Alternative names | Smalehovud, Skjelte |
---|---|
Course | Main course |
Place of origin | Norway |
Serving temperature | Hot |
Main ingredients | Lamb head |
Smalahove (also called smalehovud, sau(d)ehau(d) or skjelte) is a Western Norwegian traditional dish made from a sheep's head, originally eaten before Christmas. [1] The name of the dish comes from the combination of the Norwegian words hove and smale. Hove is a dialectal form of hovud, meaning "head" (cf. Hǫfuð), and smale is a word for sheep, so smalahove literally means "sheep head". [2] [3] The skin and fleece of the head are torched, the brain removed, and the head is salted, sometimes smoked, and dried. The head is boiled or steamed for about three hours, and served with mashed swede/rutabaga and potatoes. It is also traditionally served with akevitt. [4] In some preparations, the brain is cooked inside the skull and then eaten with a spoon or fried. [5] Originally, smalahove was typically eaten by the poor. [6]
One serving usually consists of one half of a head. The ear and eye are normally eaten first, as they are the fattiest areas and are best eaten warm. [7] The head is often eaten from the front to the back, working around the bones of the skull.
Since 1998 and the mad cow epidemics, an EU directive forbids the production of smalahove from adult sheep, [8] due to fear of the possibility of transmission of scrapie, a deadly, degenerative prion disease of sheep and goats, though scrapie does not appear to be transmissible to humans. It is now allowed to be produced only from the heads of lambs. [4]
Smalahove is considered by most people to be unappealing or even repulsive. [7] It is enjoyed mostly by enthusiasts, and is often served to tourists. Because of its status as an "extreme" food, tourists often seek it out as a thrill. Voss, Norway, in particular has benefited from tourists wishing to try it, "not only as a nostalgic and authentic rural dish, but also as a challenging culinary trophy appealing to thrill-seeking consumers." [9]
Swedish cuisine is the traditional food of Sweden. Due to Sweden's large north-to-south expanse, there are regional differences between the cuisine of North and South Sweden.
Turkish cuisine is the cuisine of Turkey and the Turkish diaspora. Although the cuisine took its current rich form after numerous cultural interactions throughout centuries, it should not be confused with other cuisines such as Ottoman cuisine or Seljuk cuisine. Turkish cuisine with traditional Turkic elements such as yogurt, ayran, kaymak, exerts and gains influences to and from Mediterranean, Balkan, Middle Eastern, Central Asian and Eastern European cuisines.
Lutefisk is dried whitefish, usually cod, but sometimes ling or burbot, cured in lye. It is made from aged stockfish, or dried and salted cod. The fish takes a gelatinous texture after being rehydrated for days prior to eating.
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A New England boiled dinner is a traditional New England meal, consisting of corned beef with cabbage and one or more root vegetables, such as potatoes, rutabagas, parsnips, carrots, turnips, or onions. The leftovers are traditionally diced and fried into “red flannel hash” for breakfast the next day. The dish resembles boiled beef from English cuisine, as well as a similar Newfoundland dish called a "Jiggs dinner".
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Khash is a dish of boiled cow or sheep parts, which might include the head, feet, and stomach (tripe). It is a dish of Armenian origin.
Lobscouse is a thick Scandinavian stew made of meat and potatoes.
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Important parts of Faroese cuisine are lamb and also fish owing to proximity to the sea. Traditional foods from the Faroe Islands include skerpikjøt, seafood, whale meat, blubber, garnatálg, Atlantic puffins, potatoes, and few fresh vegetables.
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