Hi,
Just to drop couple of lines. Sitting at Uni trying to make sense of some cryptic text that I have in front of me. I plan to stay here until about 25 minutes I drop...takes about that time to walk home. This is a fairly easy thing to do when you are one with your body ;)
Yes, the exams went 2/3 ok. Got two danish 10s in e-business and organisation management. So I am not totally tonto.
Christmas is just around the corner and I am gradually looking forward to it. Can not say that this project work is enhancing the enjoyment, but I look forward to see the faces of my kids when they will open their presents. That is actually christmas for me and of course eating skate (stingray)
I am adding small text on this phenomenon here below:
St. Thorlak’s Day
Þorláksmessa
Christmas begins on Christmas Eve in Iceland so December 23 is a hectic day for many, as there are so many last-minute preparations to do. The day is named for St. Thorlak, Þorlákur Þórhallsson, a bishop at Skálholt in the late twelfth century, who died on this day in 1193 and has been revered by Icelanders ever since, even though he was not formally canonized until 1985.
Icelanders do not have a tradition of eating fish at Christmas but fish is traditional on St. Thorlak’s Day and in later years, the fish of the day has become putrefied skate.
This custom began in the Western Fjords and has spread all over the country. The skate, which is left to ferment for several weeks, has an extremely strong and unpleasant smell that intensifies while it is being cooked. The man of the house (who is often responsible for the cooking of this particular item) is sometimes banished to the garage and has to cook the skate on a gas burner there, or else the whole house might stink of ammonia come Christmas. Instead, the smoked lamb is often cooked in the kitchen and produces a smell that almost everybody loves.
It has to be said, though, that the taste of the skate is not nearly as bad as the smell, although opinions may differ. Some prefer it so putrefied that it brings tears to their eyes and their breath smells of it for many hours afterward. An eighteenth century poet praised skate of this kind to the skies and said it was “better than brennivín” (caraway-flavored schnapps), which is praise indeed, coming from an Icelander.
The skate is usually cut into chunks and poached, sometimes in the cooking water from the smoked lamb. It is served with hamsatólg (melted sheep’s tallow with cracklings) and/or hnoðmör (sheep´s tallow that is kneaded and dried before it is melted), along with boiled potatoes. It usually gets washed down with several straight shots of brennivín.
Taken from the
web page for Gestgjafinn (The host), which is a magazine on gastronomic delights.
Well take care.
Arnar Thor
