique cultural food I've been curious to try for years. Awesome video, gentlemen
It's astounding to see Ian using a firing pin as skewers
Icelandic friend of mine said “Why would you want to try it? Why!?”
Old Forgotten Biological Weapons.
"It has a nasty taste, but it does not have a nasty taste it could have." When your berserker forebears ate shark, fermented in its' own urine, rather than starve, you're setting the bar pretty low.
Mention of blood pudding interested me we have that in the UK and it's very good.
I am Norwegian and I have a lot of Icelandic relatives. I have had these several times. They are not very good and usually only brought out when there is alcohol on the table (usually Brennivín...)
Gotta have that solvent (alcohol) to remove the taste of solvent (ammonia) 😅
I think they only make this in order to sell Brennivin. I had a shot of it after trying the shark and thought it tasted so good... turns out it's not as great without having fermented ammonia beforehand lol
You foreigners have no taste.
The Makah, a native America tribe in Washington state, got permission to hunt a gray whale as part of their heritage. The elders said that the taste of the blabber brought back memoirs of their youth. The latest generation thought it was 'gross'. Our ancestors survival food. We should all have to try these food sources to honor them.
You honestly should do forgotten flavors just old military rations and stuff like that
A collaboration with MRESteve?
This is always fun with civvie friends. I cracked open a case of MREs for my wife one day and let her go through through one. Besides the horrified look on her face when she realized she just ate a 6000 calorie meal, she really enjoyed digging through the pack.
Hmm, & how much 'I just wanna kill somebody' is added to combat rations?
The content we didn't know we wanted. Considering all the travel happening, its a win to have this every once in a while alongside brewery and factory visits.
As to the worst thing Jackson as tried, its the sheep head isn't it?
"I would definitely eat it if I were starving "...what a ringing endorsement!!! 😅
I wouldn't and I'm Icelandic 😅
Beautiful mountains in the background.
Please more vlogs I love this new type of content!
Ian and Dr Crawford were remarkably diplomatic when describing the experience of eating hákarl. For those who don't know, the aroma and aftertaste are strongly like stale urine.
It is often served to tourists as part of a "Traditional Icelandic Cultural Experience" to the general delight and amusement of the natives.
the ammonia is there because the shark lives on increadible deapth most of the time. it protects proteins in the shark tissues from hydrostatic pressure
Gotta make a fork outta shell casings for forgotten feeds
Shark was fished a lot in Iceland up to the late 19 century for making oil from the liver. Shark liver oil was then used to lighten up the cities of Denmark mainly Copenhagen. That would have been a smell 😆.
I had a shark taco. Friend asked how it was. "Like a fish taco, but with bite."
The species of shark it comes from is the Greenland shark, known for an abnormally long life span of hundreds of years. Additionally, yes their skin is poisonous due to an evolutionary adaptation to living in deeper waters, so without fermentation it is inedible and can cause severe poisoning. They live in the deeper waters of the North Atlantic and Arctic. They're also one of the biggest species of sharks currently in existence averaging around 700 lbs.
We really need more stuff like this. Maybe dabble into some Steve1989 stuff.
dammm yess
Nice
Really pleased to see Jackson Crawford on this channel he makes great content
You know what I'll just stick with an even more dangerous delicacy, the McDonald's "Fish sandwich" 🤢
I was pleasantly surprised by Hákarl, and my cohort definitely likened it to a potent cheese. We had it by itself and with skýr (which really helped with the aftertaste).
We had it at the “shark museum” so there was also a shed where the carcasses were being prepared and it stunk to high hell from quite a distance away.
5/10; I don’t crave it, but if I was desperate for some efficient protein intake during a famine, I’d gladly have some hákarl again.
Of course, Ian finds a way to relate it to something French. Bon appetit!
A very unexpected video on a very unexpected piece of my country's flavour profiles. I look forward to the videos you made while visiting since Iceland is not a very gun-centric place. We've had some scares recently so I hope those videos educate as much as they entertain like this one.
Forgotten Flavors sounds amazing
Love how Ian can look at different unfamiliar firearms and disassemble them quickly or at least work out how. Gets given a plastic container from Iceland and has to ask for help. Don't ever change dude.
I always wonder how people figure out the process of how to make these poisonous things edible
Somehow making charcoal briquettes from grass is more appealing than the horse option...
Shark cheese...
Thats what I was going to say. 👍 🤣
Count me out I'm not a fan of "good strong French cheese" 😂
Flavors that best remain forgotten.
I wouldn't want to milk a shark
You really have to wonder how it was first discovered how to make it edible... Like, who was the first person to say "I'm gonna take this toxic meat and bury it for a few months and see if that somehow makes it not toxic anymore"?
Given that Greenland sharks breed and grow very slowly (They can live for something like 400 years, and are only mature at 150, so any born after the 1870's are still "young") it's probably for the best they are not that tasty.
From memory, (which may be wrong) there are only a few people who have a special government license to make this stuff, and they are only allowed to use already dead sharks that get found at sea or washed up on the beach.
The one that had its eye lenses radiocarbon dated to 392 years old with an error bar of 120 years (so between 272 to 512 years old) was only 16.5 feet (and they've been recorded up to 24 feet). They can get much older.
Loving the collaborations with Jackson, fun to see you step out of your comfort zone.
Culinary, the most unforgotten weapon against weight loss
Forgotten Flavours is such a awsome name, i need more of this
Ian, I used to always stop over in Iceland on my way to Norway and/or Denmark and back home to the USA. I would take a day to trail ride an Icelandic Horse(pony). The strangest thing I ate there was leg of lamb that was not fresh lamb, but lamb that had been processed the same way we process fresh pork into ham. It tasted lust like pork ham. Being half Celtic, I was sorely disappointed because I love traditional baked leg of lamb with potatoes and carrots. I am sure many Icelanders miss eating whale meat and "Muk Tuk" since they no longer hunt whales. I wanted to try horse meat, but some Icelanders only eat it on special occassions so it is not served to tourists. Did you stop there because of a connecting flight to Europe or USA?
Was the lamb smoked?
@@andriandrason1318 It was decades ago so I am not sure. In the USA, Pork ham is sugar cured or salt cured, and smoked.
Icelandic horses are not ponies.
I love Ian. He actually tried it without prejudice and had something positive to say about it. A lot of people take an "it's not a cheeseburger so it sucks" attitude towards any food that's an acquired taste.
When in Finland, did ya get a chance to eat lefsa and lutefisk? Lefsa happens to be my favorite breakfast food, but lutefisk is... well... not... Ya try it?
I have eaten a lot of lutefisk.
@@TheErilaz I'm afraid I don't have much taste for it. Tho, I have to say lefsa is my favorite breakfast food.
In Scandinavia and the Nordics we have lots of 'delicacies' which all pretty much started as 'eat this rotten crap or starve' in famine times.
How it lived on to become delicacies I can not understand nor explain though..
Check out Maxes Tasting History on Þorrablót. He actually did the research
Petition for forgotten flavors to be a regular thing!
This is gold. I could watch a series of this!