Svið (;
transliterated
Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one writing system, script to another that involves swapping Letter (alphabet), letters (thus ''wikt:trans-#Prefix, trans-'' + ''wikt:littera#Latin, liter-'') in predictable ways, such as ...
as svid or svith) is a traditional
Icelandic dish consisting of a sheep's head cut in half, singed to remove the fur, and boiled with the
brain
The brain is an organ (biology), organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head (cephalization), usually near organs for ...
removed,
sometimes cured in
lactic acid
Lactic acid is an organic acid. It has the molecular formula C3H6O3. It is white in the solid state and it is miscible with water. When in the dissolved state, it forms a colorless solution. Production includes both artificial synthesis as wel ...
.
Svið originally arose at a time when people could not afford to let any part of a slaughtered animal go to waste. It is part of
þorramatur, a selection of various traditional Icelandic food that is served as a buffet, particularly at the
Þorrablót mid-winter festival. It is used as the basis for
sviðasulta (
head cheese
Head cheese () or brawn is a meat jelly or terrine made of meat. Somewhat similar to a jellied meatloaf, it is made with flesh from the head of a calf or pig (less commonly a sheep or cow), typically set in aspic. It is usually eaten cold, ...
or
brawn, made from bits of svið pressed into gelatinous loaves pickled in
whey
Whey is the liquid remaining after milk has been curdled and strained. It is a byproduct of the manufacturing of cheese or casein and has several commercial uses. Sweet whey is a byproduct resulting from the manufacture of rennet types of hard c ...
).
Similar dishes can also be found in other Western Nordic countries, such as
smalahove
''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. The name of the dish comes from the combination of the Norwegian wor ...
in
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
and
seyðarhøvd on the
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...
.
When eating svið, the ears are sometimes considered taboo due to the superstitious belief that when they (bearing the mark of the animal's owner) are removed, the eater will be accused of theft. It is sometimes held that if the little bone underneath the tongue is not broken, a child that cannot yet speak will remain silent forever.
Many Icelanders consider the eye to be the best part of the head.
Lara Weber, writing in the ''
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'', described her experience of eating svið in a 1995 article on Icelandic cuisine:
Preparation
Svið is prepared by first burning off the hair, then cleaning the head under running cold water while paying special attention to the eyes and ears. The head must then be sawn in half lengthwise and the brain removed; if it is frozen first, this is less messy. The brains can be cooked with the skin. When it is ready for cooking, it is put into a cooking pot, sprinkled with coarse salt and partly covered with water. When the water boils, the scum is skimmed off. The head can then be cooked covered for 60 to 90 minutes, until the flesh is cooked through but before it has begun to separate from the bone. It can then be served immediately, hot, or can be left to cool down so that it can be served cold.
See also
*
Beshbarmak
Beshbarmak (; ; ) is a dish in Central Asian cuisine. It is also known as naryn in Xinjiang, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, as ''turama'' in Karakalpakstan and North Caucasus, as ''dograma'' in Turkmenistan, as ''kullama'' in Bashkortosta ...
*
Kale Pache
*
Smalahove
''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. The name of the dish comes from the combination of the Norwegian wor ...
*
Powsowdie
Powsowdie is a Scottish sheep's-head broth or soup. Traditional preparation of the soup includes sheep's trotters as an ingredient. Dried peas and barley can also be used as additional ingredients. Powsowdie has been described as a speciality dish ...
*
List of lamb dishes
This is a list of the popular lamb and mutton dishes and foods worldwide. Lamb and mutton are terms for the meat of domestic sheep (species ''Ovis aries'') at different ages. A sheep in its first year is called a lamb, and its meat is also called ...
References
External links
Preparation and consumption of svið(video)
One man's account of his first time eating Svið(from the
ReykjavÃk Grapevine)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Svid
Offal
Lamb dishes
Icelandic cuisine