Euro 2016: England prepare for knockout showdown against an Iceland squad who eat stinking puffins, sharks and whales
Lamb's testicles could also be on the menu for teak-tough Scandinavians ahead of last-16 clash with Roy Hodgson's men
Posted Saturday, June 25, 2016 by Thesun.co.uk
WHEN England take on Iceland they'll be up against a squad who eat smelly, tough-nut nosh, including rotten shark meat, raw whale flesh and puffin burgers.
Iceland's players dine on the sort of protein-filled, muscle-building grub which helps them cope with their chilly climate.
But their food would have any other footballer in Euro 2016 feeling sick as a parrot.
Wayne Rooney's favourite dish is fattening spaghetti Bolognese.
Jamie Vardy loves greasy fish and chips.
And Daniel Sturridge enjoys cheese toasties, or dainty salads with grilled sea bass.
But the team from Iceland have hearty, national dishes – and some of them are so smelly they should be served with a gas mask!
They can't get enough of minke whale.
They cook it as they huge steaks, or finely slice the flesh and eat it raw – as carpaccio.
Another traditional dish is hakarl, which has plenty of bite – it's rotten shark meat that is so poisonous it's often buried under pebbles for six months to kill the toxins.
Traditionally, Icelandic cooks urinated on the shark meat – to help neutralise the stinky stench of ammonia.
Then it was dried in the sun for weeks before being eaten.
Top London chef Dan Doherty was brave enough to taste the repulsive shark flesh.
He describes it as the "most horrific" food he has ever eaten.
Doherty says:"I had it in Iceland, and it came to the table as a small cube in a jar.
"I opened the jar and the smell of ammonia was so strong that it burnt my nose.
"I put the cube on my tongue and it started to fizz. I ate it in one go, and then necked a whole pint of beer."
While our players treat themselves to a Big Mac and fries, the Scandinavian team have bird burgers made from puffin.
They also tuck into reindeer patties in bread baps.
And Iceland's die-hard foodies – ewe might want to look away now – love lamb's testicles and boiled sheep's head.
They even make a spread from the sheep's head, which is smothered onto toast.
We have Marmite – they have baa-mite!
The blood of the sheep is used to make blood pudding – a bit like British black pudding – sometimes eaten with sugar sprinkled over it.
Other peculiar customary dishes include fish guts and cod's tongues.
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