Many people in my life know that I am a pescatarian. This means that I am a vegetarian except I eat fish. This presents a bit of a problem when you are going into a cross-cultural experience that includes eating food that you would not normally eat. With this in mind, I said that I would at least take one or two bites of anything that was placed in front of me, even if it was meat.
That may have been a mistake. The amount of new foods that I have now tried seems to be getting way too high and they almost all involve meat. So, I am going to outline a few items that I have tried and describe them.
Smoked Lamb – Even when I ate meat, I had never eaten lamb nor any sort of meat that was smoked. The smokey flavor of the lamb was overpowering and made me gag. I just do not like the taste of smoked meat I decided.
Non-Smoked Lamb – The reason I know that it is the smoked flavor I do not like and not the lamb itself is because of the non-smoked option. This was rather tasty, but I still feel bad about eating a baby sheep.
Smoked Salmon – I generally really like salmon, so I figured I would be good to go with smoked salmon. Nope. The smoked flavor was not as overpowering as the lamb, but it polluted the flavor of the salmon. I could get it down and not gag. This is, however, still not my favorite.
Lobster Soup in Grindavík– This was amazing. I have never had lobster anything, so it was a treat to get to have it while sitting by the pier in Grindavík, which is a fishing town. The soup had bits of lobster in it and tasted great.
Bearnaise Sauce – This is something that Gunnar insisted I try once he found out that I had never even heard of it, much less tried it. He was unable to describe how it tasted and simply made me try it. So I tried it and was completely underwhelmed. I am unable to even tell you what it tasted like because it seemed to be bland and tasteless. Gunnar did not like this answer, but it this is what is seems to me.
Sheep face Jam – Yup, you read that right. One of our gracious hosts was unable to obtain a full sheep face. So evidently they sell sheep face that has been combined into a block of jam that you cut into pieces. This does not even look remotely appetizing, but I stuck to my word about trying everything that was put in front of me. I personally find the texture of this jam to be revolting. After a few chews of the jam, I grabbed my water and just swallowed it whole. Never again.
Sour Ram’s Testicles – Yet another thing that I never imagined I would eat in my whole life. The texture was as unfathomable as the sheep face jam. After two chews, it got chugged down with a glass of water and chocolate immediately afterwards to get the taste and texture from my mouth. Sam was nice enough to take a picture of how this turned out.
Pork with the Skin and Fat on it – This item was on the menu our first night in Norway. The pork tasted good, but the fat and skin were not my favorite.
Rice Cream with Raspberry Sauce – This was our dessert in our first night in Norway. If you eat just the rice cream, it tastes bland and unsweetened. If you eat it with the raspberry sauce, it was tasty. I wondered what it would be like with a different type of sauce. Maybe something like orange or strawberry. I think that would taste good.
Cloudberries – These orange berries are picked in the mountains in Norway. They are tasty and make a great jam on toast. They look similar to raspberries. People are protective of the location they get their berries from because they are rare.
Blood Sausage – This sausage was a lot drier than I expected. The taste was not overpowering, but simply not my favorite. Not something I would eat again.
O Lord,
Thank you for all that you have given us. The chance to experience new food and the chance to always have food as needed. Thank you for the new experiences that we have had while in Iceland and Norway. Bless all of those that have opened their arms in hospitality to us while we learn about their churches and cultures. Be with those who do not have the food we have and allow them to feel your comfort and love.
Amen
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