page_title: Offal
section_title: Iceland
hierarchical_section_title: Offal / Europe / Nordic countries / Iceland
caption_attribution_description: English: Svið: a sheep's head, sawed in half, singed and then cooked (with the brain removed), served with mashed turnips and mashed potatoes (the balls). Taken at BSÍ, Reykjavík, and then eaten. Deutsch: Svið: längs durchgesägter Schafskopf, abgesengt und ohne Hirn gekocht, serviert mit Stampfkartoffeln (als Kugeln) und Rübenmus. Aufgenommen am BSÍ, Reykjavík, und dann gegessen.
context_page_description: Offal, also called variety meats, pluck or organ meats, is the viscera and entrails of a butchered animal. As an English mass noun, the term "offal" has no plural form. The word does not refer to a particular list of edible organs, which varies by culture and region, but includes most internal organs and excludes muscle and bone. Offal may also refer to the by-products of milled grains, such as corn or wheat.
  Some cultures strongly consider offal as food to be taboo, while others use it as everyday food, or in delicacies. Certain offal dishes—including foie gras, pâté and sweetbread—are internationally regarded as gourmet food in the culinary arts. Others remain part of traditional regional cuisine and may be consumed especially in connection with holidays. This includes Scottish haggis, Jewish chopped liver, U.S. chitterlings, Mexican menudo, as well as many other dishes. On the other hand, intestines are traditionally used as casing for sausages.
context_section_description: Iceland has its own version of both haggis and brawn. The Icelandic haggis called "slátur" (slaughter) is made in two versions: "Blóðmör" (bloodlard), a sheep's stomach stuffed with a mixture of sheep's blood, rolled oats and cut up bits of sheep's fat, and "lifrarpylsa" (liver sausage), which consists of sheep stomach stuffed with a mixture of ground lamb's liver, rolled oats and cut-up bits of mutton. The Icelandic brawn "svið" is made from singed sheep heads, and it is eaten either hot or cold off the bone or set in gelatin.
caption: Svið served with mashed potatoes and mashed turnips at BSÍ in Reykjavík.
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