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Oddity Central

Kiviaq – Probably The World’s Most Disgusting Meat Dish
Man Installs Wood Stove in His Volvo to Beat the Cold
Purga Nightclub – Where Every Night Is New Year’s Eve

Kiviaq – Probably The World’s Most Disgusting Meat Dish

Posted: 14 Feb 2012 12:04 AM PST

Kiviaq – the name sounds exotic, but wait till you hear how it is prepared. I guarantee you’ll lose your appetite completely. Imagine a dish so pungent and smelly that people eat it outside the house, so it doesn't stink up the place for weeks. Before I actually get down to telling you what it is, I must warn those of you with a rather delicate disposition – Kiviaq is NOT for you.

The dish is a winter specialty and has been consumed by Inuits in the far north of Greenland for centuries. The preparation of Kiviaq actually involves an ingenious method of food storage that came into being due to the severe shortage of food in the cold months. As clever and important as the practice is, a dish made from fermented sea birds is pretty hard to stomach for those who aren't used to it. Yes, you read right, fermented sea birds are pretty much the essence of the dish. And get this – they're eaten raw. Kind of like cheese, but not quite. The preparation goes something like this: a seal is skinned,removing all the meat until only a thick layer of fat remains on the skin. It is then sewn into the shape of a bag and stuffed to the brim with about 300 to 500 small auk birds. When the bag is completely filled, it is sewn shut, and fat is again smeared all over the seams to keep the flies away. The bird-filled seal skin bag is then left to ferment under a pile of rocks for a minimum of 3 months, and sometimes, even as long as 18 months.

Photo by Inga Sørensen

In the harsh winter season, due to the darkness and unsafe ice, hunting for fresh meat becomes impossible. It is during this time that the bags of fermented meat are dug out, cut open and the birds eaten raw. Apparently, due to the seal fat the bird meat is tenderized and preserved so barring the feathers, all parts of the bird are eaten, even the bones. Kiviaq is considered a delicacy of sorts and relished, especially at celebrations and festivals. The dish, undoubtedly represents a resourceful method of food preservation, which enables survival under tough conditions. I can't help but say this though – I'm glad I’m not eating or smelling this stuff.

Photo by Patrick O’Reilly

Kiviaq – Probably The World’s Most Disgusting Meat Dish was originally posted at OddityCentral.com

Man Installs Wood Stove in His Volvo to Beat the Cold

Posted: 13 Feb 2012 11:43 PM PST

Wouldn't it be great to have a car-companion that simply radiates warmth on a cold, cold winter's day? Well, Pascal Prokop has just that, except his companion isn't human. While most people complain about the cold, this guy from Switzerland actually decided to do something about it by putting a stove in his car – a real, wood-burning stove, complete with a chimney and everything.

The sight of Prokop driving his 1990 Volvo 240 station wagon around the streets of Mettmenstetten, a town 25km south of Zurich, is a strange and funny one. With the chimney sticking up about 2m above the roof, the car looks like it's smoking, and the effect produced is kind of cartoonish. To Prokop however, this doesn't matter one bit, since he's warm and happy. Temperatures across Europe have been declining steadily, especially in the past couple of weeks. So Prokop came up with the ultimate heating solution. He simply removed the passenger seat in the Volvo and replaced it with an oven, the perfect passenger. He feeds the oven occasionally with wood sticks and in turn it keeps him nice and warm all the time. Prokop likes it so much inside his car that he sometimes ends up spending the night too, mostly when he's tired or has had too much to drink.

Photo © REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann

Of course, there have been concerns regarding the safety of the smoking vehicle. Prokop needed to get permissions from the Swiss Technical Inspection Authority to be able to drive it on the streets. It wasn't an easy job, as officials weren't enthusiastic about his little project at first. But when they saw that he was ready to make any changes they asked for, they realized he was actually serious about his idea. Prokop's oven-car is now officially registered as a "Sedan with a wood oven." To tell you the truth, I wouldn't mind a car like his at all, if I lived in such a cold place. Heck, I wouldn't even say no to a few roasted marshmallows as long as I'm inside.

via National Post

Man Installs Wood Stove in His Volvo to Beat the Cold was originally posted at OddityCentral.com

Purga Nightclub – Where Every Night Is New Year’s Eve

Posted: 13 Feb 2012 11:17 PM PST

The holiday season is a truly magical time around the world. New Year's Eve, especially, is seen as a time of hope and new beginnings, a time to forget the old and embrace the new. Most people are in high spirits, celebrating the coming of the new year with much pomp and gusto. But what if you got to celebrate it every single night of the year? Would it still be as much fun? Apparently it would, going by the success of 'Purga' – a nightclub in St. Petersburg, Russia, where every night is New Year's Eve.

Everything that's needed for a typical Russian New Year's Eve celebration is available at the club. The Russian national anthem, the new year's speech of Vladimir Putin on TV, fun costumes, decorations, contests, dancing and singing. Professional actors work at the club as 'bunnies', who are basically there to entertain people and make sure they forget all their worries. Ever since Purga was started way back in 2002, it has been popular in town, with table reservations being made at least a week in advance.

Most customers at Purga say it's great because they couldn't celebrate the real New Year's Eve with friends and family due to work. So now, they get a chance to join in all the fun. According to the club's owners it has been so popular in St. Petersburg that another one has been opened in Moscow recently. New Year's Eve, after all is more about the spirit of the people than the day itself. So among a crowd of happy folks sporting sparklers and champagne, I'm guessing it's not all that hard to believe it really is the last day of the year. What a wonderful way to usher in the new year, or in this case, well, the next day.