Specialty of rotten fish heads who hardly dares to eat in Alaska

The fermented fish dish of Alaska (USA) is one of the food that is considered to be the most scary and hard to swallow in the world. Even the most courageous travelers can hardly dare to try this dish.

Fermentation is a way of preserving the food of many popular cultures, the Eskimo in Alaska, the US is no exception. The famous dish here is tepa or 'rotten fish head' with a characteristic flavor. This is a traditional Yup'ik dish, usually made from king salmon head.

According to the traditional method, fish heads are wrapped in long grass (growing along rivers and streams) or put into wooden barrels and buried in holes, for about 4 to 6 weeks. After that, they are dug up to enjoy. At that time, usually the fish bones were soft and you could beam the fish head into a mixture. Later, balloon bags are used to accelerate fermentation, but increase the risk of food poisoning. Therefore, fish heads are now buried directly in the special burial sites.

Another fermented specialty of Alaska is 'rotten caviar'. In particular, female salmon usually have large ovaries in the summer. The eggs will be buried with the fish head, until the outer part is hard and the inside is softer.

The rotten fish head smells very terrible. Many people who just smell tepa smell have nausea, and eating them is an 'impossible task'.