10 Nightmarishly Disgusting Foods You'd Definitely Be Way Too Chicken To Try

4. Hakarl (Rotten Shark)

This next delicacy doesn't involve eating anything that's still alive, rather it is eating something that's already dead and buried. Hakarl, or fermented shark, is an Icelandic delicacy. It is made by burying basking shark meat underground for three months and then hanging it out to dry for another five. You can probably already imagine that it isn't the most fragrant meal on Earth; the smell is said to be something like ammonia and blue cheese. So, it stinks, but surely that doesn't mean it tastes bad? Well actually that's a matter of taste. Hakarl is said to have a fishy texture but it fizzes on your tongue when you eat it. When trying hakarl for the first time, people usually gag because of the high ammonia content, but they probably also gag at the thought of eating a rotten shark. It can't taste too bad though because hakarl isn't an uncommon delicacy, it can be found in supermarkets and restaurants all over Iceland. So to sum up, hakarl is eight-month-old rotten shark meat that stinks to high heaven and fizzes when you eat it. Can anybody tell me why people even eat this? And whose idea was it to bury a shark and then eat it in the first place?