How to pronounce Rakfisk

In the International Phonetic Alphabet it is /ˈrɑ̂ːkfɪsk/. In plain English letters that is RAHK-fisk, with the stress on the syllable in capitals. There is no recording by a native speaker yet, so use the spelling and the IPA.

What is Rakfisk?

Rakfisk is a main dish of Norway. Where it comes from: Norway (inland lakes). People usually eat it on festive days. Its main ingredients are fish. It tastes sour and savory.

Where Rakfisk comes from

Rakfisk is one of 20 signature dishes of Norway on this map.

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• Fårikål · Main dish · Eastern Norway

  Fårikål means "sheep in cabbage": pieces of mutton or lamb on the bone, layered in a pot with wedges of cabbage and whole black peppercorns, then simmered for hours.

• Lutefisk · Main dish · Western coast

  Lutefisk is dried cod, or sometimes ling, soaked for days in water, then in a lye solution, and then in clean water again.

• Raspeball · Main dish · Western Norway

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• Smalahove · Main dish · Voss (Vestland)

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Food of Norway

Dishes like Rakfisk in other countries

Same type of dish and similar main ingredients as Rakfisk:

• Surströmming · Main dish · Ångermanland (High Coast), Sweden

  Surströmming means 'sour herring': small Baltic herring, called strömming in Swedish, lightly salted and left to ferment.

• Kenkey · Main dish · Ga and Fante coast, Ghana

  Kenkey is a dumpling of fermented maize dough, partly cooked, wrapped in corn husks or plantain leaves, and steamed.

• Fischbrötchen · Street food · Baltic coast (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern), Germany

  The Fischbrötchen is northern Germany's favourite quick bite: a bread roll filled with fish and trimmings such as raw onion, pickles, remoulade or creamy horseradish.

• Jellied eels · Street food · London, United Kingdom

  Jellied eels are chopped eels boiled in a spiced stock of water, vinegar, nutmeg and lemon, then left to cool; the eel is naturally gelatinous, so the liquid sets into a jelly around the pieces.