
How dried fish is made in Iceland - bifrost
https://icelandmonitor.mbl.is/news/eat_and_drink/2019/06/12/how_dried_fish_is_made/
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nkurz
The most surprising part for me about the dried fish trade was the role of
Nigeria!

"Enterprising Icelanders have figured out how to salvage the waste from the
fish factories. They take the discarded carcasses and heads to hang them on
racks to dry and send to Nigeria. There are football fields of hand tied fish
heads in the lava fields outside Hafnafjord (near the blue lagoon). Portuguese
gave the Nigerians a taste for dried fish heads at and Icelanders are very
smart and capitalizing on the protein drain in Africa."
[https://olsonfarlow.com/editorial-images/polish-worker-
hangi...](https://olsonfarlow.com/editorial-images/polish-worker-hanging-cod-
heads-in-geothermal-area-iceland)

"The heads are primarily sold to Nigeria, where dried fish heads are
considered a delicacy." [https://icelandmag.is/tags/cod-
heads](https://icelandmag.is/tags/cod-heads)

~~~
jacquesm
In Iceland they also eat the heads, it's a local delicacy, I would caution
against it.

~~~
Shivetya
Can you provide a comparison if possible to other types of food; I have that
typical Westerner squeamishness towards the idea of eating fish "heads"

~~~
paulgerhardt
Depends on the fishhead. One of the best meals of my life involved lingcod
cheeks at the Tjoruhusid in Isafjordur, Iceland.

If you can imagine the difference between leavened bread and non-yeasted bread
- it's a bit like that. The cheeks specifically were lighter, fluffier, and
more buttery in comparison to the otherwise delicious but more dense fillet.

~~~
bifrost
I love Fish Cheeks!

I don't usually eat fish that are big enough to have big meaty ones but even
on tiny fish they're amazing and usually worth the effort to dig em out. Even
on Salmon its worth it.

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mu_killnine
I just watched a fascinating video on 18th century cooking where this same
kind of fish (cod) is prepared:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdzAt6e1l-c](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdzAt6e1l-c)

I thought the step where they beat the fish with a mallet was so wild. It's
certainly led me down a rabbit hole of seeing how we used to prepare food a
few hundred years ago.

~~~
mrighele
Stockfish has been the main ingredient of a very traditional plate in north
east Italy for more than four hundred years [1]. These days it is not used as
much as in the past, but you can still find stockfish in a number of
supermarkets. Preparing the fish for cooking takes 2-3 days, and the first
step is of course beating it with a mallet :-)

[1] It was in fact considered food for poor people which is quite strange
since it was imported from far places.

~~~
kbenson
> It was in fact considered food for poor people which is quite strange since
> it was imported from far places.

Well, so was lobster at one point...

~~~
carlob
As a matter of fact the two stories are related, because code is one of
lobster's main natural predators and overfishing of the former led to an
overpopulation of the latter.

------
itchynosedev
This was our preferred snack on our road trip through Iceland in deep winter.
This fish fills you very quickly, doesn't produce the "heavy" feeling in your
stomach when snacking on a road trip, and tastes amazing. I was surprised how
expensive it was (even for Iceland) but looking at the way they prepare it the
price seems justified. This and thermal pools are the things I miss the most
about Iceland.

