Putrefied Skate Unpopular With Pirate Party Voters

Market and Media Research (MMR) took a closer look at who, exactly, is still eating putrefied skate. The results show divisions both generational and political.

As many are probably aware, tomorrow is Þorláksmessa, a special holiday which in Iceland is celebrated with the eating of putrefied skate, or skata. The smell and the taste are famous, or notorious, for being quite powerfully imbued with the rich, heady essence of ammonia. An acquired taste, its popularity is apparently on the wane, the poll shows.

According to the results, your average skate-eater is a man over the age of 68 who lives in the countryside. Income level had no bearing whatsoever on whether or not someone eats skate. However, there were significant differences in party support between potential skate-eaters.

Skate was most popular with voters for the Social Democrats, at 51%. This was followed close behind by Progressive Party voters (48%) and then Independence Party voters (39%). The least likely to eat skate were Pirate Party voters, only 22% of whom said they will be dining on it tomorrow.

Overall, only 36% of respondents said they were going to eat skate tomorrow, while 64% said they had no such plans. If your diet permits, do try and eat some skate at least once in your life. You might not like it, but you will never forget it.