þorri

Here is a blog post that I wrote 3 years ago when we were living in Iceland in February:

Right now in Iceland the country is celebrating something called þorri (pronounced 'Thorri'). Every Icelander that attempts to explain it to me has described it as "Old Food Month." For a whole month Icelanders reflect on the way their ancestors used to survive by eating foods such as dried fish, sheep head, rotten shark, ram testicles, lamb jam, kidneys, liver and fat. This is not a joke. Colby and I went to the flea market and witnessed this first hand. After eating some dried fish and simply smelling the putrid shark, Colby nearly vomited. All I had to do was look at the pickled ram testicles and I was out of there. I don't know what is worse: the fact that the early settlers resorted to such measures in the face of pending death or that people still do it willingly today. I mean, c'mon...testicles? Colby is uncomfortable with how many times I'm saying that word. So, enough about Thorri.