~~~
pesfandiar
Wait until you try it with a bit of butter then! I think the protein-to-price
ratio makes sense when you compare it to similar products like beef jerky or
pepperoni sticks. I'd bet hardfiskur is a lot healthier than jerky and deli
meat though, since at the least it has much less salt.

~~~
wallace_f
With high-quality nutrient-dense foods I get satisfied and full easily; but
when shopping, I often forget to consider this when looking at prices. Thanks
for reminding me.

------
galfarragem
I'm surprised that nobody spoke about Portugal. One of most important
ingredients in Portuguese cuisine is dried codfish. Note that there isn't
codfish in Portuguese waters, it's mostly imported from Norway.

Eating codfish heads is still popular (probably less than decades ago) and it
is called _caras de bacalhau_ [0]. Once you try it can easily become one of
your favourite dishes. While you can't beat the preconcept you can try
_bacalhau a bras_ , the most "easy-going" dried codfish dish [1].

[0]
[https://duckduckgo.com/?q=caras+de+bacalhau&t=h_&iar=images&...](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=caras+de+bacalhau&t=h_&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images)

[1]
[https://duckduckgo.com/?q=bacalhau+a+bras&t=h_&iar=images&ia...](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=bacalhau+a+bras&t=h_&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images)

------
Gustomaximus
I saw the home version of this in Norway near Lofoten where people literally
nail a gutted fish to their boatsheds:
[https://photos.app.goo.gl/UNEA7favnWmQ4TCV9](https://photos.app.goo.gl/UNEA7favnWmQ4TCV9)

If you ever have the chance to go up there, do. Its one of the more naturally
beautiful places I've been:
[https://photos.app.goo.gl/d6EpUXrbwjMUZS2v5](https://photos.app.goo.gl/d6EpUXrbwjMUZS2v5)

~~~
Broken_Hippo
I second the suggestion to visit if you can. I moved to Norway about 6 years
back and I'm still amazed at the beauty of things, especially when I get out
of the city.

This summer, I'm heading generally North myself :)

------
landonxjames
I tried Hákarl[1] when I was in Iceland and I do not think I have ever felt so
betrayed by a food. It really destroyed my interest in trying any other aged
fish dishes, but one of my friends loved it.

[1][https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%A1karl](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%A1karl)

~~~
gambiting
So I went to the Disgusting Food Museum in Malmö(would recommend going!) And
they had a little tasting section at the end. Pretty much everything else was
absolutely fine, even surstromming was ok, I can totally see myself enjoying
it with some vodka and a gherkin. But Hakarl? Jesus I honestly wanted to vomit
afterwards. All of the foods there had some redeeming quality - if the smell
was bad, the taste was good, or at least the texture was. Hakarl was bad on
all 3 counts - smell that could wake the dead, texture that was somewhere
between a snot and egg yolk and the tests was just of something that died long
ago and was left to rot.

~~~
bifrost
oh wow, I didn't know that was there! I'll have to go next time I go to
Sweden.

------
ww520
Hákarl FTW. I got couple Icelandic friends and they said the way to make
Surströmming was to dig a hole in the sand, put the fish in, piss on it, and
cover it up to let it ferment, to get the legendary authentic smell out of it.
Not sure how true that is.

~~~
nixy
Funny, in Sweden where surströmming is from I have heard the exact same words
used to describe the production of Hákarl. But Hákarl is easy to smell and eat
compared to surströmming, which is gut-wrenching when you smell it.

~~~
ww520
I think they wash Hákarl before packaging it while Surströmming is still
fermenting in the can until opened. The right way to open Surströmming is to
submerge the can in water and wash the fish before serve. Much less smell.

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radicalbyte
The white fish (code/haddock) version of this is really nice. It's like a
fishy version of Biltong only all of the flavour is natural. I didn't like the
darker one (which is pictured in the article).

I've not been able to find it outside of Iceland though.

------
simonebrunozzi
Few people know that "Baccalà" (stockfish) became popular in Italy in a very
peculiar way [0]:

"He is known for being shipwrecked in Røst, in northern Norway, in the winter
of 1432, and subsequently returning to Venice, where he wrote a report of his
travels for the senate. He is also credited with popularizing Stockfish in the
Veneto region, where it is prepared as Bacalà alla Vicentina."

[0]:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pietro_Querini](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pietro_Querini)

------
ggcdn
I find foods like this interesting because it goes against my instincts of
what's safe to eat. Same with most things cured, fermented, etc.

