10 Nordic Foods Thor Would Actually Eat If He Came to Earth

Turns out it’s in a poem about Thor himself that the typical Viking meal is described, according to the National Museum of Denmark:

Ferry me over the sound, then I will feed you tomorrow! I have a basket on my back, never was the food better. I ate in peace before I left home, herrings and oatmeal, so I am still full.

The vikings actually had a pretty balanced diet, relying on hunting and farming for their sustenance. The National Museum of Denmark says that meat, fish, vegetables, cereals, and dairy were important components of most meals, with berries and honey serving as a sweet treat.

Yes, they likely overindulged in their fair share of mead and beer, but haven’t we all? Thor could certainly use a nice cold one after a long day of, I don’t know, saving humanity.

A casserole consisting of bananas, chicken, spicy ketchup, and cream? It’s so crazy it just might work. The Flying Jacob is a comparably later edition to Swedish cuisine, coming into the culture via a mailed-in recipe printed in a 1976 edition of Swedish food magazine Allt Om Mat (All About Food). It was billed as a perfect-for-parties dish that’s “easy to make and tastes great” and is now so ubiquitous you can even find it premade in the freezer section in Swedish grocery stores.

Don’t even ask Thor to defeat the most evil villain the MCU has ever seen before he has his morning Scandinavian egg coffee, okay? Now popular at the Minnesota State Fair, this drink is more closely associated with Swedish immigrants to America than Sweden itself, but it’s well suited for the Scandinavian tradition of fika (afternoon coffee and pastries) nonetheless.

So what exactly is egg coffee? “The egg is mashed into the grounds, and the grounds are boiled in, kind of like campfire coffee,” Jim Zieba told The Takeout. “The coffee being slightly acid and egg being alkaline, they cancel each other out, and you get a very mild clear cup of coffee. A lot of people, they just love it for some reason.”

In the Nordic region, pickled herring is a holiday treat, with fish of all kinds symbolizing prosperity, bounty, and fertility in the new year. And this treat harkens back to the Viking days as well—remember that poem from earlier when Thor waxed poetic about herrings? Oh yeah, he’s definitely digging into some of these before his next big battle with the Avengers.

The kringle is a Scandinavian holiday pastry that is nothing short of extreme. This giant, oval-shaped danish with 36 individually buttered layers of pastry dough, stuffed with fillings like fruit preserves or caramel, was first baked by Danish pastry chefs then brought to the United States by Danish immigrants in the late 1880s when a large Danish population immigrated to Racine, Wisconsin. For our money, the best kringles In the world are made at Uncle Mike’s Bake Shoppe in De Pere, Wisconsin, but for Thor, we’d be willing to try one straight from the Nordic kitchens of Denmark.

On your next trip to Iceland, you’re gonna make sure you definitely don’t miss out on the—wait for it—hot dogs. According to Wake Up Reykjavik, the famous hot dog stand Bæjarins Beztu has made The Takeout’s favorite food an Icelandic staple since 1937. What sets these hot dogs apart, however, is that that the franks are made from lamb and you can top them with crispy onions, sweet mustard, raw onions, apple ketchup, or remoulade. Wake Up Reykjavik says that the employees get paid per hot dog sold—Thor, bring along all the Avengers and to buy out the supply. Then you’ll be a true hero.

The brewers at Ant Brew in Lahti, Finland, seem to think that animal poop beer is the next big thing. Last year Ant Brew announced its Wasted Potential series, all of which utilize “wasteless” ingredients like wild herbs, food waste, and, most notably, goose poop. Don’t worry, the poop is used in a “food safe” way, according to the brewery, specifically in its Imperial Stout to smoke the malt for a unique, eco-friendly flavor.

If Thor wanted to grab a brew with his buddies right now, it looks like the Wasted Potential Blond Ale, called Find the Fish, is in rotation at the brewery—this supposedly skips the poop and utilizes the swim bladders of fish instead. Yum.

Rotten shark, anyone? Hákarl is an Icelandic delicacy composed mainly of fermented shark. According to Atlas Obscura, the fermented meat “smells like urine and can taste like strong cheese.” That doesn’t stop dedicated Icelanders (and tourists) from sampling the stuff.

Be careful—it can be poisonous to humans if the shark isn’t fermented for long enough. Good thing that’s not something a Norse god needs to worry about.

Over the last five years, the Faroe Islands (a Danish archipelago that sits between Iceland and Norway in the North Atlantic Ocean) has solidified itself as a prime food destination. In particular Koks has stood out, earning not only two Michelin stars, but recognition as the world’s most remote Michelin restaurant. Koks is currently in the process of reopening in Greenland, but its sister restaurants, Roks and Ræst, which focus exclusively on fermented foods, are still taking diners in the islands.

Just as the mighty Mjölnir can be summoned by Thor from all ends of the universe, so too has the Finnish company Solar Foods conjured up a new protein seemingly out of nothing. Solein is created when water molecules are split in a process called electrolysis, then, the hydrogen atom and carbon dioxide from the air feed soil bacteria, which produces the protein. This wizardry emits no greenhouse gases and is the next step toward sustainable meat-substitutes. And it tastes like nothing, which means you can turn it into anything you want it to be. Now that’s god-like.