1)Most every Faroese family, young and old, agree on that Ræst kjøt is a must during the winter.2) For some it's the preferred Christmas dinner, but for others it's at delicacy that is difficult to execute from their dinner table. 3)It has a special taste, sent and is very healthy food and most 4)important it reminds you of a certain joyful time of year.
1) During the fall the Faroese sheep are gathered from the mountains. Some of these sheep are brought home and slaughtered. The meet is hanged in a little wooden shed to dry. Then when it is dry enough, often around December, this meet is prepared as Ræst kjøt. Almost every Faroese family have their Ræst kjøt during the winter. If you ask a foreigner about Ræst kjøt, they would surely call it rotten meat. Mainly because it smells differently than any other meat you know, but also because it is in a way raw meat. The time the meet has hanged is crucial for the taste. When it has hanged long enough it develops a very special taste and smell which most Faroese people love. For some it smells terrible and therefore they resent eating it, but for others the smell awakens the wonderful memory of the splendid taste of Ræst kjøt. It also reminds some people of Christmas.
2) In some families the Ræsta kjøt is a traditional Christmas dinner. There are a lot of sheep farmers. For them the Ræsta kjøt is the preferred dinner. It is served with potatoes, roots and many also like red cabbage along with their Ræsta kjøt. The process of hanging the meat to dry also gives us skerpikjøt. During the process of drying we get skerpikjøt if we let the Ræst kjøt hang longer ( app. 4-5 months). I prefer salted skerpikjøt on a slice of bread. The taste is difficult to compare to something else, it has its own special taste. You have to taste it to know the taste. Some say that Christmas without Ræst kjøt is no Christmas. It's a lovely dinner even if it's Christmas or not.