But one thing I was wondering - in an open drying shack like that, how to they
keep the bugs away?

~~~
jandrese
Probably by doing it when it's too cold out for the bugs. They also dip it in
brine to neutralize the pathogens on the surface of the fish.

What I'm curious about is what they do if they put a batch out and then a warm
front blows through unexpectedly. Do they take the fish down and stuff them in
a freezer until the weather cools off again? I can't imagine they let the
whole batch get ruined.

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exhilaration
Anyone know if we can get this in the U.S.?

~~~
jandrese
Killjoys at the FDA would probably make it difficult to import.

~~~
kevin_thibedeau
Katsuobushi (the basis of bonito flakes and dashi) is prepared in a similar
way. It is available in the US.

~~~
cr1895
Isn't that smoked?

~~~
kevin_thibedeau
Yes. But it is finished by air drying after fungus innoculation. There is just
as much of a pathogen concern.

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vermontdevil
Didn’t realize the TLD for Iceland is .is

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jaytaylor

      One of the most popular snacks in Iceland
      is dried fish.
    

I'm curious, how much of this fish consumption is sustainable?

~~~
andridk
Well, it's not like "harðfiskur" is cheap. 100 grams go for about $8.
Icelanders don't eat a lot of fish any more. Almost all of it is exported.

Is the fishing sustainable? I don't know. Probably not.

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uwuhn
Soo I've never had fish prepared this way. Where's the best place to buy it
in/near SF, or to order from?

~~~
bifrost
My fave spot for interesting dried fish in SF is "New World Market" on Geary
in the Richmond district. Its pretty good but slightly confusing if you don't
speak russian.

~~~
uwuhn
I'll check it out, what should I ask for? Do they call it hardfiskur or is
there a Russian word for the equivalent?

~~~
gleb
Vobla or taranka. Do expect it to be very salty.

~~~
bifrost
AFAIK Vobla is typically one specific fish, namely the "Caspian Roach". That
said, its pretty tasty. If you get some there pick up some of the beer as
well.

~~~
gleb
I am impressed with your depth of knowledge of dried Russian fish :-)

Both of these words can refer to either specific species of fish, or to the
method of preservation, depending on the region. Whichever word you use, the
sales person in that store is sure to rudely point out your mistake. Like you
said, the Soviet level of service is part of the experience.

------
jaytaylor
How does the fish cure rather than rotting with this technique?

And since it's outdoors, how are insects kept away from the meat?

~~~
steve_adams_86
I imagine it's similar to dry aging beef. With the right temperature and
humidity, you support only bacteria that are safe to eat and you end up with a
dry protective exterior before long which allows the fish to begin safely
fermenting. You can do this with a surprising number of things. The trick is
to have the correct initial conditions which prevents the proliferation of
counterproductive bacteria. They also dip the fish in a brine to promote the
right bacteria and prevent others from taking hold.

As for insects, it's likely that it's too cold outside (I think the article
mentioned that it's kept outside in cool weather). Once it's done doing the
cool weather thing it goes inside.

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IronWolve
I didnt know dried fish is also known as a protein bar, well heck, the choice
for low carb energy bars is really lacking too. Jerky as an alternative eh,
good idea!

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equalunique
I really want to try some of this. I'm a fan of Cambodian-style fermented
fish, and so this Icelandic fish seems like it might be another option for me.

~~~
GrumpyNl
I have a treat for you, Norske lutefisk. Its one of the, for me, most
disgusting things i have eaten. All the side dishes made it bearable.

~~~
YeGoblynQueenne
Apparently, the truth about the lutefisk is that you should never eat the
lutefisk:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wTCJ5bqK2A](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wTCJ5bqK2A)

~~~
bifrost
Lies! lol. Some people actually like it! Although I guess it could be the
Nickelback of fish dishes...

~~~
pi-rat
I'm pretty sure people that say they like lutefisk just like the side dishes
(keyword: bacon!) :p

