When you’re truly ready to prove your Norwegian-ness you’re ready for one of the final bosses in the battle of integration. Enter, smalahove, or boiled sheep’s head.
It’s a brutal dish that hails back to more meager times in Western Norway. In towns such as Voss, Norway, the sheep’s head was eaten to waste nothing when food supplies were low. Today it’s still served to locals and brave tourists alike.
You’ll likely find smalahove meat to be quite tasty and salty. Most people do, but it’s the skull you might not enjoy so much as it slowly reveals itself with each bite. If you can stomach that (literally) then you’re ready for the final smalahove challenge, to eat the eyeball in one gulp. Some people say it tastes like a runny egg. To others it’s the ultimate sign of bravery in Norway.
Make sure you have some aquavit close by to wash it down.