Friday the 23th of January was the first day of the month of Þorri, the fourth winter month in the old Icelandic calendar, and during that month big Þorrablót feasts are held all around the country. At Þorrablót traditional Icelandic food is served, Icelandic songs are sung and the highlights of the year covered in a comical way, often by acting and singing.
The food, "Þorramatur", is an interesting thing on it's own. The buffet offers an old Icelandic everyday food that has been cured by traditional methods. The only preserving methods available in the past were pickling, drying, salting or smoking food.
Among other deliciousness you can find at the buffet, there is fermented shark, pickled ram testicles (pressed in blocks, boiled and cured in lactic acid), sheep's head gelatin (sometimes cured in lactic acid), pig's gelatin, "lundabaggi" (sheep's loins wrapped in the meat from the sides, pressed and cured in lactic acid), dried fish served with butter, smoked lamb, "laufabrauð" (leaf bread, traditional Icelandic deep-fried patterned wafer), Icelandic flatbread and mashed turnip. Yeah, quite the feast!
