sheep in FAroese cuisine

Skerpikjøt (fermented mutton), Kalsoy

Sheep, which outnumber people in the islands, are a staple of Faroese cuisine. Taking advantage of the cool climate and constant winds, Faroese commonly preserve both mutton and fish by fermentation and wind-drying, allowing these foods to be stored and used as needed. In the autumn, as the temperature cools, the sheep are slaughtered and hung to ferment and dry in slatted sheds called hjallur designed to allow the wind to easily pass through the slats and cure the hanging meat inside. This photograph shows skerpikjøt, or fermented mutton, in the drying shed of a woman living in Trøllanes on the Isle of Kalsoy.