The feast of St. Þorlákur

What is the aroma of Christmas? For many Icelanders Christmas smells like a mix of smoked lamb meat, Christmas tree, cookies and a little bit of fermented skate, called Skata. In Iceland Skata is traditionally eaten on the day before Christmas, Þorláksmessa (23. December; celebrating St. Þorlákur). Skata has a very strong smell because of it contains ammonia, so, sometimes people boil another traditional Icelandic Christmas food, smoked lamb meat, after the skate feast, to mix the aromas. Others boil the skate in their garage or even outdoors. 

In Iceland two species of skate are fermented. Blue skate, which is the most common, and thorny skate. The thorny skates need to have the skin removed before boiling because of the spines. To ferment the skate the wings are cut off and put into a big container and covered. They are kept in a cold place for about three weeks (depending on the temperature). The fermentation is necessary to break down urea (1) and trimethylamin N-Oxid (2), which are quite toxic. During fermentation bacteria break them down into ammonia, which makes the flesh safe to eat. When the skate is ready it is boiled. We eat it with boiled potatoes, sometimes with boiled turnips and with ryebread with a thick layer of butter. 

It is also necessary to have sheep fat with the Skata, either hamsatólg (which is melted sheep fat with tasty brown bits) or if you are from the Westfjords Hnoðmör (which is sheep fat, that was allowed to go mouldy before melting). The two types of fat differ greatly in taste. Also, Skata comes in different strengths and people often want it to be really strong. The strongest Skata is called “gómlosa”, which literary translates to top of the mouth loosener. But, one has to breath out when putting the skate in the mouth, because if you inhale you will get teary eyes. 

But why this Christmas tradition? Back in the days Skata was a common food in Iceland, especially in the Westfjords. People there ate Skata at least once a week, so it was a very ordinary food. Now, people wanted to eat something normal before Christmas eve (when Icelanders start celebrating Christmas at six o’clock) to leave space for when all the good food was put on the table. This tradition originated in the Westfjörds but is now celebrated all over Iceland. Commonly, people gather together in big Skata feasts before going for the last Christmas shopping at Þorláksmessa. 

(1) Urea (þvagefni) is a waste product of the body when it digests proteins from the food and is a main component of urine.

(2) Trimethylamin N-Oxid (TMAO) is important for protein stability. When fish die bacteria break down TMAO to trimethylamin (TMA), which gives the “fishy” smell.