10 Disgusting Hor D'oeuvres To Serve To Make Sure You Don't Have To Organize Next Year's Holiday Party

Hakarl

What it is: Shark, fermented. It was decided by Icelanders in the 9^th century that the Greenland shark being poisonous (and therefore, not safe for consumption) should be made into a food item. The shark is beheaded, gutted, and placed into a shallow hole dug in gravelly sand. Mmm, gravelly sand. Then, it is covered with the gravel and sand, and stones are placed on top for 6-12 weeks so the fluids are pressed out of the body. After it is putrefied cured, the shark is cut up into strips and hung dry for several months. After that, you get to sample the taste of death in cubed-form on a toothpick. It is sometimes served with Brennivín, a type of liquor, which is, ironically, known as “Black Death.” The smell and taste have been described as “ammonia-rich smell [with a] fishy taste, similar to very strong cheese slathered in ammonia.” Sign. us. up.

And lest anyone think they’re hardcore enough to eat this “cured” shark, Gordon Ramsay threw up after sampling some, and Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern have called it the "the single worst, most disgusting and terrible tasting thing" and "some of the most horrific things ever breathed in life."