SPANISH FORK — Fermented Greenland shark and pickled ram’s testicles helped more than 200 people here connect with their Icelandic ancestors on Saturday.

“All of it is disgusting,” said Heather Hutchison, of Orem, with a grimace. “Freaking nasty. It sounded exciting when my sister told me about it. I thought, wow, I want to try my ancestor’s food to see what types of things they ate and what they lived off of. Now that I have tried it, I know why they left.”

Welcome to Thorrablot, the traditional Icelandic mid-winter Viking feast.

More than 400 Icelandic immigrants settled in Utah between 1855 and 1914, many of them in Spanish Fork. Now, more than 150 years after the first Icelandic pioneers arrived, events like Thorrablot teach the next generations the value of their pioneer heritage. To that end, the Icelandic Association of Utah hosts events throughout the year and leads trips to Iceland.

“It’s very good, I’m not lying — OK, maybe a little bit,” said an announcer at the event hoping to convince people to head over to get their Icelandic delicacies. “Not many people in the world can say they have eaten shark.”

Born and raised in Iceland, it was Thelma Maria Marinosdottir-Moreland’s job on Saturday to explain to people what they were eating, and why. The choices consisted of hardfisk — “It’s like fish jerky, it is best eaten with a lot of butter on it. Nummy, nummy, nummy” — as well as flatkokkur (unleavened flatbread), hangikjot (preserved, smoked lamb), hakarl, (greenlandic shark which has been fermented), and finally — and we are not making this up — hrutspungar, which is pickled ram’s testicles. Nummy, indeed.

Marinosdottir-Moreland said this is all common fare in Iceland even today.

“I would get it on sandwiches,” she said of the meats. “You can go into any grocery store and get it.”

She ought to know. With all of her family still in Iceland, she goes back about once a year, she said.

Thorrablot has been held in Iceland for centuries to celebrate living through the terrible winters. It is traditionally held on the last Saturday of February. The event is held in Spanish Fork each year as a way of maintaining the old culture and heritage, said DeVon Koyle, who is president of the Utah Icelandic Association.

Organizers said that despite the, shall we say, odd food, the event gets bigger each year. If shark and testicles aren’t your thing, you should know that they also served pulled lamb, Icelandic haddock, rutabaga, red cabbage and glazed potatoes on Saturday.

Sunya Grossman Frank drove from Las Vegas to attend the event with her son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren.

“My mother was a very strong-willed, stoic woman and the more I learn about Iceland the more I understand why she was the way she was,” Frank said, noting she has also traveled to Iceland to learn about her heritage.

Her son, Glenn Grossman of Mapleton, is now a member of the board of the Icelandic Association of Utah.

“Nobody told me I was of Viking heritage when I was a little boy so now I have to make up for it and run around with a sword,” he said. “It’s such a unique heritage. It’s pretty priceless, and being connected to that is really cool to me.”

LuDene Hamilton of Fairview and her grandson, Matt Day, have both traveled to Iceland to learn about their ancestors. Saturday brought them back to memories of Iceland.

“I think what I would like to understand is what it was like to live there, and it matters to me what my ancestors experienced,” Day said. “It seems inherently interesting that members of my family lived in such a harsh place.”

For information about Thorrablot or the Icelandic Association of Utah, visit www.UtahIcelanders.com.